TIP - Verify suitability of clamps provided (for badminton strings)

A friend recently purchase a budget drop weight unit only to discover the supplied clamps were NOT suitable for use with badminton strings! Luckily the other tools provided were multi-purpose and could be use for stringing a badminton racquet.

Always ask the seller or manufacturer if (any of) the clamps provided are suitable for stringing a badminton racquet.

Some sellers or manufacturers are willing to replace the default clamps with those suitable for stringing badminton strings - for a modest top-up.

Potential issues for drop weight stringing machines with ratchet based mechanism(s)

I came across the following informative site while researching a related topic.

Although the discrepencies maybe magnified when performed at tensions for tennis racquets, the issues are relevant for badminton tensions since most springs (used in the ratchet mechanism) obey Hooke's Law . The impact will be to a lower degree.

Direct link: http://homepage2.nifty.com/picdog/Tennis_Stringing/stringing_9.html
Thru BING translator: http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?ref=SERP&br=ro&mkt=en-SG&dl=en&lp=JA_EN&a=http%3a%2f%2fhomepage2.nifty.com%2fpicdog%2fTennis_Stringing%2fstringing_9.html

The Japanese author shows why the gripper should be at 180degrees in the 1st sequence of pix(s).

The Japanese author has pix(s) of tests results perform using a tension-meter with the drop weight bar and gripper at various angles. These pix(s) are highly illustrative and informative - it gets the details across even if the translation was not great.

The Japanese author shows the necessity to verify the tension setting vs tension obtained within the racquet frame in the 4th post

From another thread at http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=273863 (illustrated by the 3rd set of pixs by the Japanese author) you can see the formulae for determining the resultant force using the basic drop weight tensioner system (does not apply to proprietary drop weight designs). Noon is 0degrees as that is the position from which the drop weight falls from. COSINE90 in the formulate producess a ZERO value, that is the reason why the bar with the drop weight has to be in-parallel with the floor aka 90degree(s), to produce the desired tension.