Anyone who says they hate flying clamps has never strung with stringway flying clamps. Just look at this thread. The two people who have strung with SW flying clamps are the only two that say flying clamps are not that big of a deal.
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Tod
An interesting post, with an excellent explanation by someone who obviously understands what he is doing and knows how to explain it because he is writing about his own experiences. :grin:
This is pleasant change, I would be far more inclined to participate in these discussions, if there were some more posts of this quality. Whether you agree or not with what has been explained, is only important if you can contribute with first hand knowledge and opinions that are based on your personal experiences.
There are often good reasons and credible explanations for most subjects that are present in the debates or where there are conflicting points of view. What I don't understand is that some posters state their opinion then try to impose it. This is frequent when the opinion is expressed by someone who has no knowledge of the opposite point of view. This thread is quite a good example of this tendancy. :sad:
We can all learn something new in stringing, to be open enough to consider and eventually try something different can be a very positive experience. Stringing can be anything from a laborious past time to a fine craft, everything depends on the capacity of the person who strings the racquet to do it well and the quality of his tools of trade, because as we know, a good craftsman is only as good as his tools, so he has every interest to choose them well and to use them intelligently.
The single most important element in stringing is the quality of the clamps, whether they be flying clamps or fixed clamps (single or double action, on guide rails or pivoting), all systems can be excellent, average or badly adapted to do the job, no matter what system is used it is extremely important that the clamps do the job very well. If this is not the case, no matter how good the rest of the machine is, it is impossible to string well.
The next most important element is the racquet support system, this is far more important in a fixed clamp machine than it is with flying clamps. It's all about distortion of the cradle, stress on the frame and eventual loss of tension across the stringbed. This is a very interesting topic that could be initiated if there are enough people interested in participating.
Finally you have the tensioner, the most accurate system is a very good, well calibrated drop weight. It is not the fastest, nor the most convenient to use, but it is the most accurate and the most constant system available.
The very best electronique machines do a very good job of reproducing the constant pull characteristics of a good DW System. As for the other tensioners, this can be a vast subject of discussions and heated debates, at some other time.
Tod, thanks for your comments on the StringWay flying clamps, I agree with you entirely, unfortunately they are really an exception, but it's great to know that they exist and that they do the job perfectly.
Of course your positive findings with the SW clamps are not necessarily applicable for the vast majority of the flying clamps available in the market. In general I would be far less inclined to recommend using flying clamps if they are not the original
StringWay flying clamps. Great flying clamps can be as good or even better than a good fixed clamp system, but they have to be very good, if they are not, go for the fixed clamps . . .
JC.
