Grommet materials & design: how important?

Discussion in 'Badminton Rackets / Equipment' started by cobalt, Oct 11, 2011.

  1. MilGauss

    MilGauss Regular Member

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    ...Brooktrout and Arrakis are great IT resource solutions providers.:cool:;) May I add Appalachian too...;):cool: Maybe these electronics techies can help with the skink hole grommet issue?:)
     
  2. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Wow!! That's some truly impressive "skiddy" thinking!! :eek::D

    I thought though, the MP99 used the same round archways system as the 100. and the MP99 was one of their all-time stars.

    As Blitzzards pointed out, YY used the Ultra-HMG for the MPs; but they have also got something they call Super HMG on the ARC10. Just wondering, why didn't they use the round archways on the ARC10? OTOH, I believe the ARC10 itself is not very rugged... :(
     
  3. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Panda Power has just recently begun shipping the Precision Pro to customers and distributors worldwide.

    Panda aka Dinkalot has taken what appears at first glance to be several steps backward with the grommet design he has implemented. His frame design has no grooved channels for the grommets to fit snugly into, to create an "aerodynamic" profile that most manufacturers seek to promote. But everyone knows Panda is a very canny thinker.

    The feedback and responses have been nothing but extremely positive. Almost to a man, every player has remarked that it appears to have provided greater lateral stability, and of course, allowed the frame itself to retain it's full, natural strength. The protruding grommets do not appear to create any extra drag, either.

    Is the past the future? Until we find a new frame material that makes titamium feel like putty, could this be the way to go?
     
  4. CarbonexFan

    CarbonexFan Regular Member

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    I think grommets can be way better than the current ones but not economical. I sometimes fish, and my most advanced (expensive) rods contain SIC (silicon Carbide) eyes. This is to have a smoother surface to prevent damage to the line, and also less resistance because of the smooth surface so the line would less be overheated (reduce life expectancy). The are so hard, you'll never have to replace them. I do think if this would be used as grommets, they would serve their purpose, but the eyes for my rod were average 30 Euro each. Only needed 10 till 13 of them. Converted in grommets needed for a racket, I would not invest in a company starting to make them...
     
  5. Blitzzards

    Blitzzards Regular Member

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    The main reason why the grooves exist on all other racquets is simply, to prevent the top strings from being exposed to wear and tear from friction and contact from the racquet frame hitting the floor. I would not be surprised if the Precision Pro racquets are prone to string snapping at the top of the frame.

    In fact, most racquets can actually have the same frame strength if they have the same thickness as the Precision Pro frame, but having the grommet grooves on top of that will make the frame structure too thick, and thus no longer aerodynamic.
     
  6. Maklike Tier

    Maklike Tier Regular Member

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    Sycophant. :p

    Firstly, Kason has produced non-facetted/grooved frames for ages - instead favouring an extended external grommet strip to protect the strings - and it works fairly well.

    However, you have to realise that what we are talking about when we talk about racket design is a system. Nothing can really be evaluated in isolation and then left at that.

    Using Kason as an example again, the C7 and TSF500 don't have any grooves in their frames, yet aren't particularly stiff torsionally. The Victor Meteors on the other hand, do have grooves but also have a woven head, and are incredibly torsionally stable.

    This is why you have to look at every aspect of frame design - shape, materials, components - and make them work as a whole.

    You also can't say that something protruding from a surface doesn't produce any extra drag. That's just plain wrong. You increase the frontal area, you increase drag - even if it's an aerodynamic shape - which grommets aren't.

    I think what the Precision Pro shows, is that it's possible to produce a nice playing racket without resorting to trickery. Established technology really isn't that bad. I mean, one of the prototypes I've been playing a lot with recently is a very standard smaller ISO head racket with an oval profile head and a box section T-Joint, 74 holes, made from HM Carbon with no woven or any trickery except an in-moulded carbon t-joint.
     
  7. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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    Ouch! :D Send me your final prototype or your first production run piece, and I'll write a review for you! Not that Dan has done the above, but you'll know if I'm a fair critic or not, first-hand! :p

    I plead ignorance. :(
    True. I had actually wanted to discuss technology and design as applicable to grommets, as an integral part of the better playing experience.
    And yet, the new YY racquets do not have "woven" but are not exactly unstable.... which makes me wonder all over again, why YY (and LN) have shied away from the woven thing... can't be just to differentiate their brand.
    Yes, but in the real world of non-LD or LCW clones, how much exactly does it matter? As you've pointed out, a racquet without the bells and whistles will still play as well for most of us natives.
    A Harley or a Triumph Tigress (or Norton Dominator - yum!) would beg to differ, somewhat. Not that I'd play with a 2U, ever! :D
    Agreed!
     
  8. Maklike Tier

    Maklike Tier Regular Member

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    I actually do think that YY and LN not using woven carbon or other types of carbon materials but instead focussing on other materials IS a marketing technique. Much cheaper rackets use woven carbon so there is a danger that if they 'resorted' to it, it would be seen as a retrograde step. Instead, the Big Two focus on 'Graphene' or whatever else they dream up to stuff in their rackets ;)

    The big debate in my mind (still) is whether stronger materials actually bring much to the table. I think some manufacturers have really focussed on the quality of their processes so that good old-fashioned HM unidirectional carbon - arguably the best 'feeling' material out there - can be 'all that it can be'.

    But hey, we're getting off-topic, aren't we!
    I actually think that grommets are there primarily to stop strings sawing through the clearcoat and compromising the structural integrity of the racket. I still don't know if it's best to have strings that can freely move, or even how much strings do move once a racket is strung. I also don't know if a stringers' requirement for what constitutes a good grommet is the same as a players.

    I do know however that I don't want ANY Teflon of PTFE in my rackets ANYWHERE. That stuff is an environmental nightmare.
     
  9. cobalt

    cobalt Moderator

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  10. visor

    visor Regular Member

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    Oh great, if I wanted the bird to hold longer on the stringbed, I'd just as well lower the tension or use softer strings. ;)
     

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