"Normal contact glue water based. Apply a layer on the blade and on the rubber, let it dry 30-45 minutes and join the rubber on the blade. When you remove the rubber from the blade, the residue could become glue again with a small quantity of water. To clean, apply a small quantity of water and scrub with a wet sponge. Large brush for easy gluing. 

This glue sticks perfectly well, is easy to clean with water, and works really well with the Falco Tempo Booster. Another feature of this 100% water glue is that the dry residue on the blade becomes glue again if you apply a spoon of water!"

 

Instructions / Review (by Alex)

This is a true water-based glue for attaching any rubber to your blade. The liquid comes in a 150ml tin, with a nice and thick brush for spreading. The liquid is white and quite thick, but dries clear.

There is some confusion about how to use this glue, as the instructions above are quite different to those on the tin as outlined below.

1. Applying the glue to rubber

Put the rubber onto a flat surface (sponge up) and apply a thin layer of glue to it. I recommend only a very thin layer, since after you attach the rubber and blade together layer and clamp in step 7, you'll squeeze out any excess glue anyway, which is both a waste and makes a mess...  Since the liquid is quite thick, very small strokes makes it much easier to spread it thin and evenly.

Note that the sheet below is cut already, but the procedure below will still work if you cut the rubber after it's been glued. Cutting the rubber before you glue it onto the bat is quite a good option, and can makes things easier as illustrated below, but may not give quite as clean a finish as cutting it afterwards.

2. Applying the glue to blade

Similarly put a thin layer onto the blade

 

4. Applying the rubber and blade together.

This is a simple matter of lining up the label on the rubber to the blade just above the handle, and putting down the rest of the rubber onto the blade.

The good thing about this glue is that it's still not completely dry, so even after you've put the rubber onto the blade, you can still move it around a little if it's not on straight.

Use a roller or round bottle to roll onto the surface to squeeze out any air bubbles underneath, taking care that the rubber does not move around too much. If it move, simple adjust it again. Check to see if any glue has squeezed out from the sides... if it has just wipe it off with a cloth (glue will come out of the cloth by just rinsing it with water.

5. Cut or clamp?

At this point you need to decide if you wish cut the sheet first (if it's not already cut), or clamp the rubber first.

If you cut the sheet at this point, you need to be careful you don't move it around too much and get it out of alignment again.

If you clamp it first, the alignment is not an issue, but the process will take longer since you've have to wait till after clamping before you can put the other side on (if you have to glue both sides. Also your bat may not fit the clamp with the rubbers uncut.

6. Cutting

To cut the rubber, either use small sharp scissors, or a real sharp knife, like a box-cutter knife or a scalpel. Scissors may be easier, but don't usually give as neat a cut. The key with a knife is to take several passes before you cut through the whole rubber... this gives a cleaner cut.

If the glue is still wet when you cut, you mainly have to watch the alignment of the rubber. If the glue is already dry, watch out carefully for hard bits of glue that have squeezed out, as cutting them is harder and may tear the sponge a little if you're not careful.

Cutting the rubber before you start the gluing process is quite a good option too. Simple place the blade into the back of the rubber and draw the outline of the blade onto the sponge, than cut it with small and sharp scissors, with only very small cuts at the time.

Tip: Having the scissors a little wet makes it easier to cut cleanly

7. Clamping

A proper bat clamp, or another type of press, or even a stack of books can be used for clamping. Do not clamp too tight, only just enough to make sure the rubber is in contact with the blade around the edges. If you clamp harder, you'll squeeze out more of the glue, making the adhesion strength less, and can push out some drops of glue, which (when they dry) will make it harder to cut the rubber.

As soon as you've tightened the clamp, check for glue being squeezed out around the edges. If there a fair bit of glue, it would be good to clean this off (with a wet cloth) first, before it hardens....

8. Drying times:

After clamping the rubber seems to be well attached within an hour, but it's likely that stronger adhesion is acquired after longer period.

9. Removing the rubber (if required)

If you need to remove the rubber at a later stage, either for speed glueing or just for replacing or trying a different rubber, it is quite simple with this glue. You can simply pull it off, starting at a corner where it may be a little loose already. if you do it slowly and carefully, it should come off without any damage to either the rubber or blade. Pull at 45 degree to the direction of the fibre of wood, which reduces the chance of pulling off fibres off the blade. I have not found this to be an issue with this glue though.

Both the rubber and the blade can easily be cleaned with a wet cloth, as the glue simply softens up and wipes off. This is a huge advantage with this glue, as getting it off with other types of glue can be a huge pain.

10. Conclusions:

This glue is a little trickier to use than the normal table tennis glues, but also has some significant advantages;

1. It is MUCH safer to use than normal table tennis glue.
2. When the ITTF VOC-based glue ban comes into effect, bats with rubbers glued on with VOC-based table tennis glues can no longer be used, or at least not until all the VOCs have completely evaporated.
3. It is actually water based, and can easily be removed with water. Although there are some other VOC-free products coming onto the market, not all are actually water based, and may need solvents to be cleaned off the surface of the blade or rubber.
4. Glue can be re-activated simply with water.
5. The bond is strong enough to hold the rubber on really well, but not too hard to remove, and I see the risk of pulling off fibres from the blade as much lower compared to normal table tennis glues.

***Note: One of a Kind Trading is the distributor for this products within Australia and New Zealand. If you are interested in becoming one of our distributors, please contact us for further information.

 

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