Old MS200tt stringing machine worth buying?

[BlxTennis]

Originally Posted by Pbarrow

Thanks is much for the video, it gave me a little confidence. He is fast!

I cleaned her up a bit to get pictures taken, see link below for more pics. Looking for a good permanent home in the shop and a stand and light. Thanks for the suggestion on silicone, wow what a difference in the slides! I am ready to take the plunge and try my first string job. Probably a good idea to use junk string and an old racquet?

https://picasaweb.google.com/1042703...CM21hf3QkpLRKg

Wow. That is a steal! I guess LF is out of business now? A new Stringway of this model is about $1k.

[Lakers4Life]

That's in great condition! BTW is that a router table it's on?

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by Pbarrow

Thanks is much for the video, it gave me a little confidence. He is fast!

I cleaned her up a bit to get pictures taken, see link below for more pics. Looking for a good permanent home in the shop and a stand and light. Thanks for the suggestion on silicone, wow what a difference in the slides! I am ready to take the plunge and try my first string job. Probably a good idea to use junk string and an old racquet?

https://picasaweb.google.com/1042703...CM21hf3QkpLRKg

Just go for it on your regular frame. The machine will deliver a quality job, not much to screw up with, just make sure all your mounting is fixed down properly.

[Squidward]

Sweet Deal! You won't be sorry!!

[tennytive]

Watched the video, looks like a nice machine.

One thing though, the stringer never seems to bring the bar all the way down to horizontal. Almost, but never really level. Is that normal?

[Irvin]

Originally Posted by tennytive

Watched the video, looks like a nice machine.

One thing though, the stringer never seems to bring the bar all the way down to horizontal. Almost, but never really level. Is that normal?

With an automatic drop weight the tension is accurate if the bar is level or not so it does not mattic.

[tennytive]

Thanks Irvin, I never knew such a thing existed. Wouldn't mind having one of those myself.

Searching, I found only one other, a ML100 that went for $500.+ in '08 I think, so they don't come up very often.

OP, nicely done!

[Power Player]

I got mine for $500. I still need to fix a clamp. The biggest issue I have is that I string too much to send in the clamp to be repaired..lol. It just doesn't lock cleanly. I even have the piece to fix it, but I just can't do it..torture..but it still works.

Let me know how you go finding a stand. I emailed Mark at alpha, and the stands are $250..a little too rich for my blood honestly. I bought a tool stand but it just doesn't really fit, so I string sitting down, which kind of sucks. I think it is real important to get a small stand that is the proper height.

For me that could be a small but sturdy set of drawers..who knows. I just need to find something.


As stated, the bar automaticall hits the tension. That plus, the clamps and the build quality is what makes this the last string machine I will ever need. Once you get good with this machine, you just will nail the desired tension over and over again. It is rather awesome.


$300 is an insane steal. you can resell this machine from 5-$600 all day long, so you basically made a profit.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by Power Player

Let me know how you go finding a stand. I emailed Mark at alpha, and the stands are $250..a little too rich for my blood honestly. I bought a tool stand but it just doesn't really fit, so I string sitting down, which kind of sucks. I think it is real important to get a small stand that is the proper height.

For me that could be a small but sturdy set of drawers..who knows. I just need to find something.

.

If you string a lot, buying an extra clamp might not be a bad idea...even a used one that someone swapped out. It would NOT be fun to string with ONE clamp when you've got a dozen rackets lined up.

For a stand, as I've mentioned before, check the spring garage sales for a microwave/kitchen cart. Darned near the perfect height for me, offers a bit of storage(usually one drawer and one 'cabinet', is mobile and doesn't look like you just hauled it in from the garage . Mine is a light oak finish(from World Market); but it certainly could be covered with tennis brand stickers or painted some platinum/titanium color for a techie look .

[Power Player]

Good call. I will look for something like that. I did in the past, but I was out of luck on it.

I should clarify that it's not really my clamp that is not working but actually the base of the clamp. I need to find out how much that would cost.

[mmk]

Originally Posted by Power Player

...
Let me know how you go finding a stand. I emailed Mark at alpha, and the stands are $250..a little too rich for my blood honestly. I bought a tool stand but it just doesn't really fit, so I string sitting down, which kind of sucks. I think it is real important to get a small stand that is the proper height.

For me that could be a small but sturdy set of drawers..who knows. I just need to find something.....

It doesn't have drawers, but you might want to check out the Adjustable Pedestal Stand at Harbor Freight. Adjusts from 24 to 42.5", and has mounting holes in the base so you could attach it to a home-made fixed or rolling base.

[Power Player]

Very interesting!!!

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by mmk

It doesn't have drawers, but you might want to check out the Adjustable Pedestal Stand at Harbor Freight. Adjusts from 24 to 42.5", and has mounting holes in the base so you could attach it to a home-made fixed or rolling base.

Killer stand, from the looks of it. I prefer pedestal stands on stringers, it allows you to get closer to the machine, I always find myself leaning way more if a machine is on a cart setup, maybe it's just a mental thing?

[Power Player]

whats a good height for a stand? Is there any guideline for choosing the ideal height you should string at?

I ask because I strung on a lower deck table once and my back was not pleased.

[tbuggle]

Originally Posted by Power Player

whats a good height for a stand? Is there any guideline for choosing the ideal height you should string at?

I ask because I strung on a lower deck table once and my back was not pleased.

i set mine up so that the stringbed is about equal height to my elbows (arms hanging down) give or take an inch or two.

That way i can stand fairly straight up while stringing/weaving etc.

[Pbarrow]

Originally Posted by Lakers4Life

That's in great condition! BTW is that a router table it's on?

Yes, that is a Bosch collapsible router table, probably 10-12 years old now.

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by Power Player

whats a good height for a stand? Is there any guideline for choosing the ideal height you should string at?

I ask because I strung on a lower deck table once and my back was not pleased.

Originally Posted by tbuggle

i set mine up so that the stringbed is about equal height to my elbows (arms hanging down) give or take an inch or two.

That way i can stand fairly straight up while stringing/weaving etc.

Agree about the elbows...you don't want to lean over or stand on tippy-toes in order to install the strings. I can pretty much place my forearms flat on top of the racket I'm stringing, elbows bent at 90 degrees(more or less).

You do NOT want to spend hours a day hunched over like the celebrity chefs we see on TV. I'll bet Michael Simon and Emeril used to be 3 inches taller!

[coachrick]

Originally Posted by diredesire

Killer stand, from the looks of it. I prefer pedestal stands on stringers, it allows you to get closer to the machine, I always find myself leaning way more if a machine is on a cart setup, maybe it's just a mental thing?

The key for me is to remove the cabinet doors (or drawer if it's there) in front of your knees. That way you can flex your legs a bit and also get closer to the machine(without slamming your kneecaps). Trash bin goes in the low cabinet area, seldom-used tools and ancillaries in the drawer, frequently used tools on top of the cart(machine is lifted, if necessary, by a 'riser' that allows tools to 'hide' underneath but still be easily reached).

[diredesire]

Originally Posted by coachrick

The key for me is to remove the cabinet doors (or drawer if it's there) in front of your knees. That way you can flex your legs a bit and also get closer to the machine(without slamming your kneecaps). Trash bin goes in the low cabinet area, seldom-used tools and ancillaries in the drawer, frequently used tools on top of the cart(machine is lifted, if necessary, by a 'riser' that allows tools to 'hide' underneath but still be easily reached).

I wonder if my bias is because the carts I've strung on have a lip on the top that puts the stringer in a slightly recessed tray... I haven't strung on a cart with a totally flat surface on the top, I bet the lip forces me to push the stringer further away... I haven't really given it much thought since it's such a rare occurrence for me. What you describe sounds pretty reasonable to me as a convenient setup. There are high end machines with gigantic columns with storage underneath, after all.

Originally Posted by coachrick

Agree about the elbows...you don't want to lean over or stand on tippy-toes in order to install the strings. I can pretty much place my forearms flat on top of the racket I'm stringing, elbows bent at 90 degrees(more or less).

You do NOT want to spend hours a day hunched over like the celebrity chefs we see on TV. I'll bet Michael Simon and Emeril used to be 3 inches taller!

Agreed. If you're stringing for a long time, the elbow height string bed will help you prevent tension in your shoulders from hunching them together for hours on end, similar to the ideal ergonomic computer setup. I always (used to) strung a little higher than my elbows because... well, I'm short, and the machines were shared

[A Defenseless Creature]

Originally Posted by diredesire

I'd expand by saying bike lube generally refers to dry silicone spray, and it will GREATLY increase the smoothness of motion on both clamp base styles.

I would suggest NOT lubing the glide bar with single action clamps. If it is cleaned with rubbing alcohol or polish remover, the clamp bases will work perfectly. Lubricants can cause the single action to slip. Be careful.