Changing the rubber on my bat

Bryan Williams Asked 1 month ago

Hi there,

My current bat has;

Stiga classic Offensive blade

Max tense VINHE 49-002 rubber

Joola brave 40-009 rubber

It was built by Bribar who, I presume have used a very strong glue as I'm having difficulty changing the rubbers. Is there something I can use to help me take off the rubbers or will I have to buy a new blade / rubbers which I will build myself.

On a separate note, your tutorials are excellent.

Thank you

Bryan  

Alois Rosario Answered 1 month ago

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for your message and for the kind words about the tutorials.

You definitely don’t need to buy a new blade unless it’s damaged — it’s just a matter of carefully removing the old rubbers and glue. Here’s how you can approach it:

• Peeling off the rubber:
  Start at one corner and peel slowly. Don’t pull too quickly or at a steep angle — instead, try to keep the peel angle shallow and steady. This reduces the risk of splintering the wood.

• Dealing with strong glue:
  Sometimes shops use water-based glue in multiple layers, which can stick quite firmly. Once the rubber is off, roll the glue off the blade gently with your thumb or the flat edge of a plastic card. If it’s very stubborn, you can use something like Acetone or eucalyptus oil, but go very sparingly to avoid soaking the wood.

• Protecting the blade:
  If your blade isn’t sealed (with a thin layer of varnish), it can splinter when removing rubbers. If that happens once, I’d recommend lightly sealing the blade with a proper sealer before the next gluing. That way, future changes will be much easier.

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So no need for a new blade unless you want a fresh start with a little care, you can reuse the one you have many times.