Releasing the trailing clamp?

[MuscleWeave]

In this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvx7_o7nClQ

Drakulie releases the trailing clamp while he does the crosses. Is that a good practice? Is it risky where you could lose tension on the whole racquet, rather than just the current cross? Are there any other hazards, because it looks like the tension would travel along the stringbed alot better this way. I'm gonna try it. I just got my order for a reel of Forten Nylon to practice on.

MW

[sman789]

looks like he is doing that for speed/efficiency. I always keep the trailing arm tightened because I string in a pro shop and who knows what can happen there. We have plenty of kids running around. In a controlled environment, it should be fine. (i've never had a clamp lose grip on it's own)

[MuscleWeave]

At the end of the racquet, I could not get the soft Forten Nylon through the tie-off hole. It's really squishy. I didn't prepare as well as I might have, not having any instant glue on hand. Frosh mistake.

I did get to try the 'release-the-trailer' method though. Zo Magic turned out to be faster for me to string with and a alot easier to poke through the tie off hole. It's not a total loss with the Forten though. It's soft and low powered, just what I'm looking for in a hybrid cross string. I believe that releasing the trailing clamp right after clamping the tensioned string, and before releasing tension, is greatly increasing my speed while stringing crosses.

MW

[drakulie]

Originally Posted by MuscleWeave

In this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvx7_o7nClQ

Drakulie releases the trailing clamp while he does the crosses. Is that a good practice? Is it risky where you could lose tension on the whole racquet, rather than just the current cross? Are there any other hazards, because it looks like the tension would travel along the stringbed alot better this way. I'm gonna try it. I just got my order for a reel of Forten Nylon to practice on.

MW

Muscle, it's definitely not the safest practice, but I've never had a base clamp fail on me, which is why I release it (the trailing one). Much faster, and when one is stringing at tournaments, or 15-20 frames a day, it is much faster, and efficient.

Cheers.

[MuscleWeave]

Thanks sman and drak, for your inputs.

As an aside, for drak, I'm wondering if the way you use a starting clamp to start your mains ever pushes a grommet out. Would it be better to devise a way of using the clamp on the outside of the rim?

[Ash_Smith]

I tend to se my starting clamp on the outside of the frame as a back-up for the machine clamps (like the Yusuki method), the only exception being when stringing Gut as the part of the string where the starting clamp would sit forms the loop through the grommet to the next main string. If the Gut is marked or has an abrasion from the starting clamp it cause the string to break under tension around this tight loop.

Cheers

Ash

[athiker]

I didn't understand what the OP meant when I first read this but I just watched the video to try to figure it out.

I use a Klippermate dropweight that is obviously constant pull and has only flying clamps. I not only release the "trailing clamp" but I only use one clamp period when doing the crosses. I tension the cross by dropping the dropweight bar and then release the flying clamp from the previous cross and then use it to clamp the current cross. Is this not typical?

I figured it helped to take up a bit of the drawback from clamping and by appearances is seems to. I've strung less than a dozen racquets in my life though so am curious.

[MuscleWeave]

Originally Posted by athiker

I didn't understand what the OP meant when I first read this but I just watched the video to try to figure it out.

I use a Klippermate dropweight that is obviously constant pull and has only flying clamps. I not only release the "trailing clamp" but I only use one clamp period when doing the crosses. I tension the cross by dropping the dropweight bar and then release the flying clamp from the previous cross and then use it to clamp the current cross. Is this not typical?

I figured it helped to take up a bit of the drawback from clamping and by appearances is seems to. I've strung less than a dozen racquets in my life though so am curious.

The clamps in a fixed clamp machine don't slide over the whole width of the machine's table. And each clamp would not be able to reach the other side of the stringbed, closest the tensioner. But I've found a hybrid of the 2 methods to be very quick and useful. Thanks again drakulie.

MW

[GPB]

Originally Posted by athiker

I use a Klippermate dropweight that is obviously constant pull and has only flying clamps. I not only release the "trailing clamp" but I only use one clamp period when doing the crosses. I tension the cross by dropping the dropweight bar and then release the flying clamp from the previous cross and then use it to clamp the current cross. Is this not typical?

I figured it helped to take up a bit of the drawback from clamping and by appearances is seems to. I've strung less than a dozen racquets in my life though so am curious.

I also string on a dropweight with flying clamps. When I first started stringing, I only used one clamp on my crosses, and I never had any problems. I also thought it would help even out the tension between all of the crosses.

Then I saw my "local stringer guy" doing rackets at his shop, and he kept both clamps on. I commented to him about it, and he said that if your clamp messes up, you don't want to have to redo the whole thing.

Since then I have used both clamps on the crosses. In reality, I think it makes little difference to the final product, so you, as a stringer, should weight the pros and cons of speed versus safety. (Not personal safety, but the "what if" for the stringjob).

[drakulie]

Originally Posted by MuscleWeave

Thanks sman and drak, for your inputs.

As an aside, for drak, I'm wondering if the way you use a starting clamp to start your mains ever pushes a grommet out. Would it be better to devise a way of using the clamp on the outside of the rim?

No, I have never had a grommet pop out of place. The starting clamp rests on the grommet, not on the frame, and doesn't push it completely out.

For outside the frame, use Ash's method.

[kmartin]

Originally Posted by drakulie

Muscle, it's definitely not the safest practice, but I've never had a base clamp fail on me, which is why I release it (the trailing one). Much faster, and when one is stringing at tournaments, or 15-20 frames a day, it is much faster, and efficient.

Cheers.

Why would it be faster? I would think leaving it clamped, and then releasing it when you need to move it would be faster, since you would then have your hands on it already from releasing it. Or is there some other factor involved, that's not obvious to me?

[drakulie]

^^What you describe would be defined in the stringing world as a wasted movement. In other words, waiting to get over to the trailing clamp, then releasing the string and base levers, then moving it, and then clalmping the string. As opposed to doing what I am doing. I am releasing the trailing clamp while the tension head is releasing the recently tensioned string. Hope that makes sense.

[MuscleWeave]

I find that it keeps me focused as well. Instead of having a little dead time where I can get distracted, this method keeps me active and engaged in what I'm doing. And it's much faster. Also, it seems to me that releasing the trailing clamp sooner allows the dispersion of the tension along the string faster and more easily.

[Steve Huff]

As for me, I don't release the trailing clamp. I can't see that it is any faster. After tensioning the next string, I release the previous trailing clamp and reclamp on the tensioned string in 1 motion. Seems as if releasing it after tensioning and clamping the other clamp would be a wasted motion. Didn't watch the video, and I know Drac knows what he's doing. If you have good clamps, shouldn't be a problem either way.

[MuscleWeave]

Just did another racquet this afternoon. I noticed a lot of drawback this time, since I don't have the most solid of clamps. I'd better go back to the normal way of doing it and work on my concentration. I don't want to shorten the life of my clamps and clamp bases. (Pioneer)