Why air bubble appeared between sponge and blade?

Lionel Unknown Asked 16 years ago

Hi coach,

It is so strange that my Sriver 2.1mm Red, in Jan 09 for the first time sticking onto Butterfly Chinese Real blade using Fit Chack (new ITTF approved glue from Butterfly), then surprisingly air bubble got in between sponge and blade surface (I could see bulging topsheet). The shop which sold me this blade and rubber helped to peel off and reglued with Fir Chack....goodness, just days from playing, again bulging again, and keep repeating the process of peeling off and regluing.

It has now passed the first 4 times fit chack reglue, and 2 times Butterfly Fair Chack reglue (speed glue), still had bubble-kind of bulging. And thus for the 7th attempt on Sunday just passed, I asked him to use Chack Sheet (glue sheet) to stick between rubber and sponge. Actually what went wrong with the rubber and spionge? Only played few days (12 hours accumulated) and bulging topsheet happened... any idea how to solve this issue?

Thanks, Lionel

Alois Rosario Answered 16 years ago

Hi Lionel,

This is a defect with the manufacturing of the rubber. The top sheet should not come away form the sponge that quickly. It does happen sometimes, but once it happens it is very difficult to fix, as you have found out.

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Lionel Unknown Posted 16 years ago

Hi Alois,

This is between the sponge and the blade, does not seem to be between the topsheet and sponge, because after every re-glue, the bulging is gone (not bulging at all area, only certain area), and I could play a predictable table tennis again. Any idea why could there be peeling between sponge and blade?

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 16 years ago
You may need to use a roller when putting the rubber on. Instead of placing the rubber on your bat, start at the bottom and roll the rubber on. You could use a Rolling Pin to do this, just so you don't leave any air bubbles under the sponge. The other thing is to make sure the glue is quite dry before you attach the rubber. Wet glue will sometimes sit under there and form an uneven surface.