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BlackIce

Taping the toe of your blade

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Yea, I only started doing that when I switched over to OPS sticks mainly because the toe was chipping like crazy. Never seemed to have the problem with wood. But the tape seems to have helped...

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The boys of PHEW will tell you it looks better, but other than for protection issues, not really.

I personally think it looks better and it protects the blade better but... the BIGGEST reason why I tape over the toe is feel. I prefer how the puck and ice feel with a fully taped blade rather than exposed. To me an exposed toe feels like scratching a chalkboard sounds, specifically on a composite blade.

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Thanks guys. Your advice was appreciated. With the high cost of composite sticks taping the toe to protect it makes sense. I just find that it takes longer than the traditional tape job and mine never turns out neat at the toe.

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I started taping the toe just to make my new expensive OPS last longer. There are some videos on youtube of different ways people do it. Maybe you'll find one that gives a cleaner look. I just extend the tape past the blade and fold it over by a half inch on each side for the last few times. Then just take a fine scissor to trim and it looks good.

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I tape mine to protect the blade. I'm not good enough to be able to tell how different it makes the puck feel. I also usually just extend the tape past the toe and trim it with some scissors as mentioned above.

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Thanks guys. Your advice was appreciated. With the high cost of composite sticks taping the toe to protect it makes sense. I just find that it takes longer than the traditional tape job and mine never turns out neat at the toe.

Place a piece of tape, about 2 1/2 inches over the toe and pat it down neatly on both sides. Then tape from heel to toe and continue straight, extending over the toe. Then trim. Perfecto!!

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I've seen some "how to" videos on youtube of how to tape the toe that are just brutal, all you gotta do keep going like normal and not bunch it up, then trim. Here's how it should look before you cut off the excess.

tape003.jpg

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Place a piece of tape, about 2 1/2 inches over the toe and pat it down neatly on both sides. Then tape from heel to toe and continue straight, extending over the toe. Then trim. Perfecto!!

That's what I do. But I use an extra long piece of tape because I go from heel on the bottom of the blade to a couple inches on the top

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I've seen some "how to" videos on youtube of how to tape the toe that are just brutal, all you gotta do keep going like normal and not bunch it up, then trim. Here's how it should look before you cut off the excess.

Nice job!

The problem i have is making sure the tape doesn't bunch up at the toe. Any tips?

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Yeah the guy/gal above did a great job. Looks sweet! When I tape the toe it always bunches up at the tip and is a pain in the as* to fix. I guess some people have a knack for it!

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I certainly can't make it pretty like that pic.

I do mine a little differently. Maybe it's overkill. I run a strip of tape along the bottom edge all the way along the bottom of the blade, over the toe, and a little onto the top of the blade. I then put a few wraps on going from the toe toward the heel. Then I tape the blade from the heel, overlapping the taped toe of the stick a little bit. I really don't notice any added wight or loss in feel/performance with the extra tape. It may not be pretty, but it definitely has kept my blades in good shape. In the 3-4 years I've used Composite blades/OPS, I've broken/badly damaged only one composite blade, and it was a freak play. I wish I could say the same for shafts.

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Damn cemetery, that's a clean job. I can never get the spacing so perfect. And white tape drives me nuts because I can see the extra bit towards the heel.

Looks like a Smyth curve maybe?

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It's a Kovalchuk pro curve for those curious.

As far as how to keep it clean once you get to the toe, it's kind of hard to explain but once I get to where the tape won't stay on the blade (last two wraps), I give it a little slack and keep going as if there was still a part of the blade there, that way it ends up uniform across. Hope that makes sense.

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I certainly can't make it pretty like that pic.

I do mine a little differently. Maybe it's overkill. I run a strip of tape along the bottom edge all the way along the bottom of the blade, over the toe, and a little onto the top of the blade. I then put a few wraps on going from the toe toward the heel. Then I tape the blade from the heel, overlapping the taped toe of the stick a little bit. I really don't notice any added wight or loss in feel/performance with the extra tape. It may not be pretty, but it definitely has kept my blades in good shape. In the 3-4 years I've used Composite blades/OPS, I've broken/badly damaged only one composite blade, and it was a freak play. I wish I could say the same for shafts.

use a similar tape job on my kids sticks. Playing D the stick is against the boards a lot playing dump-ins....the tape on the toe always wears 1st not the taped blade bottom.

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