Well, I ended up very lucky and got my hands on a Yonex/Kimony Starting Clamp. Basically, I got the Holy Grail of Starting Clamp from Albert Lee (The man is amazing).
There are a couple thread about the clamp, but no actual photos and reviews.
My first thought before evening owning one... “Why in the world would anyone spend 250USD on a Starting Clamp???”
Honestly, that was how it felt because 250$ could be easily invested on the Alpha SW machine or brand new full stringing set which includes a nice starting clamp.
Fast forward until today... After using it, I WOULD purchase a ultimate Kimony Starting Clamp... My wife already call dibs on this one because she fell in love with it when we strung a couple tonight.
It’s made from a metal but feels like some sort of carbon plastic type material.
Very light weight and feel nice to the hands.
I had to opened it up to clean and of course tinker around with it
What I found was this is literally a clamp in miniature form.
The screw is a male that is embedded on on the short size
The Long Side as the hole for the screw to go through and those two circular dots are where the spring goes in. The spring action and grab comes from that area.
The clamps are not diamond coated but has this rough almost powder coated feel to it. Either way Strings did not slip.
It comes in 3 pieces
This is the last piece that hold the other side of the spring also the opposing side of the clamp!
The dial is smooth and can obviously be adjusted to tight or loosen. The clamp is way advance and does less harm to the strings in my opinion after seeing the design. When other conventional clamps has a hinge that opens like a V-Shape (alligator) and has 1-3 springs to hold the clamp close. The Kimony/Yonex Staring Clamp has a more evening and parallel hold just like the many clamps on string machines. Those springs inside tilt the center piece and equalize the clamp on both top and bottom with the string in between the two metal clamps.
The feel when you lock the clamp is like Land O’Lakes Butter. The clam softly locks the string in the middle. Even with the minimal pressure on the dial it held the string well.
I strung 16g VS Gut, 16g NXT and 16L Poly tonight. I usually use my Tecnifibre Starting Clamp which is usually a firm starting clamp. Tecnifibre didn’t leave crazy or ghostly marks but sometime you can definatelty see where the diamond dust slightly embedding the string. You can feel it a bit.
The Kimony/Yonex Clamp did not have any, I was so surprised because I was expecting something. I basically didn’t feel or saw anything thing different.
I used the starting clamp for starting both my Mains (Yuzuki method) and Crosses.
For the Crosses using the Tecnifibre starting clamp cause Tiny bit of wear because it is on the string longer, the Kimony/Yonex like I said didn’t have a mark on it.
I thought with the Kimony current version on the dial “badminton” & “tennis” sticker the dial would move in a click type feel, but it is just a normal dial.
I would rate this a superior starting clamp and PERSONALLY the best starting clamp I ever used.
I don’t use the starting clamp to tighten my knots (I use the cam action clamp) so I could see this being a draw back for those who used the Starting Clamp for tie offs.
So many way to get the job done
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on these and try before buying another one.
There are a couple thread about the clamp, but no actual photos and reviews.
My first thought before evening owning one... “Why in the world would anyone spend 250USD on a Starting Clamp???”
Honestly, that was how it felt because 250$ could be easily invested on the Alpha SW machine or brand new full stringing set which includes a nice starting clamp.
Fast forward until today... After using it, I WOULD purchase a ultimate Kimony Starting Clamp... My wife already call dibs on this one because she fell in love with it when we strung a couple tonight.
It’s made from a metal but feels like some sort of carbon plastic type material.
Very light weight and feel nice to the hands.
I had to opened it up to clean and of course tinker around with it
What I found was this is literally a clamp in miniature form.
The screw is a male that is embedded on on the short size
The Long Side as the hole for the screw to go through and those two circular dots are where the spring goes in. The spring action and grab comes from that area.
The clamps are not diamond coated but has this rough almost powder coated feel to it. Either way Strings did not slip.
It comes in 3 pieces
This is the last piece that hold the other side of the spring also the opposing side of the clamp!
The dial is smooth and can obviously be adjusted to tight or loosen. The clamp is way advance and does less harm to the strings in my opinion after seeing the design. When other conventional clamps has a hinge that opens like a V-Shape (alligator) and has 1-3 springs to hold the clamp close. The Kimony/Yonex Staring Clamp has a more evening and parallel hold just like the many clamps on string machines. Those springs inside tilt the center piece and equalize the clamp on both top and bottom with the string in between the two metal clamps.
The feel when you lock the clamp is like Land O’Lakes Butter. The clam softly locks the string in the middle. Even with the minimal pressure on the dial it held the string well.
I strung 16g VS Gut, 16g NXT and 16L Poly tonight. I usually use my Tecnifibre Starting Clamp which is usually a firm starting clamp. Tecnifibre didn’t leave crazy or ghostly marks but sometime you can definatelty see where the diamond dust slightly embedding the string. You can feel it a bit.
The Kimony/Yonex Clamp did not have any, I was so surprised because I was expecting something. I basically didn’t feel or saw anything thing different.
I used the starting clamp for starting both my Mains (Yuzuki method) and Crosses.
For the Crosses using the Tecnifibre starting clamp cause Tiny bit of wear because it is on the string longer, the Kimony/Yonex like I said didn’t have a mark on it.
I thought with the Kimony current version on the dial “badminton” & “tennis” sticker the dial would move in a click type feel, but it is just a normal dial.
I would rate this a superior starting clamp and PERSONALLY the best starting clamp I ever used.
I don’t use the starting clamp to tighten my knots (I use the cam action clamp) so I could see this being a draw back for those who used the Starting Clamp for tie offs.
So many way to get the job done
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on these and try before buying another one.
