Heat Shrink Wrap?

[Amone]

What, in the opinion of this board, is the likelihood my local (well stocked, hence not especially local) 'Pro Shop' can install a Heat Shrink to my Prince racquet (hence, no pallet system)? I thought about buying one off of TW, and if the chances are low (and they say they can't, when I call them regardless of answers around here... they're closed on sundays) I still will, but I don't know how accessible a heat gun would be... so I prefer someone who's equipped to do it, does.

[Ronaldo]

Originally Posted by Amone

What, in the opinion of this board, is the likelihood my local (well stocked, hence not especially local) 'Pro Shop' can install a Heat Shrink to my Prince racquet (hence, no pallet system)? I thought about buying one off of TW, and if the chances are low (and they say they can't, when I call them regardless of answers around here... they're closed on sundays) I still will, but I don't know how accessible a heat gun would be... so I prefer someone who's equipped to do it, does.

May be cheaper and less time-consuming to send the racquet to TW. However, a hair dryer may do the trick.

[WhiteSox05CA]

I've only seen it done with a hair dryer. It doesn't look that hard to do, and it's easy to remove if you want to switch back.

[Bodacious DVT]

my local proshop has them and increases 1 grip size for 5 bucks. i would wait a day to order it and see if they can do it, or if they possibly have them at the shop. a heat gun is just a blowdrier, and i think the wraps work the in the same way as shrinkwrap. theres a tutorial in the learning center for how to install one. doesnt look too hard to try it yourself.

[yourname1245]

yeah a hair dryer will work if its set on high. They are easy to use just let ir be high on top start from top to bottom and cut off the excess when its completed. the only thing is they may add some weight to ur racquet, where overgrips many not weight it down that much.

[Amone]

Okay, I wasn't sure if a hair-dryer would get hot enough, but if it would, then I'm fine. But thanks for the answer to the actual question, Bodacious. ;p

[palikero]

Many, if not all, pro shops should be able to install heat shrink sleeves properly.

Frankly, you could do it yourself instead of paying the proshop to do it.
Just use a heat gun/hair dryer after lining the sleeve on the pallet.

If you dont have a heat gun, you can also use a stove in your house.
Just slide the sleeve over the pallet, then hold the racquet over a stove set on medium low, and slowly continuously rotate the racquet handle over the heat of the stove. The shrink sleeve will shrink down in about 10 seconds.
Just make sure to continuously rotate the handle, or else you might burn the shrink sleeve.
Also, remember not to slide the sleeve too high up the handle, because it will be quite difficult to trim the excess from the top. You would rather want to trim the excess off the racquet handle end side, as it's much easier (and less chance to scratch the racquet).

[Amone]

Originally Posted by palikero

Many, if not all, pro shops should be able to install heat shrink sleeves properly.

Frankly, you could do it yourself instead of paying the proshop to do it.
Just use a heat gun/hair dryer after lining the sleeve on the pallet.

If you dont have a heat gun, you can also use a stove in your house.
Just slide the sleeve over the pallet, then hold the racquet over a stove set on medium low, and slowly continuously rotate the racquet handle over the heat of the stove. The shrink sleeve will shrink down in about 10 seconds.
Just make sure to continuously rotate the handle, or else you might burn the shrink sleeve.
Also, remember not to slide the sleeve too high up the handle, because it will be quite difficult to trim the excess from the top. You would rather want to trim the excess off the racquet handle end side, as it's much easier (and less chance to scratch the racquet).

Come to think of it, you're totally right about the stove thing... Thank you for your (quite complete) answer, Palikero.

[diredesire]

The stove trick is one that's pretty commonly used. A heat gun will run you about $20, and is much, much more powerful than a hair dryer. There IS a big difference, and on a pretty huge heat shrink sleeve like one that would fit over a racquet, you may not get even/nice results with a hair dryer (most likely you WOULDN'T, unless the hair dryer was a professional one, or very, very high wattage).

[Ronaldo]

Be careful with a heat gun, it can actually melt the sleeve. After all it can strip vinyl paint.

[PBODY99]

A full size 1500 watt hair dryer will work just fine, if you remember to work top down & take your time. A slow rotation will allow even a fairly heavy sleeve to reduce itself to a perfect fit in my years of installing them. The weight and balance will be affected,but that is a trade off that many on this board who "lead up" a frame shouldn't mind.

[jonolau]

The heat from a hair dryer easily does the trick and there's no need to buy a heat gun.

From my experience, it adds about 20gms of static weight.

[Amone]

Originally Posted by PBODY99

A full size 1500 watt hair dryer will work just fine, if you remember to work top down & take your time. A slow rotation will allow even a fairly heavy sleeve to reduce itself to a perfect fit in my years of installing them. The weight and balance will be affected,but that is a trade off that many on this board who "lead up" a frame shouldn't mind.

*shifty eyes* I would never lead up my frames. I'm just too much of a sweetie for that.

[Amone]

Well, got the shrink-wrap in, and applied it. It seemed a lot smaller than I expected, but I'm 99% sure it's a full size larger, so I was just confused.

Applying it (with the stove) was surprisingly easy. I was supposed to have parental supervision, so... I asked my dad to watch, and he grabbed the racquet and did it himself. XD The long and short is, you should probably have at least one other person watching, because there were a lot of 'pock-marks' and dimples as we heated it, that he probably wouldn't have noticed, and I don't know if I would have either if I were heating it up too.

[jonolau]

Originally Posted by Amone

Well, got the shrink-wrap in, and applied it. It seemed a lot smaller than I expected, but I'm 99% sure it's a full size larger, so I was just confused.

Applying it (with the stove) was surprisingly easy. I was supposed to have parental supervision, so... I asked my dad to watch, and he grabbed the racquet and did it himself. XD The long and short is, you should probably have at least one other person watching, because there were a lot of 'pock-marks' and dimples as we heated it, that he probably wouldn't have noticed, and I don't know if I would have either if I were heating it up too.

Did you get the half size or full size wrap?

Even if there are dimples, go back to that area with the hair dryer and it will even out.

[Amone]

Originally Posted by jonolau

Did you get the half size or full size wrap?

Even if there are dimples, go back to that area with the hair dryer and it will even out.

Oh, I mentioned it to him and they cleared right up with another 5 sec or so pass at them.

Full size. I do have one question, for anyone who might know. I left it all until the end, and it ringed around the buttcap like the site said it would, but I have one problem: the ring, it sticks out. Is there any way to get it to shrink around the buttcap more tightly, so I don't have a bubbly-thing outside my grip?

[jonolau]

Originally Posted by Amone

Oh, I mentioned it to him and they cleared right up with another 5 sec or so pass at them.

Full size. I do have one question, for anyone who might know. I left it all until the end, and it ringed around the buttcap like the site said it would, but I have one problem: the ring, it sticks out. Is there any way to get it to shrink around the buttcap more tightly, so I don't have a bubbly-thing outside my grip?

Cut off the excess with a paper cutter so that it is flush with the end of the butt cap.

[Amone]

Drat, okay. I figured it might come to that...

[jonolau]

Originally Posted by Amone

Drat, okay. I figured it might come to that...

Ha ha, don't worry, it's actually really easy and only takes a couple of minutes.

Good luck.

[ibemadskillzz]

Don't even go up a grip size, it's bad for your game, increasing grip size is ridiculous, you will regrett it. trust me don't. Look at federer with a 4 3/8 grip, he has bigger hands than you. you should not try to get big.