First time...racquet collapsed...what happened?

[tacoben]

I'm still fairly new to stringing racquets and ran into a problem last night. I use a Klippermate. I've strung about 10 racquets so far without any problems.

Long story short, I started the mains on three racquets two days before and planned on finishing the crosses the following day. This is because my eyesight doesn't do well at night (natural day light outdoors is best for me) even with fair amount of indoor lighting. The racquets were a babolat, a technifbre, and the third was some obscure Sampras Autograph Wilson brand that I got from the goodwill store. The first two did o.k. with just the mains strung overnight and I eventually finished the crosses to complete the stringing the day after. However, when I came home last night to finish the Sampras Autograph, I noticed that the racquet collapsed near the perimeter weighing systems (PWS). So, what gives?

I asked my family if anyone accidentally stepped on the racquet...no one did, so I am curios as to why the racquet failed. Is it a bad idea to do just the mains first and do the crosses later...should I have completed the racquet all at one time? Thanks in advance for your input.

[arche3]

Your supposed to keep racket on stringer until mains and cross it done. If you take it off the tension from the mains can break the racket depending on how tight it is strung. So yes your supposed to finish the mains and then the cross before taking racket off machine.

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by arche3

Your supposed to keep racket on stringer until mains and cross it done. If you take it off the tension from the mains can break the racket depending on how tight it is strung. So yes your supposed to finish the mains and then the cross before taking racket off machine.

Ah..ok...that makes sense. I'll chalk this one up to a learning lesson. It won't every happen again. But I basically dodge a bullet with the bobolat and technifibre.

[Irvin]

Just curious measure the length of the two rackets you think went well. Are they shorter than they should have been? If they are are not right your standards are slipping for sure. Just because they didn't break does not mean they won't or all went well. If they are the correct length the standards could have slipped on the other racket (because probably you had to adjust them and the pressure of the mains pulling on the top and bottom of the racket broke the racket because there was no countering force from the sides of the racket.

It is better to complete the racket all at once. Never start a string job unless you are sure you have time to finish.

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by Irvin

Just curious measure the length of the two rackets you think went well. Are they shorter than they should have been? If they are are not right your standards are slipping for sure. Just because they didn't break does not mean they won't or all went well. If they are the correct length the standards could have slipped on the other racket (because probably you had to adjust them and the pressure of the mains pulling on the top and bottom of the racket broke the racket because there was no countering force from the sides of the racket.

It is better to complete the racket all at once. Never start a string job unless you are sure you have time to finish.

Thanks for the reply. The only difference between the three were that the two racquets that were alright was strung betwee 50-55 ;bs, both were polys, the tenifibre racquet has the tenfibire N-Code 17 g string and the Babolat had the MSV hex 17 g. The racquet that failed was being strung at 60 lbs with synthetic gut.

[Irvin]

^^That's a couple more reasons that lead me to believe the standards slipped. Did you measure the rackets?

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by Irvin

^^That's a couple more reasons that lead me to believe the standards slipped. Did you measure the rackets?

No, I was not mindful to do so. But by the spec, they are the standard 27 inch racquet. What actually do you mean by "standards slipped"? Again, I'm fairly new at this, so excuse me for asking a lot of questions.

[kopfan]

Originally Posted by tacoben

No, I was not mindful to do so. But by the spec, they are the standard 27 inch racquet. What actually do you mean by "standards slipped"? Again, I'm fairly new at this, so excuse me for asking a lot of questions.

Go measure the length of your racquet now. They are suppose to be 27 in spec and since you strung mains and took it off the machine. Being left overnight, the tension could have distorted the head frame vertically causing the head frame to warp / bend and thus, become shorter than 27 in. Check if your racquet is still able to lay equally balance on both side as well.
If your racquet do have issue, cut off the strings and let your racquet rest, hope that it will return back to standard shape.

[bugeyed]

Originally Posted by Irvin

^^That's a couple more reasons that lead me to believe the standards slipped. Did you measure the rackets?

Irvin......The way I read it, the OP admitted that he removed the racquet from the machine overnight, with the mains installed!

Cheers,
kev

[gmatheis]

Originally Posted by Irvin

^^That's a couple more reasons that lead me to believe the standards slipped. Did you measure the rackets?

I'm guessing you mean the place where the racket is mounted , but I don't think the OP left the racket mounted. It sounded to me like he did the mains on all 3 and did not leave any actually mounted to the machine.

As people have said, you should finish a full string job at once. If some emergency comes up as you finish your mains, at the very least don't take the racket off the machine because the machine is helping to support your racket until you get the crosses strung.

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by bugeyed

Irvin......The way I read it, the OP admitted that he removed the racquet from the machine overnight, with the mains installed!

Cheers,
kev

Originally Posted by gmatheis

I'm guessing you mean the place where the racket is mounted , but I don't think the OP left the racket mounted. It sounded to me like he did the mains on all 3 and did not leave any actually mounted to the machine.

As people have said, you should finish a full string job at once. If some emergency comes up as you finish your mains, at the very least don't take the racket off the machine because the machine is helping to support your racket until you get the crosses strung.

You guys are right. He said he started the mains in all three rackets and the he strung the crosses in two of them. He's lucky only one broke.

[cluckcluck]

Could you take a picture? I'd like to see the victim.

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by kopfan

If your racquet do have issue, cut off the strings and let your racquet rest, hope that it will return back to standard shape.

No, the racquet is distorted/cracked, so there is no hope in getting it back to standard shape.

All the previous racquets I did (before the last three I indicated) were finished all at one time. I'm actually glad this happened...I learned from this mistake.

Thanks again for all your input.

[tacoben]

Originally Posted by cluckcluck

Could you take a picture? I'd like to see the victim.

I would but for some reason, I am not allowed to upload images even though I've posted for a long time on this forum.

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by tacoben

I would but for some reason, I am not allowed to upload images even though I've posted for a long time on this forum.

Not sure but if you loaded your picture on a hosting site you may be able to post the link to it. But TW may block you from posting a link also or maybe that is how they block pictures.

EDIT: I just looked at the bottom of the page and my [IMG] code is on. There isn't anything for [url] code so maybe that will work for you.

EDIT: Wow you've been a member since 2008 with over 400+ posts. Something is wrong. I would contact the TW Staff about posting pics

[kopfan]

Originally Posted by tacoben

No, the racquet is distorted/cracked, so there is no hope in getting it back to standard shape.

All the previous racquets I did (before the last three I indicated) were finished all at one time. I'm actually glad this happened...I learned from this mistake.

Thanks again for all your input.

I am referring to the other 2 that did not break but having only main strung and removed from machine. They could have been distorted/cracked. Check carefully.

[Litespeeds]

My interpretation after carefully reading the original post was that 3 racquets were strung during the evening with just the mains. That means the racquets were removed from the stringer and sat around overnight. The next day he finished doing the crosses on the other 2 racquets. On the 2nd day when he came home to finish the 3rd, that's when he saw it broken.

Major mistake in your string jobs. Hope these are your racquets and not for customers or friends. You should NEVER remove a racquet from a stringer until it is completed. The 2 or 6 point mounts are there for a reason and that is to prevent or reduce the chances of the tennis racquet frame from distorting. By removing the racquets with only the mains strung, I guarantee you the frames are slightly distorted in that it will not measure 27" exactly. It could be off by 1/8" or more. All depends on how stiff the frame is.

This is a hard lesson learned but you should cut out the string job and restring the racquets. I know you will never make this mistake again.

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by tacoben

I would but for some reason, I am not allowed to upload images even though I've posted for a long time on this forum.

Uploading directly to the forum (direct hosting) is not turned on @ TW. I have actually seen this feature used at only one forum on the many I'm a member of :P

[fortun8son]

Posters put up photos all the time.
Am I missing something here?

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by fortun8son

Posters put up photos all the time.
Am I missing something here?

Your picture must be posted to a hosting site like photo bucket then you copy the link code of the hosting service for a picture and post that link on the TW site not the picture.