I just found this video on youtube of an interesting stringing machine but more interesting is the way this guy strings starting on the outside mains. Very interesting, i wonder what tension he is using. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04jVwRt0ZTE&feature=related
he is not doing it outside in, but instead he is doing it right->left. that will create imbalance/non-symmetrical tension on the left/right sides of main. i don't think that is recommended.
I know 1 professional player and 1 professional level coach that both string pulling 2 at once. A lot of people will say it is bad, but their reasoning is fairly sound. Ive also tried it and it works out just fine. The technique is also more suited for a constant pull machine. The reasoning behind pulling 2 mains at once is to save time, but it works because there is no resistance. Since the crosses dont have tension or arent there you can pull the mains and it will have reasonably accurate tension. You cant do this on crosses because the mains would have too much resistance.
Wow, I am surprised that you would entertain the ideas from the video. Here is my counter point. 1) as Kwun mention, it is bad to string from 1 size to another because it will create in balance. 2) In the video, he pre-weave the racquet already. That mean the mains are subjected to friction during the pull. It is still not good even with constant pull electric head. in this video, his tension head is not even constant pull. 3) He is also using double pull (ie tensining 2 mains with 1 pull). This is bad because if your set tension is 24lb. The tension on the pulled string might be 24lb. However, the tension on the next string is not 24 lb because even without cross tension friction, the adjacent string is less 24 lb because it has to go through 2 grommets and they do give a lot of friction.
Im not saying the left to right is ok. That part is terrible but the double pull is not all that bad as people say it is. It is like saying you need a drop weight to be perfectly level. Another example is a tensioner that doesnt pull parellel to the string bed, but rather pulls at a slight downward angle. There are so many things that go into stringing. Its a judgement call, i suggest trying it first. It seriously isnt that bad.
I do repect your opinion on this. In fact, double pull will work if you can figure out the tension difference between the first string and 2nd string. Why? because you can then string the cross at the 10% higher on the average of the 2. I just feel it will be more head ache to figure out the tension effect if you have different string. Just my thoughts.
Good idea. I dont know why i didnt think of this before, ill try it later. Only problem is I might not have enough room within the frame for the fish scale. i might have to do some sort of mock up to experiment. Results will be posted at a later date...