Classic METAL Racquets Thread - ALUMINIUM to TENSILIUM

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 07:49 AM

I thought maybe classic METAL racquets deserved their own thread

So I reckon it all started here in about 1925 with the Birmal!

Made in Birmingham England and made of Aluminium

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 07:56 AM

Not sure of the year of this one in the late 70's, someone will know

It's the Slazenger X10, made of Tensilium!

It was used by Manuel Orantes!

You can see Borg thinking "Why are you about to use that awful new metal racquet against me, and it doesn't matter as you'll lose anyway" LOL

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 08:03 AM

Some close-ups of the Slazenger X10, made of Tensilium

galain · 03-30-2010, 09:22 AM

I don't have any pics, but classics from my youth -

The green Yonex/Yoneyama YY ???
Slazengers Panther
Dunlop's Volley
Slazengers Challenge X-2 (I think)
The Princes (especially the Mag Pro)
and - Head made a beautiful stick in the mid 80's but i can't put my finger on its name. Tournament Edge perhaps?

I don't remember the metals being around for very long - but they were great fun to play with.

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by galain

I don't have any pics, but classics from my youth -

The green Yonex/Yoneyama YY ???
Slazengers Panther
Dunlop's Volley
Slazengers Challenge X-2 (I think)
The Princes (especially the Mag Pro)
and - Head made a beautiful stick in the mid 80's but i can't put my finger on its name. Tournament Edge perhaps?

I don't remember the metals being around for very long - but they were great fun to play with.

All cool racquets, I reckon

The metals weren't around for long really. Basically the 70's as far as being popular. They were around before and after, but the metal racquets had their day mainly in the 70's!

Like I said in another thread though, as far as UK was concerned the metals were never anywhere near the dominant type of racquet. In the 70's wood still was the main racquet and that went to graphite in the early 80's quite quickly!

So metal in the UK didn't get much of a look in, and were quite rare to find sometimes! I think that's why I like them so much now

tennis005 · 03-30-2010, 10:01 AM

Let's not forget the Wilson T and TX series rackets.

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennis005

Let's not forget the Wilson T and TX series rackets.

Absolutely, the steel classics from the late 60's and 70's

This is gpt's great photo montage of the Wilson T2000, also showing the original Lacoste version!

jimbo333 · 03-30-2010, 04:11 PM

And here's the Aluminium original Weed

It's about 140sqin!

(My photo doesn't do it justice unfortunately)

joe sch · 03-30-2010, 08:53 PM

How about a T2000 with some spaghetti ...

http://www.woodtennis.com/strings/t2000pasta.jpg

Mansewerz · 03-30-2010, 09:09 PM

I've got a wilson t3000 and a Chemold Rocket

tennis005 · 03-30-2010, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe sch

How about a T2000 with some spaghetti ...

http://www.woodtennis.com/strings/t2000pasta.jpg

Cool!!! Never seen that one before.

jimbo333 · 03-31-2010, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe sch

How about a T2000 with some spaghetti ...

http://www.woodtennis.com/strings/t2000pasta.jpg

Superb Joe

Have you played with it?

(And love the fact the photo is called "T2000Pasta"

jimbo333 · 03-31-2010, 01:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mansewerz

I've got a wilson t3000 and a Chemold Rocket

Would like to see a photo of the Chemold Rocket

joe sch · 03-31-2010, 05:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo333

Superb Joe

Have you played with it?

(And love the fact the photo is called "T2000Pasta"

Yes, I did take it out for a hit and as advertised, the ball took all kinds of crazy flight paths. I did not hit for too long since I wanted to keep this extremely labor intensive string job intact as a show piece.

joe sch · 03-31-2010, 05:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo333

Would like to see a photo of the Chemold Rocket

I have a few diff metals pictured at this page:

http://www.woodtennis.com/newMetal/newMetal.html

and a laver chemold at this page:

http://www.woodtennis.com/laver/

and how about the rosewall seamco:

http://www.woodtennis.com/rosewall/seamco_rosewall1.jpg

another classic metal is the gonzales spalding smasher:

http://www.woodtennis.com/panchogonz...s3racketsa.jpg

and the newk tiebreaker:

http://www.woodtennis.com/newcombe/

Mansewerz · 03-31-2010, 09:49 AM

I'll post when I get a chance

joe sch · 03-31-2010, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mansewerz

I'll post when I get a chance

Is this it ? http://www.woodtennis.com/laver/chemoldlaver1.jpg

jimbo333 · 04-01-2010, 02:05 AM

Here's a good one!

A Slazenger Titanium XL

coachrick · 04-01-2010, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo333

Here's a good one!

A Slazenger Titanium XL

I've got a never-strung w/tag Slaz Ti coming any day! I was not aware of this model when it was 'current' (?). Not sure if I will string it or not...might be fun to add to the hitting collection.

One challenge I'm having is taking out all these itty-bitty rackets in our never-ending 25mph+ winds !!! Makes chasing that ball quite a task!

tennis005 · 04-01-2010, 06:58 AM

I hear you. Texas is quite a windy place this time of year. What's fun is hitting a lob straight up in the wind and watching land three courts away.

03-30-2010, 07:49 AM	#1
jimbo333 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Windsor, England Posts: 3,987	Classic METAL Racquets Thread - ALUMINIUM to TENSILIUM I thought maybe classic METAL racquets deserved their own thread So I reckon it all started here in about 1925 with the Birmal! Made in Birmingham England and made of Aluminium __________________ :) Last edited by jimbo333 : 03-30-2010 at 08:33 AM.

03-30-2010, 07:56 AM	#2
jimbo333 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Windsor, England Posts: 3,987	Not sure of the year of this one in the late 70's, someone will know It's the Slazenger X10, made of Tensilium! It was used by Manuel Orantes! You can see Borg thinking "Why are you about to use that awful new metal racquet against me, and it doesn't matter as you'll lose anyway" LOL __________________ :)

03-30-2010, 08:03 AM	#3
jimbo333 Hall Of Fame Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Windsor, England Posts: 3,987	Some close-ups of the Slazenger X10, made of Tensilium __________________ :)

03-30-2010, 09:22 AM	#4
galain Hall Of Fame Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,823	I don't have any pics, but classics from my youth - The green Yonex/Yoneyama YY ??? Slazengers Panther Dunlop's Volley Slazengers Challenge X-2 (I think) The Princes (especially the Mag Pro) and - Head made a beautiful stick in the mid 80's but i can't put my finger on its name. Tournament Edge perhaps? I don't remember the metals being around for very long - but they were great fun to play with. __________________ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"

03-30-2010, 10:01 AM	#6
tennis005 Professional Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 1,276	Let's not forget the Wilson T and TX series rackets. __________________ Head Youtek Prestige Pro strung RIP 17 49lb Head leather/Babolat VS. TGK 238.4 NXT17 55lbs . Pro Stock Radical MP with MT @ 55 FS or FT.

03-30-2010, 09:09 PM	#10
Mansewerz Legend Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Caught in No Man's Land Posts: 9,168	I've got a wilson t3000 and a Chemold Rocket __________________ Gameplan: Get it deep, wait for the short ball, then come in. (2) Volkl C10 Pros