Stringing Machines

My experience with crank and electronic machines are shallow. I have owned neither. And I was using them to help the owner string rackets in return for his tutelage. 

Day in day out, I was repeating the same thing on different rackets with different strings at different tensions. I did not get to try anything special or any out-of-the-world stringing methods.

So why did I settle on the Klippermate, which is merely a low-tech and manual dropweight?

I have been blessed with good hands that allowed me to pick up quite a few crafts. In my late teens, I was already taught how to strip down a vehicle engine completely for overhaul and then reinstall it. 

While I was staying at a rented house, I developed "green fingers" and learnt to trim bushes, prune plants and cook my favourite foods. 

Every now and then, I help my friends fix their bicycles, changing freewheels and aligning crank bearings. And re-wiring some electronic circuits was as familiar to me as spine-aligning a golf shaft.

I must thank the master mechanic that exposed me to such "hand" craft. His favourite question was "If your car breaks down in the desert, and you have no access to parts or tools other than what's available in the trunk, what are you going to do?"

What he was insinuating, was that our knowledge and our hands far exceed what tools can do for us. He taught me to think out of the box.

So, the reason for the simple dropweight is, I believe that the stringer matters more than the stringing machine. Plus, that thing is built like a tank. There are very few parts that can break down easily. Even regular calibration is not needed! Unless gravity changes of course!

Another lesser known reason is no over-tensioning. Almost all crank machines over-tensions the string before dropping off back below the poundage intended. 

In other words, to string a racket at 60 lbs on a crank usually means "cranking" the string at about 65 lbs and after the crank "locks" in place, the tension drops to about 55 lbs or less.

Some electronic stringing machines suffer this problem too. Especially when impatient stringers set the pull speed to fastest. It over-tensions about 5-10% but will settle back to the intended tension since it is a "constant-pull". A good and consistent electronic tensioner does not come cheap. And neither are all expensive electronic models accurate.

Ultimately, it is up to the stringer or player to determine if the string is damaged by this "over-stretch". Is playability or durability compromised?

A few of my playing partners and myself can definitely feel the difference.