Hi guys, I am going to get a drop weight stringing machine from W&D Strings. I believe lots of people here from UK have bought their machine from W&D due to their competitive price. I will either get the Pro's pro Challenger 1 or 2 but I see no difference from this 2 machines. I think I should get some additional clamps if I want to string a badminton racket. Am I right? Anyone have Challenger 2? I haven't see any review of this in this forum except the review of Challenger 1 from J_M_V. Please advice me which one I should get with my limited budget. Many thanks.
Thanks jerby. Sorry but what is the ratchet for? Having that is cheaper than the machine which has not got ratchet?
from what I know: a ratchet really comes in handy: it's located at the 'hinge' part were the logn staff ends. here's a picture. the one on the left (challenger I) has a ratchet: this means that when you let the weight drop, and it's not the right tension yet, you can put the string 'on hold' and let the weight drop again. with the II you have to mess around a lot more. I suggest you pick a ratchet, it well worth it, i think
Thank you very much for pointing that out and the pictures. I think I will get Challenger I which have got ratchet.
The ratchet does make the string job easier and faster. However, the one w/o can really train a stringer with the accurate estimation. An expereinced stringer with a simple drop weight machine, can get to the point right away, or with very min. # of tries. It feels great as it's an achievement.
yes, it's nice to get it in one pull...but rarely happens (at my place...) plus: if you have a ratchet you can 'wiggle' the weight (tap it upwards, tot ake the stretch out fo the string, and then put it back at the right tension) and soem 'stretchy' strings "always" need two pulls to get right ( the weight touches the table on the first run)
I have no doubt about the nice feature it provides. All I am saying, it the simple machine gives u the extra chances to gain experience, which can be fun (or frustrated).
Thank you very much jerby and LazyBuddy? The point you make it quite right LazyBuddy. I am sure I will have great satisfaction to string a racket successfully without the ratchet. By doing this, it will greatly improve my skills on stringing. Yet, I still haven't make up my mind which one to buy. I will get a portable manual stringing machine either from W&D Strings or Eagnas. Eagnas have a good choice of machines but it will take a longer time for me to receive the machine. Anyone out there can give me any suggestions? If I buy from W&D Stringings, it will be either Challenger 1 or 2. If I buy from Eagnas, it will be Flex 730, DE-3600, Hawk 40 or GE II.
Hi Guys, Finally, I received the Challenger 1 yesterday and start setting up the machine to string my 1st racket. However, the seller forgot to swap the tennis clamps with the badminton clamps which I request when I ordered. Ok, she will get it send to me today and hopefully I can start stringing soon. I have some questions here and hope experts out there can answer all of it. Thank you very much. 1) I read in somewhere in this forum that the machine come with two weights. Is it I only need to use one to string a badminton racket? 2) There are two marking scales on the rod. I presumed the one at the bottom which has a larger number is lbs. Am I right? And I need to align the bottom of the weight to the desire tension? 3) For stringing techniques, I start by refering to the guide http://www.prospeed.com.my/Step.htm which use one piece stringing method. Is this the good way to start? I have now prestring my racket and are ready to put the tension when I got the badminton clamps. Any recommendations and advices is welcome.
Another problem here. The linear ball bearing string gripper just won't grip the string. What can I do?
Can you adjust it? You could try that first, but if it can't be adjusted, try this trick:Business Card Trick Even thought I have a dropweight machine, I have 4 scales on the rod So not all machines are similar. My advise is to email to the company to get some answers to your questions. This topic has been discussed before. Try searching the forum for more information.
Thanks zaboy. The slidder can be adjust with allen key but those allen keys come with the machine is not the right size to use. I now use the business card trick and will adjust it when I found the suitable size allen key. I will ask the company about the scale but I will have a guess first. Finally I have received the badminton clamp which is a Pro's Pro. Not very happy with it as one is used one. If it didn't work out well I might consider getting another badminton clamp. I have spend way too much time on my 1st racket, hopefully can finish it today.
For the scale, could you provide a picture of it? Or if not, can you describe it? What are the ranges on the scales? Example, on the first scale, is it 10 to 25? Also, doesn't the manual state how to setup the machine to be used on badminton rackets?
Arg. I can't edit my post after 15mins? ARG! Okay, no big deal. So, I was thinking that if I post how my weights and scales works on my machine, maybe it could help you setup your machine. My dropweight machine has two weights which combines into one whole weight. The two weights consists of a large and small weight. On some machine, the small weight has a badminton label on it which is useful but mine didn't come with a label Okay, so then onto the scales. My machine has 4 scales. There are two pound scales on one side, and two kilogram scales on the other side. I'll be talking about the pound side. The first scale has a range from 9-26 which uses the small weight. The second scale has a range from 20-90 which uses the whole weight(both large and small). The kilogram side uses the same concepts. Hopefully, this information can get you started. Good luck
Arkh......Actually getting a bit frustrated now. The ratchet is now broken and it will no longer work. The spring just not working now and it will no longer lock the gripper and avoid it to rotate with the tension rod. For the scale. It mark KGS at the far end. The scale range from 7 to 16 on the top half and 16 to 38 at the bottom. I presumed the bottom one is for lbs. The manual doesn't state about the scale and it does tell me how to set up the machine but it is really bried and I am sure the manual is made by the people who sell the machine. "LOCAL" My machine might be same as yours and it came with two weight. I read somewhere here that we only need to use one weight to string a badminton racket and I am now using one weight with the knob. There isn't any lable on the weight. I am following the stringing guide from http://www.prospeed.com.my/Step.htm After tied the first knot and start tensioning the main, I am now stuck at 7B where I can't pull the string due to the knot on that main string. I have now cut the knot and back to the beginning after the free stringing. I am sure you know how I felt now. :crying:
Interesting. After I converted your scale ranges from kilograms to pounds, I noticed this: This translate to 15 to 35 pounds This translate to 35 to 83 pounds Those scales seem somewhat similar to my scales. So my guess is try using the small weight and use the top scale(7 to 16 kilograms). The 16 to 38 kilogram scale should use the whole weight(large + small). This is just a guess based on how I setup my machine. Your best bet to confirm this is to email the company or hopefully somebody who's using the same machine in BC can help out. As for the stringing, you might try a two piece method. The video link below proved to be very useful. Even though it's for tennis rackets, the concepts still applies to badminton rackets. The only difference is the string pattern which you need to find for your racket. Two Piece Stringing Video: http://www.sptennis.com/stringer.asp#eStringer Click on the "Video of racquet strung with e.Stringer" link.
Thanks again zasboy. I think what you are saying is right and I only need the small weight to string a badminton racket. The top scale is for one weight and the bottom scale is for two weights. All of the scale is in KGS. As for the stringing, I think I need to give up the stringing method from PROSPEED as I can't pull the 4th/5th main string where there is a knot tied on this main string. I will certainly try the 2 piece stringing now as the other option from SPTENNIS. Thanks for the link. For the problem with the ratchet, the company ask me to send the assembly back for repair. I suspect the spring that hold the ratchet is gone and it no longer retract to the position now.
Harloo.......... Finally I have got my 1st racket strung yesterday night after hours and hours of hard work. I snap the string the 1st time and I start again with another pack of string. What I did in the 1st time is I can't get the cross string pass the shared grommet for the main string and I used the awl and try to push it through. Maybe I did it quite a few times and bit hard, the main string finally snap from the shared grommet. Silly me. The 2nd time I removed all the string and use the awl and make sured the shared grommet is large enough and do another stringing on the racket. It is still hard to get the cross string through the shared grommet but managed to do it finally. How did you guys overcome this problem? I got some problems during the stringing process. One is the clamps. The clamps I am using is the swivel based fixed clamps. It is quite hard to adjust the gap of the gripper as if the gap is too big, the string will slip if the gap is too small the string no longer round after the clamp is released. I noticed the quality of the clamps is really bad because the face of the gripper is not exactly parallel to each other. Also, now my Challenger 1 became Challenger 2 now as the rachet has been sent back for repair. I would say this machine will do the job but it is not very impressive due to the quality of the parts etc. I will post the pictures of the strung racket here once I got my camera back and waiting for comments from the expert.
