Just as the title says, when i swing my racket around gently i hear a clicking sound in the cone. When i press on the side of the cone there is also the clicking sound. Does anybody know what is causing the problem? My guess is that it has something to do with the glue inside the cone.
It's the wood in the handle which has cracked or something. This has been discussed about before. I have this on my Cab8 and a little bit on my at700. Well.. the one from the cab8 comes from the bending of the shaft ( i used to bend it alot when i just started playing badminton ), and the one from the at700.. i duno why it's making that noise. Maybe it's because i clashed it before or something..
would you recommend me to buy some wood and replace it? Is there a possible chance that if i didn't change the wood the shaft and frame would dislodge and fly off somewhere during a match?
The factory told me it was the glue holding the shaft to the wood...dont worry about it is what they said...Maybe a little super glue would help...
It's a manufacturing defect or poor quality control whichever u call it. U see, the cone is adhere to the wooden handle with a type of glue which when the lack of it causes this problem. Try knocking the cone out and apply whatever permanent glue u can get hold of and stick it back permanently. Be carefull! It's not easy to detach the cone without scratching some paint off the shaft.
Never use any super glue or epoxy resin on the shaft and wooden handle because super glue does not contract and expand with temperature changes and will crack and detach from the wooden glue. BTW there is no way you can put in any glue onto the shaft/handle as the upper part of the cone is not an integral part of the handle.
You dont put it into the cone but rather from the butt of the grip where the shaft adheres to the grip...We never have to worry about difference in temperature here so the super glue might work...just a thought...
The shaft does not go through the whole wooden handle. FYI, the whole wooden handle from the cone to the butt end is usually a standard 20.3cm length, out of which the shaft that goes into the handle from the cone is just 8.1cm deep. The remaining handle length of 12.2cm is solid wood except for a larger diameter tunnel hole at the back used for balance. Putting glue into this tunnel at the butt end will go no where and will instead become a ballast that cannot be adjusted or fine-tuned later-a terrible mistake. A better solution is for you to identify a small screw just below the cone and tighten it firmly as far as it can go.
For your information, not all manufactures use the same technique and I have seen many rackets that the shaft butt is accessible from the butt end...Not all manufactures use the small screw.. ...Yonex does but some others do not...The use of the screw is to secure the shaft to the handle so that it can not fly off...Besides, we are only talking about a few drops of glue...certainly not enough to affect the balance of the racket...Also the cone is a simple covering of the joining of the shaft and grip...it does nothing at all unless it would be secured to the point of becoming part of the wood grip....in which case the flex point of the shaft would be changed...this is the reason for the plastic/rubber insert in some models cone...it keeps the cone from affecting the shaft...When the handle is further away from the frame the shaft will flex more....
Add a Screw Just had a thought that one might put in 1 or 2 extra wood screws into the shaft and grip to see if that stops the cracking/clicking sound...
No, what you are saying is not true because I do assemble shaft into wooden holds (aka handles). If a wooden handle is completely covered by the shaft it will shatter easily. Most of the cone does not touch the shaft, only the very short visible part does. The rest is glued onto the outside of the tapered wooden hold at the top. The screw is there not to stop the shaft from flying out but to prevent the shaft from rotating. A well fitted shaft will not fly out from the handle even if no glue is used, but a powerful angular shot will twist (rotate) the shaft in the opposite direction of the handle. The screw is there to prevent this twisting. Without the screw and with glue, a very powerful angular shot will also twist the shaft/handle out of alignment. A shaft that flies out is due to poor qc at the plant where the drilled hole in the wooden handle is too large for the shaft, and the use of plenty of glue is just a band aid. I test this all the time to make customized racquets, which I assemble, with varying shaft lengths and handle lengths. Generally longer handles are used to shorten the visible part of the shaft for doubles. Shorter handles are for singles play. The tunnel at the end of the handle is of varying length, dependent on the handle size. Large handles have a longer tunnel to offset/reduce its extra weight. The plastic/rubber insert at the back is a final balance qc check.
Please do not take what you THINK is the only way of doing things as the CORRECT AND ONLY way of doing it....I have customized many rackets myself and talked to different factories about how to customize them...Generally there are many ways to skin a cat....
Well, for a start try to screw another screw in the handle into the shaft and let us know how it goes. It is not as simple as you have claimed. Perhaps you can explain the extent of your racquet customization. Who knows I may learn a thing or two.
This is not the time or place for explantions of my skill or lack of it...If you want to PM me then I think we would have some pleasant converstions...Customizing rackets is fun...But what this player only wants to know is about his clicking noise and how to stop it...Maybe a screw would do it or maybe super glue would work if there is access to the butt of the shaft....The racket that I play with all the time has been customized by cutting down the shaft cap and filing away the wood for a spot for my thumb...it works for me and is easy to do....other people would say this is nuts, what works for one does not work for everyone....
How would you pull out the wood in the handle and then replace it? Believe me, assembling a shaft by drilling a precision hole of 8cm deep in the wooden handle to twist in the shaft and then gluing it is far easier than taking the wooden handle off cleanly. Even the very simple job of srewing in the screw is far from easy, simply because the shaft is almost as hard as diamond and your simple screw will go no where and will quickly wear off.
You must drill a pilot hole first and countersink the head...Like you said the shaft is round and hard as hell to drill but not impossible by any means...I just dont know if it would work or not...might be a big waste of time...That is why the original suggestion of couple of drops of superglue...it is easy to do and if it works ok and if not ok...I have heard of the racket flying off the grip but have never seen it happen...suggestion of factory was to just ignore it...The other thing is this, is the sound coming from shaft cap or actually from the shaft inside the grip??? Most of the time it is the shaft inside the grip..
Actually there is nothing you can do about it other than to tighten the lone screw on the handle or put in some ordinary contact cement (use toothpicks) into the back of the cone where it meets the wooden handle. Do not use super glue whenever you are gluing two surfaces of materials of different thermal properties especially if the glued object is subject to hitting or twisting forces. If the above doesn't help then it could be that the shaft has gotten loose or that there is an internal crack on the handle near the cone. If you still hear the sound when pressing on the cone and swinging the racquet then it is probably not due to the cone.
If you are sure it is the cone then try the super glue...take off couple of wraps of grip and add some glue...if it works ok and if not then nothing lost...usually there is plenty of openings to put in the glue...good luck but I still would bet it is the shaft but hope it is the cone....
