If you're going to buy one, send them a mail first and tell them that you intend to use it with badminton frames and grommets. They may recommend a smaller version which may be more suitable. After more closely comparing how it works with tennis and badminton grommets, I think the standard-sized one may be just a little too big to achieve the same effect on badminton grommets. It can easily be remedied with a washer with a small hole to limit the depth, however. cards_pro, the tool is a very simple mechanical device. It's just a 1 1/2" C-clamp with a customised end that's basically a flat base with a 3mm-long broad "needle." Quite an ingenious design, IMHO.
Interesting tool. Thanks for the info. Please let us know more how does it work for you. I am wondering how long will it take to do a grommet with out heat. Have a nice Sunday...
The tool just compresses the grommet against the frame, therefore creating the flared end. It takes as long as the time it takes you to tighten the screw clamp and unscrew it. You don't need to warm the grommet up first. Though it certainly wouldn't hurt if you do. And I personally recommend that you warm it up first if the grommet is especially cold---may be you keep them in the freezer or the fridge? ---or if it's kind of old and brittle. But, as long as it's at room temperature and quite new (i.e., still soft), it's good enough. As for the tool itself, the needle on the standard-sized tool is a little too big for badminton grommets as the diameter of the needle at its base is about 4mm. If you can get a washer with a 1.5mm or 2mm opening, that'd be perfect.
Is it possible to post a picture of the actual ends of this clamp? I wonder if gluing a couple of dowel centers on a c-clamp will do the same job. Also is there any danger of putting too much pressure and doing damage to the frame? Thanks.
You can visit their website and they've got close-up pictures of how the tool works. And, they've also created a smaller version to work specifically with badminton racquets and grommets. So, the problem I previously mentioned about the needle being too large, shouldn't be an issue anymore with the smaller tool. Finally, yes, you can clamp down too tightly and damage the frame. But, IMHO, it's not easy to do so because the other end of the clamp has a thick, soft (silicone?) padding. Again, you may want to visit their website to see how everything fits.
i soemtimes get ancient racket in front of me for stringing, withg rommets just disintegratign when touched. any tips on remving? my current record for longest tube changing is 20min for 1 tube....it was a top one with barely anythign left on top, or bottom... in the end i stuffed threw a tarnished(and hooked) awl, and picked out teh remains.... any tips? hwo do you warm it up? awl? plier?
You can try a grommet remover tool that Neil Nichols suggested in another thread. It's a parallel plier with a special tip to push the old grommet out of the frame. You can also try a thin file. But, you'd need to be careful about not ended up filing the frame. If it's really old and brittle, I usually soften it a little by warming it up with a hairdryer. A heat gun would work as well, though it's gives off much more heat much more rapidly. So, be careful there too to no damage the frame.
Speaking of replacing grommets, I realise this isn't strictly a technique question, but I'm just curious whether you guys charge your customers for replacements? If so, may I ask how much? I find myself replacing grommets as needed for free. Sometimes, if I notice that they're almost all old, cracked and needed replacing when I got the racquet, I'd tell the customer about it and mention that there may be an additional charge involved. But, most of the time, I don't really notice them until I'm ready to do the job. That's when I may see some that're cracked. I don't charge for them because, IMHO, since I didn't mention it beforehand, it'd be dishonest of me to tack additional charges they haven't agreed to. What do you do?
Just want to confirm that the badminton-size Flare-It tool works great on badminton grommets. It's simply a smaller version of the standard-sized one with a smaller, shallower needle and smaller clamp. I don't consider this an essential, must-have tool. It is, however, undoubtedly a very welcome addition to your stringing toolkit to repair mashed up tie-off grommets, and shape shared hole grommets so that they don't become narrow slits and prone to splitting. P.S.: I'm not associated with them other than being a satisfied customer, and being quite impressed with their willingness to listen to my input and create a version specifically for badminton use.
A tip for the not-to-do list: don't cut your (finger)nails too short before stringing. For whatever reason, I always do this and suffer through stringing 5 racquets one after another. If I simply pull my nails out, it can't be more painful.
i have a question. sometimes when i get my racket strung, they skip a hole near the bottom (cross). specifically the second to the last. why do they do this? i heard this increases the sweetspot for the racket but i dunno, i dont really buy this. any help?
Are you referring to an extra (i.e., 23rd) cross string at 7T? (Assuming a "normal" racquet without single-pass grommets and a standard MxC 22x22 pattern.) If so, I think theoretically this increases the overall stringbed stiffness, although in reality I doubt this makes any noticeable difference. IOW, it's more of a psychological difference to the player than a physical one. The only stringing technique that I'm aware of that increases the sweetspot is the proportional stringing method. HTH.
Some of the older school stringers do this. It is a habit passed down and I guess nobody questions it. One advantage for the stringer-not the racquet owner-is that he saves some string which comes in useful if he is uses bulk 200m packs. Tensions do affect sweetspot. Low tensions will 'enlarge' the sweetspot slightly especially for off centre hits, but at the cost of less control and shuttle speed. Low tensions may enable you to hit further but at a slower shuttle speed, which is not good in the fast pace modern game. Faster shuttle speed means less response or reaction time for your opponent.
Stubborn A10 Hole Hi, I was wondering if anybody had any advice on my situation. I had an unstrung Genji racket that uses the AT800 stringing pattern(clone). I was using a dropweight machine(2pt mounting), 2 piece stringing, starting pin, 4 flying clamp, and stringing from bottom to top method. Oh, and I was using a pack of Ashaway MicroPower Ti. If you need more info, please let me know. Onto the stringing process. I strung the mains with no problems. While stringing the crosses, as I got to hole A10, I ran into a slight problem. There was a string from A9 to A11 which was across the A10 hole. I tried using a method that worked before. Stick an awl into the empty A10 hole, push down on the awl so it would push down the string which was across the A10 hole. Having the cross string which I want to stick into the A10 hole ready in my hand, I slowly pull out the awl and when the awl is about to come out, stick the string into the hole. Sometime it works, sometime it doesn't. I was wondering if there was a better way to get around this problem. -Thanks
I saw the weirdest stringing some time a go, but it seemed to work (hence I'm reviving this thread). the guy was stringing at the Dutch Open, on a babolat sensor. and said he wnated to use as minimal strign as possible... what he did: he unrolled about 4m of the reel, but didn't cut if off! then started weaving the mains from left to right. at the oiuter right he saved some length for the knot, put on a starting clamp and started tensionign from main #11 allt he way to the left outer one, all the mains done pretty darn quickly, at ~28lbs. only when that was done he cut of the end, and started fiddleing with a very small piece of string to tie a knot...all mains done.. after that he started weaving teh crosses from top to bottom, with the strign still on the reel! weaved all throur to teh last cross, tied off, and started tensionign bottum up. after the last (upper) cross he cut of a minimal length and started fiddleing with the knot... according to him He did 3 rackets in a hour...
I got a question regarding about the Yonex String Pattern. It said to tie-off the mains at the 6th hole but due to my very large top mount plate, the 6th hole is not accessible to make a knot. So I was wondering if I could tie-off the main at the 8th hole and tie-off the cross at the 6th hole or 7th hole without compromising the frame integrity.
