When I string the crosses near the last two rows. The racquet frame clamp becomes spaced out during the high tension pull of the string. Should I tighten the frame clamp then or should I do it when I have released the string tension or pull? When do I do it so that it will minimise frame distortion? Thank you in advance. Simon
i have difficulty understanding what you mean. what do you mean by "The racquet frame clamp becomes spaced out" ? are you string the cross string top down? or bottom up? what kinda of machine do you have? what's the tension? etc. etc. we need more information.
I think he means that the racket is shrinking in the machine and coming loose from the side supports.
I am using a manual machine at 26 lbs, bottom up. The head shrinks a little as I go up leading towards the top of the racquet. The side supports gradually produce gaps, my question is do I close the gap when the string is still pulling or should I close after I release the pull?
that is very strange as i have never experienced the racket narrowing when stringing bottoms up. when going bottoms up the forces of the string squeezes the top of the racket outwards, which actually make it press against the side support instead of narrowing. as for your question, i would do it while there is nothing actively pulling on the racket, ie after you have released the crank/weight. that way you can close it with the racket still centered on the machine. but still, i find it rather strange that it will have a gap on bottoms up. can you post a photo/video?
There is a gap when I pull, but not visible when I release the crank. However, even when is nothing actively pulling on the racket, I can feel the side supports have room to tighten a bit more, so I will now do that once I release the crank. Your reply was greatly appreciated.
I think I get what sassyboy meant. when he is pulling from about 3-7 crosses bottom up, he noticed the bottom half of the frame are gradually narrowing as each crosses are tensioned. Therefore, 2 of the side (4&8 o'clock) mounting supports would have some gaps between the racket and the supports. (maybe about 2-5mm). he is just wondering whether is it better to adjust the mounts to fit in tightly to the frame, while a cross string is getting constant pulled, or after the string is clamped. this is my understanding. hope it is ok. Thanks.
This situation happened when I pulling the crosses passed the middle section of the frame. Mine were top-down and the gaps occurred at 2 & 10 o'clock clamp positions. As Kwun said, you just tighten the clamps when there is no pulling action and I never had any problem to the frame.
yes. it is more common with top down as the top part of the frame is weaker and more prone to deformation under stress. however, for bottoms up, i have never seen that happen as the bottom of the frame is strong and the top part of the frame is being squeezed out instead of in.
The situation is squeezing a spanking new toothpaste from the bottom of the tube. The bottom gets squeezed and narrowed while the top end gets bulged out.
