Lindros13
Semi-Pro
Yesterday afternoon, I did my first change-out of a grip pallet, and I thought it would be helpful to start a new thread to post my experiences. This will enable others to comment on my deficiencies (if any) and also to help others that may do this in the future. For those that are interested, there are actually some older threads about this subject, but they were scattered with bits and pieces of information in different posts/threads.
In general I thought the procedure would go a little faster, but perhaps I just didn't have the right equipment for it to be a seamless process. Although I don't want to scare anyone away - it wasn't too bad. However, as others have suggested, if you have a local shop that has some experienced people in it, it's probably a good idea to just pay them (probably a minimal amount) to do the pallet change-out, possibly maintain your racquet warrantee, and then feel comfortable knowing everything was done right. But for the remaining "do-it-yourself" people out there, here comes my description:
After reading several threads/posts on the subject, I had no problems removing the grip, removing the butt cap, and removing the existing 4 3/8 pallet. As suggested by others, I used a very small screwdriver, snuck it under each of the four butt cap staples, and pried each one up without too much difficulty. If I didn't have a small-ended screwdriver, it could have been a little bit of a pain though. Also, as suggested by others, I heated up the existing pallet using a hair dryer before I pulled away each side of the pallet, which was held on by adhesive and double-sided grip tape. There also was tape on the outside of the pallet (wrapped around like an overgrip) so I sliced it at the seam between the two pieces before I tried pulling each pallet piece off. The hairdryer is supposed to loosen up the glue (similar to loosening up the glue on a hockey stick blade). The inside of the two existing pallet pieces and the remaining handle underneath were definitely sticky and felt a little "gluey". Yes, it could have just been residue from the factory grip tape - but if I had to guess, I'd say it was an adhesive of some sort (that became soft when I heated it w/ the hair dryer).
I didn’t have any spray adhesive, and unfortunately, I neglected to go out and get some before starting this process. Luckily, however, I felt there was enough glue/sticky residue remaining on the handle to hold the new 4 1/2 size pallet in place. But to help, I also wrapped some double sided scotch tape at the very bottom and very top of the handle. Good idea? Bad idea? Note: I didn't want to use the double-sided tape all over the handle because otherwise it would have covered up all of the remaining glue residue that was left behind to secure the new grip pallet. I felt the remaining glue residue could create a stronger bond than my double sided stick tape.
Then, I simply laid the 2 new pallet pieces onto the grip. As anticipated from reading other threads, the pallet actually extends beyond the end of the handle (presumably to accommodate long handled racquets). I then, pulled out a nice, sharp razor blade utility knife and made sharp cuts at the outside of the pallets while I held them on the handle. Luckily, the pallets broke reasonable well right along the cuts I made, and luckily I didn’t swipe my fingers on the follow through cutting motion. In hindsight, perhaps I could've marked the location of a cut, and then taken the pallet off of the handle and made the cut on my desk (instead of making the cut while the pallet was on the handle). But I didn't want to ruin the stickiness of the tape I just added, and I had already place the two pallet pieces on the handle.
I also then re-heated the handle (after placing the new pallet on) with the hairdryer once again, so as to moisten up any glue that may have dried prior to placing the new pallet on. Next, I slipped on the new butt cap. Now here's where I had some trouble & uncertainty. What's the best way to secure the butt cap? Obviously, if I have an electric staple gun with those thin type staples, it would have been ideal. But I don't. Luckily I do have an electric staple gun for slightly wider-type staples. So I used these. However, the staples didn't fully pierce into the handle. So what to do? Get out the hammer I guess! (Now this is probably why racquet warrantees get void if you change your own pallet. Here I am hitting my racquet handle with a hammer!) Two of the four staples went in fairly straight and fairly flush. The other two staples started to bend as I tapped them in. I left one of the staples alone since it was reasonable wedged in but a little angled. The other one was really bad and angled so I pulled it out and shot another staple in, which didn't really do much better the second time. (Are there more powerful staple guns for this, or do the thinner width staples go in easier? Who knows. I did hold the staple gun as flush as possible and tight to the handle when I pulled the trigger, but nonetheless, they didn't fully pierce it.) Could I have used tape or another method to hold on the buttcap rather than staples?
So that was it! I then wrapped on a new replacement grip, threw on an overgrip, and "VOILA". (By the way, I did use the double-sided scotch tape ontop of the entire pallet before placing on the replacement grip. I also wrapped some of this tape around the buttcap as an additional measure hold it on...) Even though the replacement grip has its own inherent stick-tape, I thought additional stick tape would be good to add. Last night I didn't play with that racquet, but I'll give it a shot this week.
Is there a chance that my racquet is going to fling off, leaving me with the handle in my hand??? I doubt it, but it's in my head that one of the buttcap staples may not be too secure!
By the way, I have two other racquets that I plan to change, so perhaps I can take some pictures as I do the next two. I neglected to do this my first time around since I was tight on time.
Suggestions/ Comments/ Clarifications? PLEASE! Thanks. Hope this helps others, and hopefully others that have done pallet change-outs and can post their experiences here as well.
P.S. I got the pallets from TW.
In general I thought the procedure would go a little faster, but perhaps I just didn't have the right equipment for it to be a seamless process. Although I don't want to scare anyone away - it wasn't too bad. However, as others have suggested, if you have a local shop that has some experienced people in it, it's probably a good idea to just pay them (probably a minimal amount) to do the pallet change-out, possibly maintain your racquet warrantee, and then feel comfortable knowing everything was done right. But for the remaining "do-it-yourself" people out there, here comes my description:
After reading several threads/posts on the subject, I had no problems removing the grip, removing the butt cap, and removing the existing 4 3/8 pallet. As suggested by others, I used a very small screwdriver, snuck it under each of the four butt cap staples, and pried each one up without too much difficulty. If I didn't have a small-ended screwdriver, it could have been a little bit of a pain though. Also, as suggested by others, I heated up the existing pallet using a hair dryer before I pulled away each side of the pallet, which was held on by adhesive and double-sided grip tape. There also was tape on the outside of the pallet (wrapped around like an overgrip) so I sliced it at the seam between the two pieces before I tried pulling each pallet piece off. The hairdryer is supposed to loosen up the glue (similar to loosening up the glue on a hockey stick blade). The inside of the two existing pallet pieces and the remaining handle underneath were definitely sticky and felt a little "gluey". Yes, it could have just been residue from the factory grip tape - but if I had to guess, I'd say it was an adhesive of some sort (that became soft when I heated it w/ the hair dryer).
I didn’t have any spray adhesive, and unfortunately, I neglected to go out and get some before starting this process. Luckily, however, I felt there was enough glue/sticky residue remaining on the handle to hold the new 4 1/2 size pallet in place. But to help, I also wrapped some double sided scotch tape at the very bottom and very top of the handle. Good idea? Bad idea? Note: I didn't want to use the double-sided tape all over the handle because otherwise it would have covered up all of the remaining glue residue that was left behind to secure the new grip pallet. I felt the remaining glue residue could create a stronger bond than my double sided stick tape.
Then, I simply laid the 2 new pallet pieces onto the grip. As anticipated from reading other threads, the pallet actually extends beyond the end of the handle (presumably to accommodate long handled racquets). I then, pulled out a nice, sharp razor blade utility knife and made sharp cuts at the outside of the pallets while I held them on the handle. Luckily, the pallets broke reasonable well right along the cuts I made, and luckily I didn’t swipe my fingers on the follow through cutting motion. In hindsight, perhaps I could've marked the location of a cut, and then taken the pallet off of the handle and made the cut on my desk (instead of making the cut while the pallet was on the handle). But I didn't want to ruin the stickiness of the tape I just added, and I had already place the two pallet pieces on the handle.
I also then re-heated the handle (after placing the new pallet on) with the hairdryer once again, so as to moisten up any glue that may have dried prior to placing the new pallet on. Next, I slipped on the new butt cap. Now here's where I had some trouble & uncertainty. What's the best way to secure the butt cap? Obviously, if I have an electric staple gun with those thin type staples, it would have been ideal. But I don't. Luckily I do have an electric staple gun for slightly wider-type staples. So I used these. However, the staples didn't fully pierce into the handle. So what to do? Get out the hammer I guess! (Now this is probably why racquet warrantees get void if you change your own pallet. Here I am hitting my racquet handle with a hammer!) Two of the four staples went in fairly straight and fairly flush. The other two staples started to bend as I tapped them in. I left one of the staples alone since it was reasonable wedged in but a little angled. The other one was really bad and angled so I pulled it out and shot another staple in, which didn't really do much better the second time. (Are there more powerful staple guns for this, or do the thinner width staples go in easier? Who knows. I did hold the staple gun as flush as possible and tight to the handle when I pulled the trigger, but nonetheless, they didn't fully pierce it.) Could I have used tape or another method to hold on the buttcap rather than staples?
So that was it! I then wrapped on a new replacement grip, threw on an overgrip, and "VOILA". (By the way, I did use the double-sided scotch tape ontop of the entire pallet before placing on the replacement grip. I also wrapped some of this tape around the buttcap as an additional measure hold it on...) Even though the replacement grip has its own inherent stick-tape, I thought additional stick tape would be good to add. Last night I didn't play with that racquet, but I'll give it a shot this week.
Is there a chance that my racquet is going to fling off, leaving me with the handle in my hand??? I doubt it, but it's in my head that one of the buttcap staples may not be too secure!
By the way, I have two other racquets that I plan to change, so perhaps I can take some pictures as I do the next two. I neglected to do this my first time around since I was tight on time.
Suggestions/ Comments/ Clarifications? PLEASE! Thanks. Hope this helps others, and hopefully others that have done pallet change-outs and can post their experiences here as well.
P.S. I got the pallets from TW.
