Ancient string machine/ball bearing string gripper Q &A

[borisboris]

Well I just set up my OLD BANCROFT stringer = drop weight/glide bar. Really clueless to the A-Z on stringing = 1st timer. I have a ball bearing string gripper. When I let the tension head drop-is the gripper supposed to slide over the platform or wedge and stay in one place? The string tension is going to hold the tension head at horizontal? It seems my string gripper is rubbing too much on the platform? [/url]

[Gaines Hillix]

When you lower the arm, the string gripper should rotate clockwise away from the frame mount.

[borisboris]

I have glide bars, I have placed my racquet in the mounting system and am curious as to how the clamps can move lateral for cross stringing? Confused.....

[Gaines Hillix]

The plate that the glide bars are attached to should be able to rotate 90o so that the bars are parrallel to the crosses.

[borisboris]

Another stupid question. The glide clamps glide across the platform---back & forth? You don't have to screw them down? The clamp is raised & holds it's position because of it's grip on the string? I thought you had to bolt down the bar at the right height then move it across the platform - no wonder I couldn't begin.

[Gaines Hillix]

borisboris, yes, the bars have to be attached to the platform some how and yes, the clamps glide back and forth on the bars. I believe there were several designs for how the bars attached to the base and how they could be adjusted. Never saw a Bancroft machine though. You might want to post some pix of this machine somewhere on the web and post a link to them here. Someone may recognize how it works.

[borisboris]

Thanks for the feed back Gaines - your a clutch performer on these boards -I got it taken care of - atleast the 1st 1/2 of my string job = ran out of time 1.5 hrs. I took my time. The glide bars work great - the gripper works just fine the only hic-up is the stringer himself Can you leave a string job 1/2 done (mains) over night w/o tying down? Eaganus -the machines belittled on these boards has a great tutorial on the beginners drop weight, if not for that I'd be cussing the existance of god and taken a blow torch to my oldie but a goodie stringer.

[Gaines Hillix]

borisboris, it is not a good idea to leave a racquet half strung. If you get caught in that situation and can't finish it the recommended procedure is to unclamp the strings and loosen them so there is no tension on the frame.

[chang10is]

Yes, it would be a very bad idea to leave the racquet with only the mains strung. Think about the amount of tension on the racquet: 60 lbs x 16 or 18 mains. When putting a racquet away for the day, you want the amount of force going in the lateral direction to be close to the amount of force in the horizontal direction, or you risk distorting the racquet's shape. Also, when you're doing the crosses, make sure you fan the string up and down as you pull it across the mains. If you just pull it straight across the mains, you'll end up burning a notch in the strings, and this will shorten the life of the string drastically. Good job for getting through this much without having somebody next to you for instruction!