I'm just wondering if there's actually stores near vancouver b.c. that you can order your machine or actually buy it at there?? OR do I have to buy it online?
i think u would have better choices if u do your research and buy it online. There are lots of feedback and reviews from the internet than what u can get from one particular store
You have to ask yourself the amount of money you are willing to spend. And as per Cooler's advice, you have to deal mainly online or over the phone.
http://www.courtsidesports.com/store/category/16/68/Machines/ I believe they're based in vancouver, though those are some high price machines.
And consider how much time you willing spend to learn, to practice and to continue working on the techniques. String machines are not cheap toys, if you just go for 1 or 2 times of fun, then it might be a waste of $$$.
When you look for purchasing, the money counts. Ie. differnece in terms of quality and reliability looking at a cheap machine and a machine which costs $1000 dollars and above. If you talk to Gary at Tad's, his Prince Neo is worth about $1000 dollars. The advantage in this case with this machine is that Prince does have a dealer in Surrey or Surrey (I forgot) so, if the machine needs to be maintainance or repair, the dealer is close by.
Prince neo is the one near the entrance at tad's I guess?? not the big electrical one for tennis..? only problem 1000 dollars too much...I prefer 500-700 range
Hi Anz, Yeah, the Prince Neo 1000 machine normally near the entrance on the right hand side when you enter the store, the crank machine. The machines on the left of the store are the the electronic tention pull machines. One is Prince and the other is Babolat I believe it is. However those are worth like 3 times as much. The budget it too low to be honest. Problem with cheap machines is that when you string the tention is unreliable. A real example is that you have to set the machine tention signifianctly higher to achieve an equivalent tention on a quality machine machine which can do it at a lower tention which is accurate. Also sometimes the racket can look like it's going to break on the cheap machien for the same reason. You might want to talk to Gary, he's got good advise regarding string machines.
I'm just interested as to why you are wanting a stringing machine. I've never heard of an athlete getting one who wasn't associated with a pro shop or stringing for friends as a side job. So I'm interested as to your motivation.
This web site has a machine that can string both tennis and badminton rackets for $199US. http://www.sptennis.com/stringer.asp#Swing It has a 6 point mounting system and sptennis is a very reputable company. You can also read the stringing instruction on their web site which is in PDF format. Just do a search on this web site and see some feedback on the above machine. http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/forumdisplay.php?f=23
Is the pic correct? Because that certainly does not look like a six-point mounting system. I also notice that sptennis has a page with rather negative comments about Eagnas. Would someone be able to shed more light on the matter?
It is a pseudo 6 points (internal), still better than regular 2 points. For the price, it is a good value. Just check some feedback on TW.... I also have a 2 point Gamma ATS machine for travel, but I wish I got that one (sptennis) since most of my rackets need to be strung around 24-26lbs. I ended up modified the machine to pseudo 6 points like sptennis. Just peace of mind when stringing expensive rackets. The sptennis machine also came with better clamps (metal) unlike plastics clamps like others.
I definitely do NOT agree with you 125%. The main factor in string progress is the stringer's skill but not how many fancy features a machine can offer. A crafty and experienced stringer can do a decent job (usually lower 20 lbs range) even without a machine. A careless person can break every single racket he works on, even if you gave him the most expensive machine in the world. Personally, my string machine only cost me USD$170 (including shipping within US), and served me well for more than 4 years, and I did 300-500 rackets without breaking any. I know some luck factors also get involved, but all I try to say is, a well made drop weight machine is way good enough for most of club players' need. And I don't get it why you claim cheaper machine always need to go higher than the targetted tension. If you using crank machine (regardless price), you need to calibrate it on a regular basis. If you have a drop weight machine, unless you damage the weight (or 1 day gravity changes ), you will always get the consistant result, if you do the job right.
That too is also incorrect because a cheaper machines have less accurate and reliable. The reason why one would need to go higher targeted tention, because that thing that hold/locks the string is not as good, so it slips losing tention, so you would have to raise the setting to counter the effect. Now a real example of this was from my where some guy with low cost portable machine inquired to my stringer why does he have to string his tennis racket at 80 lbs while the stringer who does the same string and acheive the same equivalent tention at 60lbs. This machine was calibrated as well.
I think we are talking about apples vs. oranges. You are referring to "bad quality" (not necessarily cheaper, though) machines, while I am referring to good quality (less features) and reliable machines. For example, even a top of the line drop weight machine might still be cheaper than an electrical machine, but I doubt there's any quality issues regarding to the cheaper but already well made drop weight machine. Yes, I read some reviews on the string gripper on certain machines (especially some brand crank machines) are not as great. The reason is usually due to such machines were designed for tennis strings, where as badminton strings are much thinner. However, such machines are not necesserily "cheap". I believe the models being named cost at least US$200-300 or even higher. Again, my drop weighted machine only cost me US$170, but doing things in wonder. Of course, machine maintenance (e.g. clean up the gripper) is also a factor, as you can't expect a machine to last you forever, if you don't take care of it. Regarding the tension lost, tensioning is just 1 of the many possible factors. Others might include clamping and knotting. That's why I say, the stringers are more important than the machine itself. Also, proper accessories (e.g. clamps, pins, etc) can also help/against you, depend on how you use them.
try the website below .... they have pretty good machines here .... i would recommend the upright machines under "Professional Manual Stringing Machines" even though we're not professionals. http://www.eagnas.com/