How to remove staples around buttcap

psycho0

Rookie
I currently have an old Head racquet and I am trying to change the pallet which requires me to take off the buttcap. However, the buttcap has no trap door and I am having a very hard time removing the staples around the buttcap with pliers. Does anyone know a trick to remove the staples? Thanks
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
Get a thin and tiny flat-head screw driver that will fit under the staple. (Surprisingly enough, a trip to a dollar store got me a case full of them)

With many racquets you would not be able to wedge the screw driver under the staple.

In that case, take a hammer and gently tap the screw driver right under the staple at about 45 degree angle. (Don't go overboard here, you don't want to break anything)

Once the screw driver has been wedged in, now just use some leverage, push and pull, and voila, the staple should be coming out.
 

el sergento

Hall of Fame
Once the screw driver has been wedged in, now just use some leverage, push and pull, and voila, the staple should be coming out.

A really badly wedged staple once hit me in the eye while removoving it. I had placed a pen under the screwdriver for leverage and was going as slowley as possible until BAM! It came loose and flew right into my glasses :)

Had I been seriously injured it would have been the worse story ever: "well, I was fiddling around with my racquet when boom, staple in the eye" :)
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
A really badly wedged staple once hit me in the eye while removoving it. I had placed a pen under the screwdriver for leverage and was going as slowley as possible until BAM! It came loose and flew right into my glasses :)

Had I been seriously injured it would have been the worse story ever: "well, I was fiddling around with my racquet when boom, staple in the eye" :)

Good thing you were wearing glasses. Safety always first!
 

Carolina Racquet

Professional
+1 for a small flathead screwdriver sometimes called a micro screwdriver.

If the staple is embedded in the butt cap and it's hard to get an edge under the staple, try using a rubber mallet to lightly pound the screwdriver until you can get under it.
 

cork_screw

Hall of Fame
This is a very underspoken complaint. I tried to remove staples on my new head youteks and the staples are actually longer than the old Heads. The staples are about an inch and a quarter long and burried in the handle. I've used all sorts of tools and it was very difficult to lodge the staples out. Everytime I used something to pry the staples and lift them up, they woudld distort from all the tension and would get too distorted to maneuver it out. Then the butt cap would get all these ding and indentation marks from my awl pushing against it to get the staples out. The staples they use nor are almost in the shape of foreceps, I don't know why they changed these staples to make them more difficult to remove, I mean it's not like I'm attaching the Magna Carta, I don't need it to stay there for hundreds of years, but they did because the old head racquets never had staples like they do with the youtek and more newer line. In the end when I did get them out the butt cap had holes and tears and was unusable from all the leveraging that it took during the removal process.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
This is a very underspoken complaint. I tried to remove staples on my new head youteks and the staples are actually longer than the old Heads. The staples are about an inch and a quarter long and burried in the handle. I've used all sorts of tools and it was very difficult to lodge the staples out. Everytime I used something to pry the staples and lift them up, they woudld distort from all the tension and would get too distorted to maneuver it out. Then the butt cap would get all these ding and indentation marks from my awl pushing against it to get the staples out. The staples they use nor are almost in the shape of foreceps, I don't know why they changed these staples to make them more difficult to remove, I mean it's not like I'm attaching the Magna Carta, I don't need it to stay there for hundreds of years, but they did because the old head racquets never had staples like they do with the youtek and more newer line. In the end when I did get them out the butt cap had holes and tears and was unusable from all the leveraging that it took during the removal process.

Rather than an awl, use my method outlined above.

I got all the staples out of Head Youtek Prestige Pro in less than 3 minutes with no harm done to the pallets.
 

psycho0

Rookie
Took them out by hammering a flat-head screwdriver under the staple. Indented the pallet underneath but I was replacing the pallet anyways so it's fine. Thanks for the help.
 

scotus

G.O.A.T.
Took them out by hammering a flat-head screwdriver under the staple. Indented the pallet underneath but I was replacing the pallet anyways so it's fine. Thanks for the help.

Glad to be of help.

Next time take it a bit easier with the hammer.
 

Gemini

Hall of Fame
I'm SO glad I found this thread! I'm extending the handle on one of my racquets and ran into the same problem. I thought about the screwdriver but decided against it for fear of a flying staple...LOL! I guess I'll just have to chance it.
 

coachrick

Hall of Fame

NO-NO-a THOUSAND times NO!!!

We've all done it; but the potential for injury is MUCH higher with a pointed awl than with a flat-headed screwdriver.

I've seen plenty of holes poked in hands over the years...even with a screwdriver, please resist the temptation to hold the bottom of the handle WITH YOUR HAND directly in the 'flight path' of the tool being forced in that direction! (I was on the receiving end of an awl in 1981...never again! Bleeding on a customer's racket is NOT a good idea ;) I probably needed a tetanus booster anyway :) )

Even if one doesn't get stabbed in the process, the shrapnel created by a broken awl or screwdriver tip can cause serious injury potential(as described above).

The early Yamahas had shallow, brittle, plastic butt caps that created all sorts of problems...never mind trying to RE-install one securely! The solid integral handles of the early Fischers and other Euro rackets weren't exactly a walk in the park, either.
 
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