here is a complete video of one of my recent string job. the total time took was just under 23 mins not including string cutting and mounting. RACKET: Arcsaber 7 STRING: Zymax 62 TENSION: 22.5lbs [video=youtube;Nt1IEXUuoGk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt1IEXUuoGk[/video]
here is the break down of the time spent on each part of the flow. [TABLE="class: outer_border"] [TR] [TD]task[/TD] [TD]duration[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]mains[/TD] [TD]6:05[/TD] [TD]15 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]first 2 cross[/TD] [TD]0:48[/TD] [TD]24 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]cross knot[/TD] [TD]0:20[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]main knots[/TD] [TD]1:10[/TD] [TD]35 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]weave 7 cross[/TD] [TD]3:10[/TD] [TD]~25 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]tension 6 cross[/TD] [TD]1:30[/TD] [TD]15 secs each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]weave 6 cross[/TD] [TD]2:20[/TD] [TD]~23 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]tension 6 cross[/TD] [TD]1:25[/TD] [TD]14 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]weave+tension 1 shared hole[/TD] [TD]1:05[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]weave + tension next 4[/TD] [TD]3:40[/TD] [TD]55 sec each[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]tension last cross[/TD] [TD]0:20[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]last knot[/TD] [TD]0:30[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]trimming knots[/TD] [TD]0:10[/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] interesting comparison as i local preweave the middle cross and that takes ~40 seconds each weave+tension on average. while string one-ahead the last crosses take 55 seconds each. also the shared hole is only 1:05 which is not that bad. still wondering if there are things that can be done faster without giving up any quality. which might be hard to do. i was going at a pretty brisk pace but probably not the fastest i can do. ZM62 while thin is also slightly soft and isn't the easiest string to work with. i string faster with BG80 which is stiffer and easier to weave with.
Thanks for posting this Kwun. It's always good to see other people's style and technique. What do you estimate the complete beginning-to-end time to be including clearing the old broken strings, removal of new string from package or spool, straightening of strings at the end and final check-ver. This would give people who get shops to string, the type of quality "shortcuts" that are often taken to do a ~15 minute (total) string job. @ 1:31, there's a bit of a "snarlage", or whatever it's called, on the section of the string still outside of the frame about to be tensioned. I find that when using strings such as BG80 and BG85, if this is not unsnarled before the tensioning, it becomes the weak point where the string will likely break. Some strings are more tolerant of this than others.
cleaning broken string+cutting+mounting will add at least 1.5 mins to the process. even more if it includes examining all the grommets and replacing any grommets. with the worst case scenarios could end up being a 30 mins string job. i have yet to see a shop do a 15mins string job. that will be the work of a seasoned stringer with very fast fingers. even then, there are tasks that are limited by for example how fast the WISE takes to tension a string and that cannot be sped up. i don't have the fastest technique by far but to nearly double my actual speed will be impressive to watch. snarlage, yes, usually i try to pull them out by hand before hitting the machine. it gets worst at the top crosses where the shared holes can induce a lot of twists.
Ever watch Kevin Yamaguchi from Asby String? That guy is fast!! Faster than his ugly cousin, who is supposed to be stringing at the Olympics. I think Kevin should be going instead of him.
@Kwun I notice your cross tieoff seems to be at a13 instead of the Yonex recommended a5. Any special reasons for that?
Try as I might, I couldn't stop this setting off my OCD - I, also, MUST know why! Surely it's a shorter hop to H5...
@Mark, Kwun Actually i ve seen many pple do this but none of them can tell me their rationale for doing so. I have even seen many pple simply doing a big stopper knot instead of tying around the mains for tie offs!
of course there is a reason. the idea is to tie all the knots away from the sweetspot (center) strings. having a knot is similar to putting a damper on the string itself. it prevents the string from stretching and movement and the sweetspot strings are the ones you want to move free. at least that's the theory.
Perhaps that theory only applies for tensions lower than 28lbs? At higher tensions (30lbs and above) the sweet spot would be getting closer and closer to dead centre and any residual sweet spot at the sides would be lying on the centre 8 strings. The usual main tie off is at the 5th string from the centre line. Just my theory
Interesting and i ll ve to try it and play with it to know if it really makes a diff. To be honest imho, nothing beats the Gosen Pro method for a more concentrated sweetspot. The complex stringing pattern isolates the sweetspot from the top, bottom and sides. Any creeps resulting in tension loss especially coming from the tieoffs are well isolated from the sweetspot.
i have seen those as well. one client gave me a racket with that "knot" on it. basically the guy ties the string on itself to make a big ball, and that stop the string from sliding through the hole.
Hmm... tying off there puts the knot further from the centre mains, but closer to the centre crosses... seems a bit "swings and roundabouts", as we say in England.
it depends which one gets more benefit. to me, the main tie off at 5/6 is too close to the sweetspot.
I see you thread the next main whilst the tensioner is pulling tension on the previous one. This is a definate time saver that I'm going to copy (thanks!). I use a drop weight machine so it won't be quite the time saver it is for you, but should help me shave a few minutes off my total stringing time. I'm still quite inexperienced (I've strung only about 20 rackets) but in an attempt to avoid threading shared holes I tried pre-weaving the bottom few crosses before pulling tension on the last mains. This worked fine for the first racket I tried it on, but on the second the string became severly twisted as I pulled the excess through a shared hole after tensioning the first cross. So I'm quite suprised to see you weave multiple crosses in one go, and even more suprised to see you not have any problems with twisting (corkscrewing) string? All in all it was very impressive watching you string, I'm not sure where you could cut down time, if only there was a quicker way to weave...
