Yasaka Clicky Press??

Wow I did some research on it and it looks really impressive. I imagine it works wonders with the concept of even distribution throughout the blade when gluing. The price is a little steep but if it's high quality and lasts a long time which I suppose it will (what could possibly break?) , then I'd say its worth it. I guess you can look at it as this 20-30 dollar investment could potentially end up saving you money by allowing more efficient gluing methods that leads to less edge lifting and therefore less money spent on more rubbers. If your interested it just PM me and ill try and find you the best price in your country ! :D

The clicky press works well. The biggest mistake new users do is to tighten it too tight. The platens will deform, making hard contact on the outside, less or none in the middle. It does not have to be tightened very much.

Snakefish wrote: RJTT wrote: Is the Yasaka Clicky Press worth buying? Does it help bond the rubber better with less edge lifting?     Yes, it's definitely worth buying. It has made bonding the rubber onto the blade so much easier and it's much quicker

@pongcrazy

pongcrazy wrote: There is really no need to use a clicky press unless you are boosting and need additional pressure to help glue the edges down when curled.  Clicky press was originally made for those who speedglued their rubbers.

All good in theory.......but I would guess you have never had to re-glue or deal much with tensor rubbers.  It can be a pain with some of the softer sponged ones when you take a rubber off for the first time and it curls up. Trying to re-glue it without using boosters or rubber cement thinner to get it flat enough to glue back down well......can be hard. 

RJTT wrote: @pongcrazy   I use Tear Mender and sometimes it can be lumpy so I wanted to try using this to help smooth it. Also it seems I can put it on more wet with this and it will be a smoother bond.

I normally use a wet-glue process with Tear Mender which helps even out the glue layer when you lightly roll the rubber on the blade with a roller.  With this process, I need to very quickly set the blade down to hold the rubber in place as it drys/cures.  Using a clicky press....most likely too much time is evolved and too much maneuvering happens. This can easily upset the layer of glue as it quickly starts to change from a very loose entity to more viscous as it starts the initial phase of drying/curing. 

I use my granite counter top with wax paper on it, then a perfectly flat ceramic plate that is not much bigger than the blade face on the top side when pressing/setting the freshly glued rubber.  I use a few books on top of the ceramic plate if needed.  Sometimes a simple mini phone book is more than enough.  It all depends on the softness/stiffness of sponge or if I want to slightly stretch/pressure the rubber as it sets up.  

Because of the wet-glue process with Tear Mender, it will take longer for the glue to cure fully.  I normally let the initial pressing sit for 8-12 hours min.  Then after that I will not use the racket for maybe 3-4 days.  By that time the glue has fully cured to the state it will remain in for months.  If you let the blade and rubber dry before attaching them together, your cure time is much much less, probably 1 day for full cure of Tear Mender. 

Sometimes i do a wet/dry glue job.   Usually I apply glue to the sponge first and let that dry.  Then after that is good to go, I do a light layer of glue on the blade and quickly attach them.  This works better than doing a full dry-dry glue job that can be very hard or impossible to get the rubber lined up perfectly around the blade face.   You can also do a dry glue on the blade first, then do the wet glue on the sponge and attach.  This will let the water dry off quicker on the wood surface if you do not like wet glue pressing on the blade. 

Tear Mender requires some amount of practicing and experimenting to get a good process down.  Many people give up on it because of this reason. Don't be afraid to use different types of applicators to get the best finished layer possible.  I use the cheap foam from those foam paint brushes.  I get mine at a wally-world for like $1.50 for a big assortment bag that lasts a long time. I have not tired a rubber squeegee or a plastic card applicator yet though.  But the good thing is that TE is cheap and is very easy to get off blades and sponges. 

Good luck with your gluing all!  

I have been using one for a long time and it still works fine. As Hookshot noticed, there is no need to overtighten it, so that's the only advice I can give. It was $22 and it's well worth it.

@Rich215 you actually guessed wrong. i glue, test, reglue, play, switch rubbers, test and play again.... all with tensors and SGE rubbers and tearmender glue. i have it down to a pretty fine science. if someone is wet gluing then a press will help, but IMO there is no real need to do so, even with used tensors that curl in half. i change too often (while playing) to wait for a wet glue job to dry.