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question on putting together a hardbat racquet
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benfb View Drop Down
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    Posted: 03/01/2017 at 2:05am
I'm putting together my first hardbat paddle and I have a couple of questions:

1. First, I'm going to use Butterfly Orthodox DX on both sides.  When I opened the packaging, I saw that the bottom 1" of the rubber is writing and vertical lines.  I understand that you don't want pips all the way to the bottom of the rubber (it would feel uncomfortable), but this seems excessive.  I took a look at one of my friend's hardbat and he uses a different rubber (maybe Yasaka?) and it had a much smaller region of "no pips".  

So my question is whether I should use the rubber as it is or if I should trim off some (1/4" or 1/2") off of the bottom.  I know there's no wrong way to do this, but I'd like to know what people recommend, specifically anyone experienced with Orthodox DS?

2. Second, I'm going to use ordinary rubber cement for this.  I assume that's what people do for hardbat?  Water based glue seems unnecessary for this.  So I bought a can of Weldwood Contact cement, but then I realized I'll need a brush.  Is there a specific brush I need?  In the old days, I'd buy cans of speedglue and those always came with a brush built in.

And I'm always open to any other suggestions.
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berndt_mann View Drop Down
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Originally posted by benfb benfb wrote:

I'm putting together my first hardbat paddle and I have a couple of questions:

1. First, I'm going to use Butterfly Orthodox DX on both sides.  When I opened the packaging, I saw that the bottom 1" of the rubber is writing and vertical lines.  I understand that you don't want pips all the way to the bottom of the rubber (it would feel uncomfortable), but this seems excessive.  I took a look at one of my friend's hardbat and he uses a different rubber (maybe Yasaka?) and it had a much smaller region of "no pips".  

So my question is whether I should use the rubber as it is or if I should trim off some (1/4" or 1/2") off of the bottom.  I know there's no wrong way to do this, but I'd like to know what people recommend, specifically anyone experienced with Orthodox DS?

2. Second, I'm going to use ordinary rubber cement for this.  I assume that's what people do for hardbat?  Water based glue seems unnecessary for this.  So I bought a can of Weldwood Contact cement, but then I realized I'll need a brush.  Is there a specific brush I need?  In the old days, I'd buy cans of speedglue and those always came with a brush built in.

And I'm always open to any other suggestions.

Putting together your first hardbat?  G'd on ya.

Before the ITTF mandated that ITTF rubbers have an ITTF approved logo on them, in the golden days of hardbat players just about all played with hardbats with the rubber all the way to the handle of the blade and I don't recall any major complaints.

But if you plan to trim some rubber off the bottom. be sure to retain the Butterfly OX logo and ITTF approval, as that will permit you to use your hardbat in both sponge and hard rubber events.  The only rubber presently approved for hard rubber play in hard rubber events without a logo is British Leyland.

As for gluing the rubber, Weldwood Contact cement should do fine, and if it doesn't come with a brush, go to a hardware store and buy a brush say 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thick.  Spread the glue on evenly on both blade and rubber, but not too much.  

If I remember rightly, BTY OX has a cloth backing, which I recommend as it is easier to glue without curling or bubbling.  Best of luck, benfb, kick some butt and take a few names.


Edited by berndt_mann - 03/01/2017 at 4:53pm
bmann1942
Setup: Mark Bellamy Master Craftsman blade, British Leyland hard rubber
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IanMcg View Drop Down
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I cut the excess of Orthodox because I don't like the feel of it on my index finger. I use scissors and just snip all the excess off, just below the logo line. Scissors are fine.

And as Berndt mentioned, Orthodox has cloth backing, which makes gluing with any glue pretty easy- it doesn't curl like some OX LP. Water glue is stronger and the rubber won't peel as easily as with rubber cement, but it's easier to apply a smooth, thin layer of rubber cement than it is with water glue. Water glue will also build up faster than rubber cement if you are regluing.
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benfb View Drop Down
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Thanks to both of you for the advice.  What about cutting the round part of the rubber?  Better to use scalpel or scissors?  I use both with smooth but it seems like the pips in Orthodox would be more fragile.
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