How to Recover a Worn Ping Pong Paddle

Ping pong, or table tennis, has become quite a popular event, and is even an Olympic sport. Ping pong originated in England in the late 1880s, largely due to the fact that it rains there a lot, and so people were not able to play tennis outside. However, the modern adaptations of the sport are influenced by the United States, Japan and Europe. Ping pong is a fun game to play, and does not take long. However, when paddles start to lose their surfaces, it can be irritating and difficult to play with them. Here's how you can resurface them and keep on playing.

Things You'll Need

• Fine sandpaper
• Paper towels
• Wood glue
• Pen
• Notebook paper
• Exacto knife
• Scissors
• Table
• Lower-grade sand paper
• Putty knife

Instructions

1. Collect all of the ping pong paddles that you have. This project is easy, and will go a lot quicker if you resurface all of your paddles at once. Take note of any that need to be resurfaced, and set the rest aside.

2. Peel the old surface off of the paddles using your fingers. Sometimes it may be necessary to use a tool to help with this process, such as a putty knife. Once the old surface is peeled off, sand the wood so that all glue residues is sanded off. Use the low-grade sand paper for this.

3. Place a piece of notebook paper on the edge of the table. Lay the paddles on the notebook paper. The paddle part should be on the table and the handle part should lie off of the table’s edge. This is so that the paddle can lie flat, and you will be able to make a better stencil. Trace around the paddle with a pencil or pen to get the size of sand paper that you need. Cut out the stencil.

4. Trace the stencil onto the fine grade sand paper. Use the scissors to cut out the shape. Lay it over the ping pong paddle, and trim the edges so that the sand paper almost covers the whole paddle, but leaves a bit of wooden edge showing all the way around.

5. Use a balled-up paper towel to apply the wood glue evenly over the whole surface of the paddle. Make the glue as light of a coating as possible. Carefully place the sand paper onto the paddle a little at a time, slowly so that bubbles and wrinkles are avoided.

6. Use an exacto knife to remove and excess paper from the paddle’s surface once the glue has dried. Repeat Steps 5 and 6 for each side of the paddles and for every paddle that you need to resurface. Once the glue dries, you are done!

Tips & Warnings

• A nail file also works very well in getting rid of excess paper. File directly along the edge of the wood, and the paper will peel right off.

• It is very important that the surface of the paddles are smooth. It is extremely important that there are no wrinkles or bubbles in the paddle’s surface, otherwise game play will be affected.