New cross stringing tool from Stringway

Discussion in 'Badminton Stringing Techniques & Tools' started by stringtechno, Nov 11, 2008.

  1. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi Mirko,

    We have the design for the badminton tool and did quite some tests, which looked quite good in our opinion.
    Then we opened a discussion on this board, but that was not very motivating to start production, so the system is still in our coolbox.
    Of course the question is if discussion on this board should be a basis for decisions about producing or not.
    Please look at this discussion for more info:
    http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...4-**-Stringway-cross-stringer-for-badminton**
    I would like to hear more opinions.

    Stringtechno
     
  2. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    Stringtechno, Hi.
    I was wondering if a badminton racket can be stabilized withing a rigid enough frame then a stringbed tension tester could work. Anyone tried that? I wanted to try myself but the testers available on the market START as from 30lbs, whereas badminton we use between 20-30 lbs ±.
     
  3. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    We have been thinking about a stiffness tester for badminton, because we think that it is time that badminton stringers can buy one.

    The best option that we can think of is is a flat plate with a mechanical tester. We use such a mechanical unit to check our Stringlabs and it is very reliable.

    The head of the racquet should be supported by the flat plate or at least at 4 points so that the frame can not bend when the stringbed is deflected.
     
  4. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    Now we r talking. Please post loud and clear once u r ready with the device. I for one am VERY interested (but not at any price:):))
    Thanx
     
  5. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    To be honest: that is a little bit the "un-attractiveness" of the badminton-stringing machine-market.
    Many badminton stringers are used to "Chinese" prices but we produce and develop in the Netherlands, so our prices are often too high.

    Iow: The Badminton market wants new developements but cheap and that is a contradiction.
     
  6. kwun

    kwun Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2002
    Messages:
    41,043
    Likes Received:
    2,066
    Occupation:
    BC Janitor
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA, USA
    well if you produce something that is just as good as the Chinese quality, then it is hard to justify Netherlands prices for them. to make sure that you don't get obsolete with cheaper foreign competition, you have to compete by making better products.

    how do you persuade people to buy more expensive products when other ones are "good enough"?

    telling people that the product are designed in Netherlands is not sufficient i am afraid. you need to make sure that your product are special enough, good quality enough that people will spend extra money to buy it. even so, you may end up getting squeezed to the high end.

    think of Swiss watches. they keep time just like the cheapo Chinese ones. in fact, some of them are worse at it than the cheapo ones. but they still get sold for lots of money. the volume is awefully low in comparison, but at least there is some demand. the differentiation is the exquisite quality and craftsmanship behind them.

    can you say the thing about your product? or is it just something as mundane as improving the speed of the workflow? how much does it really help to justify it?
     
  7. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    We sell more machines and other products every year because the stringers hear about the high quality of our products on all the forums.
    That is also the reason that we get more and more agents, they want quality products without problems, the higher price is not a problem at all.

    And how many new unique products or new developments come from China?
    I do not know any.

    Our products are all unique products and that also justifies a higher price, because no other manufacturer sells the same products, with the same features.
     
  8. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    Hi again,

    I think there is a little misunderstanding here.
    I am not comparing prices with anyone or anywhere. For me something is cheap/expensive depends on the return on investment.
    Truth is I have a TF 6000 stringing machine which I imported from France. Similarly for any stringbed tester I don't mind where it comes from but in this case one must understand the trade off is rather slim.

    Basically I don't do all that for money. We already have a main business which is manufacture of foam/mattresses and the likes. I play badminton and enjoy what goes with it. Started stringing about 2 years ago and now known as one of the best badminton stringers around here. I do NOT advertise but still rackets keep coming in steadily. The stringbed tester is just a way to provide an additional service to an already enjoyable hobby. So what will it cost???
     
  9. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    We can have a nice discussion about the trade off of products like the stiffness tester.
    Personally I think that the trade off of such a system is bigger than of an expensive stringing machine because stringers know what they produce and without they absolutely do not. They think they do because they know at what tension they strung, but there is a lot of loss and insecurity between the pulling tension and the final stiffness in the racquet.
    In Tennis our Tension Advisor system is widely used because stringers know at what tension to string what racquet for what kind of player. And in my opinion you gain customers by offering a string bed that suits their type of play or injuris.
    We already had quite some questions from badminton stringers about a tension advisor for badminton.
    You can have a look at the online version of the system.
    www.stringway-nl.com/en/TAonline/calc.php

    We can not mention a price before we know the exact design but it should be below 100 euros.

    What do you think?
     
  10. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    First I totally agree with U, being a bit of a perfectionist myself.
    The tension tester and adviser shud according to me be sold in tandem. I'm keen on the tester more than on the adviser. Here 'people' always think they know better. But 100 EU is good for either. Affordable. I'll let u know how useful once I get and start using. Cheers.
     
  11. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    The problem for us is that we doubt to launch a new development for badminton market when the badminton stringers are not very enthousiastic.
    Like with the cross stringer for badminton, which we sell in big quantities for tennis.
    It should offer an even bigger advantage for badminton, but many on this board only try to convinc us that they can do quicker without.

    So it is a bit the egg and the chicken, if the market is not enthousiastic the new badminton items stay in the freezer.

    I am afraid that that also happens with the stiffness tester.
    As long as the badminton market does not realize the importance of such a tool it will not be launched.
     
  12. kwun

    kwun Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2002
    Messages:
    41,043
    Likes Received:
    2,066
    Occupation:
    BC Janitor
    Location:
    Santa Clara, CA, USA
    it is up to the manufacturer to educate/convince the market what they don't know they need. since you are not Steve Jobs, you cannot expect the market to buy everything you build. ;)

    that's marketing!
     
  13. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    I do not think that I want to try to convince the badminton market about products but about systems which are in the advantage of stringers and very certainly of the players.

    In my opinion it is rediculous that the tennis world uses stiffness testers for more than 20 years and string on stiffness more and more while the badmintonworld denies the need of such a system and string on rediculous stiffnesses in relation to the stiffness of the frames.

    It seems that the badminton world prefers to stay with the old days.

    Of course there could be good reasons which I do not know.
     
  14. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Perhaps it is useful to start a new thread about "stringing on stiffness with badminton", and see if it makes sense or not.

    We might learn from each other.
     
  15. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    Now, that is a real pity. But if anything comes out please let us know. I for one, am game.

    Lets see if the more knowledgeable people on the forum want to start this stiffness thread.
     
    #55 Kiloo, Sep 1, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2011
  16. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Badminton activities on Stringing Happening

    Hello,

    We organize a big stringing happening in the Netherlands.
    We tested the badminton activities that will be demonstrated yesterday:

    We are going to compares the stiffness of badminton stringbeds after stringing at the same tension with different strings:
    [​IMG]


    The production version of the cross stringer for badminton is thoroughly tested at the moment:

    [​IMG]

    We did the first stringtests, like we do with tennis strings also:

    http://www.stringway-nl.com/pdf/REKTEST-BADMINTON-SNAREN1.pdf
     
  17. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    At last some movement. Hey! Its been a whole year. Im still interested in that tension tester. The cross stringer looks cute too. Hope things move faster from here on.Keep us posted. Cheers.
     
  18. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    new developments

    Developing new costs a lot of time and we have to do that when the production is not so busy, and it is very busy.

    But the new stiffness tester also makes progress, we have the electronic system and this is how it is going to look.

    [​IMG]

    It is the same principle as the Runanor system only updated.
     
  19. Kiloo

    Kiloo Regular Member

    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2009
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    0
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Mauritius
    I KNOW exactly what u mean, being in produxion myself.
    Ok just keep at it and remember u have a keen client at the other end of the world. Btw I came to Holland in April. Went to a fair in Maastricht on Polyurethane. Cheers
     
  20. stringtechno

    stringtechno Regular Member

    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2007
    Messages:
    271
    Likes Received:
    7
    Occupation:
    engineer
    Location:
    Netherlands
    Hi guys,
    Our cross stringer for badminton is ready for production.
    This video shows the tool in action.
    http://www.stringway-nl.com/movie/Badminton crossstr_0001.wmv

    Although the stringer is a tennis stringer who has some problems with the thin, I hope that it shows how the tool works.

    A special preproduction offer counts until 31 december.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
    #60 stringtechno, Dec 10, 2012
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2012

Share This Page