Klipper stringing machine

Discussion in 'Badminton Stringing Techniques & Tools' started by david14700, Nov 8, 2002.

  1. david14700

    david14700 Regular Member

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    I'm about to buy a Klipper USA badminton stringing machine. Has anyone tried this machine? Any problems? I'm worried about it only having a 2-point clamping system, although plenty of experienced stringers have told me that for badminton, it's okay as long as you're careful.

    Thanks
     
  2. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Both jwu and me bought the Klipper M-140. He has used it for over 20,30 rackets, and he gave good rating for the machine. That's why I bought it, too. I tried this machine for 3 rackets so far, nothing bad happened yet.

    So far, both of us are fine with the machine. 2 -pt support is good enough for badminton racket, as long as u make sure the racket being held tight and balanced. And make sure don't put ur tension to be too high. jwu told me try not pass 24-26 lb on that machine. If u want to do high tension, then, I guess this is is not ur choice. However, if u can settle down for 20-24 lb, it's a good choice, since it's much cheaper compare to others.
     
  3. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    wow, thanks LB, :D . Yeah I got the machine for sometime now, maybe 2 months and have no problem whatsoever with it. Actually the one I got is M140, it is sold as a badminton racquet stringer only but you can also do tennis and other racquet sports, just need to get a bigger weight and clamps.

    The machine is extremely portable, very easy to use. If you are considering doing stringing as a profession or wanna do some large business with it, I'd recommend another machine. The M140 is good for personal use and maybe a small stringing business as a side job. :) As you know already, it is a 2-point system, and so far I've not yet warped or broken any racquets out of at least 30 racquets that I've done.

    As for speed of stringing, if you have never strung before, it would take you about 2-3 hours to pick up how to string. It takes me about 45 min to string a racquet right now with some minor interruptions.

    If you need any stringing help, feel free to PM me or you can also check my profile for e-mail, icq, and yahoo messenger ID. Good luck find your machine, stringing is a lot of fun. :D
     
  4. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    oh one more thing about the klippermate M140, the scale reads 20lbs to 90lbs but that's if you use tennis weights. With the badminton weights that came with the machine, you can string from 8 to 30lbs. They have an equivalence chart on the machine. It's basically for every 5 (tennis lbs), you go up 2 (badminton lbs). Just thought you should know this if you are gonna get the machine. :D It would be bad to string people's racquets @ 8 lbs when they ask for 20 lbs. :D
     
  5. david14700

    david14700 Regular Member

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    Thanks a lot for the information guys. I'm just getting it to do my own rackets and maybe one or two friends' rackets. I'm sure it will be fine.
     
  6. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    One suggestion is, try to do it on some cheap rackets first (if u never really string before). It will be sad if u messed up a pricy racket on the 1st try.

    I even bought a $10 cheap metal rackets to practice. The patterns and way to "organize" ur hands may take a little while to adjust to the proper way of working. After strung my "demo" for 5 times, the Al rim is already looks to be "bented". I guess I put on too much tension on it (18 lb).

    So, my suggestion is to get urself a cheap racket to begin with (if metal ones, try not to put over 15lb). After some practice, u can start to work on ur high-end rackets.
     
  7. jwu

    jwu Regular Member

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    If that's the case, you will find the stringing machine to be more than adequate for your needs.

    wow, LB, you strung that thing 5 x already? using the same string or you use 5 packs? hope you used the same string. :D
     
  8. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    I used 2 packes. The 1st pack kinda wore out after 3 times of practice. Even though, those are considered as "junk" ones, still don't want to waste $$$ on practice.

    Just one question, jwu, u told me u used 20 lb on those cheap metal rackets. However, I only used like 17 or 18 on my demo, the rim kinda change the shape already. I mean, the rim becomes a big "circle" after I strung the main. Did I did anything wrong? Or, just since it's just a cheap Al rim?
     
  9. badrad

    badrad Regular Member

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    a perfect circle after stringing the mains...

    check to pre-stress the head clamps. head posts, regardless of how tightly you secure the bolts will under tension from the main strings bend inwards showing a distorted head. unfortunately when the head is distorted to almost a circle, it is quite difficult to get the original shape back by tensioning the cross, without adding several more pounds to the cross tension.

    On my old Rayco portable, i clamped the racquet to the posts, the pulled the bottom of the posts outwards to create an initial tension on the head. During the mains pull this tension counters the pull from the mains strings. It takes a bit of experimenting with your own unit to get a feel of how much you need to pre-tension the frame.
     
  10. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    Re: a perfect circle after stringing the mains...

    So, u mean, I need to clamp my racket really tight against the post of the clamp??? To put some outward tension even before I start to pull inward tension by using string?

    Wow...
     
  11. doxdox13

    doxdox13 Regular Member

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    I had a really bad break using a Klippermate. Destroyed my Wilson Blaze racket at 22 pounds. Went to the hardware store and bought a turnbuckle and mounted it under the clamps (see picture below).

    IMAG0084.jpg

    Extending the turnbuckle allowed me to hold the tops of the mounts still as I added pressure from the mains and crosses. I successfully strung a friend's Nanospeed 9000 at 29 pounds. Remember - don't thumb-tighten the wingnuts - use a wrench or sturdy pliers (not the needle-nose pliers that came with it).

    Adding the turnbuckle also set the racket higher so the shaft does not impact the counterweight when I spin the racket, which is an added bonus. This does not affect the final tension process due to the way the Klippermate's clamp is designed.

    If anyone has a good way to turn this two-point stringer into a six-point, let me know!
     
  12. LazyBuddy

    LazyBuddy Regular Member

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    1. Either the Wilson racket is in bad shape, or the setting is incorrect. 22lb should be very safe for any decent racket. I've been using this machine for 8-9 years, for around 1000 jobs, nothing bad happened.

    2. Why the racket interference with the weight? Are you using the tennis weight? If badminton weight, the position should be much higher, that the racket will nevere touch the weight. If using tennis weight, it may explain why the racket was broken, as any mis-placement of tennis weight, will result a huge difference in tension.

    3. Not sure about the extra "height" will impact the tension accuracy, as the gripper should be in horizontal with the racket frame surface, but not with an angle.
     
  13. doxdox13

    doxdox13 Regular Member

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    I only had the racket a week and didnt have any impacts on it. It may have been roughed up during shipping. Hard to tell.

    The interference is with the counterweight on the drop-arm - the little silver box. If you release the string and drop the arm, you can only turn the racket one direction. The turnbuckle raises the racket about a quarter inch so the racket can move freely in either direction.

    The string gripper is a circle, so the angular force is maintained through the small change in height - only a few degrees really. The grommet hole acts as a pivot point. The small change in angle doesn't cause enough front-back head distortion to be of any concern.

    The only real bad part about using the turnbuckle is when you do your crosses - you have to change your hand position at the middle and put your flying clamp on top at the end. It's a crutch for me basically. ;)
     
  14. doxdox13

    doxdox13 Regular Member

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    Also, the string is already at an angle when the weight is dropped. If you check, the top of the gripper when it is engaged, it will sit below the top of the mount.

    Happy stringing. :)
     
  15. silentheart

    silentheart Regular Member

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    OK, so you want the 180 degree turn.
    Good idea on the additional bracket support. I asked Klippermate about this almost 6 years ago. They told me, due to the small business operation and by secure one of the post ~2mm out will solve the problem, they decided not to add some thing like your brilliant idea (and I really think it is a great idea) in M140.

    One thing about M140 is I like the string pulled at level so it will not put any force down on the frame.
     
  16. doxdox13

    doxdox13 Regular Member

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    I may even start prestringing so the turnbuckle wont cause me any issues at all.

    On the angle of the string: The Klippermate already produces a downward angle of about a maximum 3-4 degrees from horizontal (depending on the grommet hole). Contrary to popular belief, the grommet hole does not sit horizontal to the top of the gripper when it is engaged.

    With the turnbuckle installed, this is only about 5 degrees from horizontal at maximum. I am sure that if I was a physics professor, I'd be able to compute some vectors or something and tell you how much tension is lost due to a 1-2 degree difference in angle, but that seems silly. These frames can take the downward force pretty well - after all, that's how the rackets hit the shuttles.
     

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