Ping pong ball material changing after Olympics

[Vassily]

As a table tennis player and therefore connoisseur of pingpong balls, I thought you guys might want to know that the ITTF (table tennis governing body) is intending to change the ball material after the Olympics to a non-celluloid material, apparently due to safety reasons in the ball factories. The new material should approximate the old one very well, and may even be cheaper (and the new balls are one-piece no-seam now) but in any case for the paranoid now is the time to stock up!

If you are looking for balls, in general the white ones seem to be harder than the orange ones. Double fish 3-star balls seem hard. Double happiness 3-star should be good too. Nittaku Premiums are the only ball made in japanese factories, so might be different. ttnpp.com is famously cheap place (customer service is a bit crap, contact him on skype and its usually better).

Also, many balls come lightly powdered, which goes away with a bit of washing. This may be a reason why some people's ball-nails are not sticking.

[Vassily]

Oh forgot to mention, there are only effectively 3 factories in the world producing balls. Two in china (double fish and dhs), which OEM for everybody else. One in japan (certain types of nittaku premium).

Most of the cheaper 2* balls from reputable manufacturers like double fish and double happiness are actually 3star balls (same process), but fail some roundness or hardness tests. Most likely it is the roundness. Roundness is no problem since you are going to cut it up (I have to say the idea of cutting up a fully-functioning ball freaks me out somewhat ). Hardness might be an issue, but it might be worth the risk if the two stars are really much cheaper.

[oski79]

Thanks for the heads-up Vassily! We don't have a table any more, but I have a supply of broken ping pong balls that should last me into my next few lifetimes, the result of the death-match ping pong battles I used to have with my son! It wasn't so much who won each game that mattered, but how often we hit each other in the head, chest, or crotch. Bonus points!

[rojarosguitar]

Maybe a stupid question, but: how do you actually use pingpong balls for artificial nails?

[robin loops]

just like an artificial nail only you have to cut out the nail shape from the ping pong ball, which just happens to be the perfect size for the amount of curvature of a nail. And supposedly the perfect consistency of material. And they are cheaper than acrylic nails. I have never tried it but have known a few that swore by them.

[pogmoor]

I will await with interest for someone to review the new material as a nail substitute

[rojarosguitar]

just like an artificial nail only you have to cut out the nail shape from the ping pong ball, which just happens to be the perfect size for the amount of curvature of a nail. And supposedly the perfect consistency of material. And they are cheaper than acrylic nails. I have never tried it but have known a few that swore by them.

Thanks. How do they attach the material?

[robin loops]

Velcro

[lagartija]

just like an artificial nail only you have to cut out the nail shape from the ping pong ball, which just happens to be the perfect size for the amount of curvature of a nail. And supposedly the perfect consistency of material. And they are cheaper than acrylic nails. I have never tried it but have known a few that swore by them.

Thanks. How do they attach the material?

You use super glue. The way I was taught by my teacher is to first thin the material a bit. Cut out the amount of material that goes past the split or chip and extends to the length you normally keep your nails. Cut to the correct shape for the nail and use a piece of scotch tape to hold the ping pong ball material. If I remember correctly, he used a post-it to make a template for the shape of the repair. Then he put the post-it template on the ping pong ball material and cut out that shape.
Apply super glue to the nail or repair material and position it carefully. Adhere it by pressing it on the nail being repaired letting the tape keep you from gluing your finger to the nail being repaired. The tape allows you to hold onto the repair material and push it down, then you only have to peel off the tape.
Once you have peeled the tape off, then cut out a piece of nail silk and lay it over the edge where the ping pong ball meets the good part of the nail. This layer will keep you from catching it on something and popping off the repair. Usually, nail silk comes with an adhesive side. After sticking it down over the joint, add superglue to strengthen it.
When all is dry, you can file the ping pong ball just like you would file your nail. The main thing to remember about this method is that the string still makes contact with your real nail; the repair is to reinforce the nail to keep a split from propagating during usage or add length if you had to file down because of a bad chip (in which case the ping pong ball IS making contact with the string). The ping pong ball is on top of your real nail. As your nail grows out, you keep filing the repair material as needed. At some point, it pops off (mine lasted 3 weeks) and either your nail has grown back enough, or you make another patch.

I only needed one repair like this. My own nails are now in very good shape and I haven't needed a repair since my second week of playing CG.

[robin loops]

Thank you for the detailed instructions. I just couldn't resist the smartass answer (velcro). 'Google' was my other thought. Both less typing than 'i don't know exactly how'

[oski79]

One thing I'd add to lagartija's suggestion is to spread a dab of superglue on your nail, and spread a dab on the underside of the piece of ping pong ball. Let each dry for just a bit--maybe 15-20 seconds. Superglue is not, as they would like you to believe, instant and permanent. If you let each surface dry just a bit, it will adhere better the first time. I discovered this by trial and error. Plus, I've done enough model building and woodworking to have a healthy appreciation for how glues actually work.

[JoeUlman]

I tried a similar type nail fix for the first time a few days ago. My thumb nail developed a crack down the middle that kept propagating past where I tried to file it away. Rather than file the nail completely too short as would be needed to get into good nail, I cut a patch from a thin (0.2mm) plastic id card that had expired and glued it to the underside of my nail with ca glue. I also spread a thin layer of ca on the top edge of the natural nail over the crack. I filed to shape followed by the usual polishing with 600 and 1500 grits.

The nail is a bit on the short side but still usable, feels quite normal when playing, and the sound is perfectly natural.

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Joe

[lagartija]

Nicely done! I think I would find a card shoved under my nail a bit uncomfortable. But if it works for you, others may find this "card trick" useful.

[rojarosguitar]

Thanks for all the instructions!

[JoeUlman]

Update on my thumbnail fix.

The under-the-nail plastic card patch held up for about 5 days but then tended to partially delaminate from my nail. After a few re-glues by wicking thin CA into the delaminating areas with only temporary success, I removed the patch and cleaned the glue residue from the underside of the nail with 320 grit and alcohol swab. I went out and got some ping pong balls, cut an oversize patch, glued it in place with CA. I also put another thin layer of CA over the top edge of the nail, filed and polished. The ping pong ball patch has been holding up nicely for about a week now with no evidence of the original nail split propagating any further. The sound is very natural to my ear. Here are a couple updated pics of the ping pong ball patch.

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Joe