Getting my first badminton stringing machine, any advice?

Dont start on 30lb until you are confident in your technique.

 

http://www.racquetdepot.co.uk/stringing-machines/

i bought a pros pro shuttle express 2 months ago.
bought for sgd 500++++ inc shipping and tools
good customer service

 

5 - 10 rackets are damn a lot.

 

I do that a day sometimes.

 

For the budget, you can only get a drop weight type which is good for beginner and 5-10 rackets per month. I am using AEF Flyer5 drop weight with automatic release clamp with an option to upgrade to WISE 2086 in future as AEF has another similar design that uses WISE, just need to replace the pull arm with WISE (AEF is also the authorized distributor of WISE in China). That machine can be used for tennis racket stringing so 50lbs is not a problem. I am happy with it after more than 10 stringing jobs, great value for money. This machine is well within your budget. PM me for manufacturer sales contact if you are serious.

 

AEF provides very good value for the money. The Superstringer machine that I'm using is also produced by AEF and is very close to the Flyer5. So if that's in your budget then go with this one and you will be happy for a long time.

Just stay away from Eagnas and Pro's Pro - both seem to offer a lot for the cheap price, but you will end up buying a better machine within a couple of months if you're going to take your stringing just remotely serious.

 

Dang. What's a recommended one for North America? In terms of inexpensive, table top, 6 point support, fixed clamps, drop weight?

 

Thanks for the warning

 

Why? Is it because poor fixed clamps? Fit? Difficult to use? Etc?

 

What about pro's pro TX700?

 

Ohoooo... visor, looks like you are seriously thinking about finally going down the "stringer's road" yourself or did I get that wrong?!

In general, the quality of the Challenger I had was just not good at all. Poor materials, rough surfaces, sharp edges, screws loosen themselves all the time (and if you tighten them again, it could happen that the thread gets ripped out of the hole...), the turntable moves and tilts visibly on each pull, the gripper surface is so rough that it leaves marks on the strings, the stock side supports are just useless for badminton.

The clamps are not operating smoothly, and you need to be very careful to adjust them correctly and constantly. If they are just a tiny bit too tight, they leave squeeze marks on the strings. A tiny bit too loose and the string starts slipping. The bases are even worse. If you don't apply Loctite or stuff like that to the adjustment screw, you have a good chance that you need to re-adjust them after each 5 strings or so. Also the locking action is just wobbly somehow and needs quite a lot of force.

So if you are a guy that can tolerate all these little(?) flaws and bugs, then you might end up perfectly happy. But if you are just a little bit OCD and want to get the feeling that you are doing decent stringjobs, you will end up with modding the Pro's Pro machine in the first place (I exchanged the side supports after 1 week and the gripper after 3 months) and each time you finished one mod, you find the next flaw that needs to be updated.

I'm not sure which machines are easily available in North America. I'm sure you will get hold of Gamma machines and they are great. The Gamma X-6FC Pro for example is an awesome machine with sensational clamps (the Pro version has the by far better clamps, so watch out for that) and side supports. Very close to that are the Premiumstringer 3600 (the one the Charlie-SWUK just bought) or 3800.

I documented my search for my personal "best value" machine in here
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/for...chine-to-upgrade-to-from-Pro-s-Pro-Challenger
Maybe there are some useful things in there for you too. The Superstringer T20 I ended up with is brilliant but I am afraid that you would need to have it shipped from Germany.

 

Tks [MENTION=113405]s_mair[/MENTION] !

That's a lot of useful info. Yeah, if I were to get a machine, it's better that it won't fight against the user. All the little things do add up, and in the end the extra quality and smoothness is worth the extra few dollars.

 

Absolutely. A machine that is actually supporting the stringer will also make the learning process much smoother. You have to deal with so many things in the beginning, it will be a joy if you can just fully rely on your equipment and not having to deal with extra-issues there. You will know that the machine will not have any major influence on the quality of your stringjobs.
And as soon as you start stringing for others (this will happen sooner or later, no matter what you are planning right now...), it will be a matter of months until the better machine will have payed itself off.

So if budget is not THE biggest issue, go for a decent Gamma drop weight machine and the 'Pro' clamps and enjoy. If things are becoming serious at some point, then add a Wise and you have a killer setup.