Ox pips onto sponge

Im looking to glue a sheet of ox long pips onto a sheet of dampening sponge.

I have tried this many times with several different methods and different glues. Bottom line.. it's just about impossible to duplicate a factory bond at home. Avoid any solvent-based glues that will deform (i.e. curl, bubble) either the top sheet or sponge. Even my best results, which iirc, were obtained with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, looked OK but didn't play as well as factory-bonded sponged LPs. In the end I gave up after ruining many sheets of 755 OX and a variety of different sponges.

dangigli wrote: Im looking to glue a sheet of ox long pips onto a sheet of dampening sponge. Has anyone experience with doing this? If so what is the best way? Many Thanks.

cole_ely wrote: I do it all the time with rubber cement

In my experience (nowhere as extensive as cole's, btw!) rubber cement, which is solvent-based, causes both topsheet and sponge -- especially thinner sponges -- to bubble because the solvent causes the rubbers to deform. Sheets flatten out a bit as the solvent dries but they're never as flat as before the application of RC. This makes it difficult to get a complete bond without stretching the topsheet while attaching it, and difficult to get a bond that lacks creases and bubbles.

It's my belief that any inconsistencies across the striking surface of a paddle, be it uneven wood; uneven sponge density; and yes, uneven gluing between sponge and topsheet, all contribute to making a paddle produce unexpected and inconsistent results given the same stroke and incoming ball. The end result is that a rubber seems "hard to use" when, in fact, it's simply inconsistent due to material.

One thing is certain from my trials with rubber cement: Topsheets will soon separate from sponge in areas where fingers (or fingers + thumbs for Seemiller gripsters) repeatedly touch the LP sheet. This may not seem like an issue since the ball doesn't typically contact the LP that low on the blade, but it is an issue since it makes the rubber slip beneath one's finger, thus causing -- you guessed it -- an inconsistent grip.