Why is still wood in the handle?

Discussion in 'Racket Recommendation / Comparison' started by Hierkommtnils, Jan 19, 2008.

  1. Hierkommtnils

    Hierkommtnils Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 19, 2007
    Messages:
    213
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Fin. Controller
    Location:
    Germany
    Hi,

    I am wondering why wood is still a part of our modern rackets? Why it isn´t replaced by a new "spacy" material like in frames and so on?

    Today the wood in my AT700 broke and I hope that it could be replaced :(
     
  2. Simp84

    Simp84 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Messages:
    900
    Likes Received:
    2
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    MY
    hey same thing happened here! my AT700 handle was broken as well... but apparently u can get them exchange if u brought yours in europe.. I have to bin mine away as brought them elsewhere... :( Yonex tend to have poor record when it comes to durability...
     
    #2 Simp84, Jan 19, 2008
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2008
  3. wilfredlgf

    wilfredlgf Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    2,583
    Likes Received:
    11
    Occupation:
    Security Engineer
    Location:
    Malaysia
    Good shock absorption? Lightweight material? Not too soft and not too hard? Cheap?
     
  4. Simp84

    Simp84 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Messages:
    900
    Likes Received:
    2
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    MY
    surely theres some physics behind it... yes and it is cheap too...
    but quite disappointing.. I've come across quite a number of Yonex users who have encountered the same problem.. Im really doubting Yonexs' quality control now, overpriced and break within a year
     
  5. wilfredlgf

    wilfredlgf Regular Member

    Joined:
    May 6, 2003
    Messages:
    2,583
    Likes Received:
    11
    Occupation:
    Security Engineer
    Location:
    Malaysia
    Probably the newer models, no? I've never heard of handles breaking before from my brother about his Cab 8 Sp as well as my previous Cab 13, Cab 20 and current Ti-10 (touching wood).
     
  6. newjazz

    newjazz Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jul 16, 2005
    Messages:
    259
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    typist
    Location:
    blue sky
    same here.. i have AT700 4U old color broke the wooden cone.. :(
     
  7. Simp84

    Simp84 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Oct 3, 2004
    Messages:
    900
    Likes Received:
    2
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    MY
    ya probably the newer model.. AT700 in particular.. coincident? already 3 here? lol
     
  8. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2004
    Messages:
    6,526
    Likes Received:
    25
    Occupation:
    Designing and producing quality feather shuttlecoc
    Location:
    Hong Kong
    Any part of a racquet can break from clashes or hard knocks. The handle is no exception although it is less frequent as it is protected by the hand. But a clash of the racquet even in parts that are far from the handle, will also transfer some of the force to the handle.
    Wooden handles are used because they are more versatile, as different grip sizes and counter-weight adjustments can be fine-tuned for a particular brand of racquet in a single design mold.
     
  9. Sgbad

    Sgbad Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2007
    Messages:
    1,517
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    bumming around
    Location:
    Singapore
    well said taneepak, i agree with u on this.
     
  10. Smichz

    Smichz Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 28, 2006
    Messages:
    3,385
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    Student,Tour guide,Marketer
    Location:
    Beijing,Guilin,K.L & Jakarta
    i think the reason why yonex(while the rest copying) still use wood as a handle is obvious.Yonex has made lots of new tech n materials for the shaft,cone shape,frames for the last decade,but still using wood as the handle for all this time.It might not be the coolest to look at,but it's still the best to built a handle with.
     
  11. jerby

    jerby Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 3, 2005
    Messages:
    4,123
    Likes Received:
    32
    Location:
    EU
    wow....
    you don't think too highly of any other brand, do you?

    on topic:
    I read somewhere about rackets with graphite grips (true one piece stuff)
    bad vibrations, weird feel, and easy breaking...
    I wouldn't know why wood is bad (light, easy to find, easy to shape, easy to replace, good shock absorbing..)
     
  12. Athelete1234

    Athelete1234 Regular Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2007
    Messages:
    1,677
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    Student
    Location:
    Canada
    Who said spacy stuff is all great? They still use leeches for surgery, and it works.
     
  13. cooler

    cooler Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 25, 2002
    Messages:
    21,811
    Likes Received:
    23
    Occupation:
    Surfing, reading fan mails:D, Dilithium Crystal hu
    Location:
    Basement Boiler Room
    lol, 'knock on wood' is passe:p
     
  14. ph_leung

    ph_leung Regular Member

    Joined:
    Nov 3, 2006
    Messages:
    302
    Likes Received:
    4
    Occupation:
    I fix things
    Location:
    Canada
    As others have pointed out, it is cheap to manufacture. To have different cone shapes and sizes only requires basic wood tooling.

    I haven't disected one to confirm but Victor claims to have carbon-wood handles on some models. See the Super Nano, Powerwaves, and Artery Tec models.

    http://www.victorracquets.com/racquets.html#columbia
     
  15. ashkenazi

    ashkenazi Regular Member

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2006
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    Canada
    My good old Carlton Powerflo 600 AC single piece racquet had at least a partly carbon or plastic handle I think. I wore out the grip so that you could see underneath it and there's no wood there. Maybe they just layed carbon above the wood though :\
     
  16. rjboyle

    rjboyle New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2005
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    UK
    Hi guys, first thread I've read on this subject. I've broken the handles off of 4x Karakal SL-70s, 2x Yonex Mp-99s and 1x Yonex AT-500. They start by clicking at the cone and then its only a matter of time :-( All the Karakal's were replaced on warranty - didn't bother with the Yonexes cos I got so down about it all - ended up giving up the game for six months. Btw, no racket abuse or clashes - probably just bad smash technique. I'm going for a flexier racket next time (maybe Ashaway SQ78) so hopefully the middle of the shaft will take some of the force rather than the handle. My ancient Carlton PowerFlo Boron and POS eBay Browning 1-piece rackets are fine - great.
     
  17. taneepak

    taneepak Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2004
    Messages:
    6,526
    Likes Received:
    25
    Occupation:
    Designing and producing quality feather shuttlecoc
    Location:
    Hong Kong
    One of the advantages of wooden handles is that it can be replaced. But you need to be careful in stripping the old broken handle from the shaft to avoid breaking the shaft. You can also change handles of various sizes and lengths to replace unbroken handles, i.e. changing an AT700 from a singles racquet to a doubles racquet by changing to a longer handle that covers more of the shaft. But the devil is to strip the old handle away cleanly.
     
  18. zuihoujueding

    zuihoujueding Regular Member

    Joined:
    Sep 16, 2004
    Messages:
    110
    Likes Received:
    0
    Location:
    australia
    handle hardly break at all! they r so well protected by the plastic bottom cover, layers of grips and your hand!
     
  19. drifit

    drifit newbie

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2007
    Messages:
    2,609
    Likes Received:
    6
    Occupation:
    PM
    Location:
    Selangor, Malaysia
    touch wood............;)
     
  20. skunklover

    skunklover Regular Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2007
    Messages:
    412
    Likes Received:
    1
    Occupation:
    student
    Location:
    UBC, Fremont, California
    well, im assuming people could WANT to replace them .... maybe
     

Share This Page