I did a quick search on this but didn't find too much information. I would like to discuss how to mount a badminton racquet correctly. Currently, tighten the side supports "finger tight". Enough so that they a firmly against the racquet but not enough so that the racquet shape changes (at least not much). With the north and south posts I use a load spread at the tip and do not tight hard against the frame. I know that tightening, or over tightening the N/S posts is a big mistake since the a lot of stress is then placed at the top of the racquet. When stringing at higher tensions the racquet with widen somewhat and then tensioning the crosses will bring the racquet back (or closer) to the original shape.
I should add, I am interested in how tight other people set their side supports when mounting the racquet. What is correct? How tight is too tight? When is it not tight enough to support the racquet? This was not meant to sound like me giving advice on how to mount a racquet. Sorry for any confusion, if any.
From what was recommended by Tecnifibre, the machine maker: the side supports should be 'just' tight on the frame. So far it worked for me. Experimenting I found that if U tighten too much the frame width goes in and it deforms to become longer. Now as to how this affects the job I don't know. At my stage I don't want to venture on uncharted territory, NOT with other peoples' rackets.