Prince hairpin shape - foreign pallet?

Lphansen

Rookie
Hi All
Ii I were to remove molded material from the handle of a Prince precision racket, what kind of shape would the hairpin have?
I mean if the material are removed , would it be possible to install a pallet from Head or other brand?

Simply put, can a pallet be installed on a Prince hairpin?

Best lphansen
 

Guardian

New User
If you remove the buttcap you can most likely see the shape and dimensions of the hairpin. And yes, a Head pallet will fit (at least those 3 prince racquets I've checked). The Prince hairpin is a little thicker than Head, meaning you'll have slight gaps between the pallets when mounted. If you use TK82 type pallets (not the 'Speed' type TK82S) you will get the best result, use one size smaller pallet than the size you need, because of the gaps. Note that a Head hairpin is 1mm wider towards the throat of the racquet, and the internal dimensions of the pallets will reflect this. Add a little tape on each side of the Prince hairpin to create a perfect fit. On a different note, a Prince hairpin often has grooves with pieces of metal inserted - remove the metal if you want a lighter handle.

Good luck, but keep in mind you cannot easily replace the molded foam once removed!
 
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Buhl

New User
I have removed the pallet from a Prince EXO3 red 105. The hairpin was a perfect fit for a Volkl pallet type "r"
 

sredna42

Hall of Fame
Hi All
Ii I were to remove molded material from the handle of a Prince precision racket, what kind of shape would the hairpin have?
I mean if the material are removed , would it be possible to install a pallet from Head or other brand?

Simply put, can a pallet be installed on a Prince hairpin?

Best lphansen

I stripped one of my TT 100p's, a head pallet almost fits perfectly on it, but is a tad off, I'll take some pics tomorrow for you

I did it because I wanted the head tk82 pallet shape on the prince frame.
 

Don't Let It Bounce

Hall of Fame
The hairpins of the only Heads I have removed pallets from (Pro Tour, Satellite Tour, Ti.Radical) have also been square-shaped, though the corners of the square are somewhat rounded, like Sredna42's Tecnifibre hairpin above.

Guardian, did you find that the tape you added made it snug enough that the extra space around the corners did not matter? Did you experience any squeaking or other movement of the Head pallet?
 

Guardian

New User
Guardian, did you find that the tape you added made it snug enough that the extra space around the corners did not matter? Did you experience any squeaking or other movement of the Head pallet?

I used some aluminium tape to get a good fit but any tape that stays put should be fine. I didn't fill in the gaps in the corners. No squeaking or movement but I've only ever used pallets in size 5 and they are thicker and stronger than the smaller sizes obviously. If you're concerned I guess it's possible to fill in the gaps.
 
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