horzt1

horz1

Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Salvaging handle from broken racquet

Saw a broken Yonex racquet at one of the badminton halls I frequent - handle and shaft was in good condition, just a broken frame. Though not frequent, I do hear of accounts whereby the handle actually broke during usage. Hence decide to give salvaging the handle from the latter a go.

Ok, tool required are as per in the pix.

1. Power drill with correct drill bit size(depends on the shaft on the handle)
2. Pliers with cutting edge at the rear of the teeth or small burner
3. Pressurised air blower (for computers)


Tools required

First step is to cut away the shaft at the end of handle. You can use the cutting area on the pliers to do so. I used the small burner to heat it 1st before cutting - to soften the shaft 1st (turn out not necessary to do so).

Once done, you will to determine the proper drill bit size to use - 5mm for myself. Please note there are several types of drill bits - for wood, concrete or general purpose. I found the GP version worked well for my case.

Before drilling, please ensure you have something to hold the handle firmly in-place. Otherwise you may risk injuring yourself.

As you drill, blackish material will appear from the activity. If you see wooden bits, you are either drilling at the WRONG angle or have drilled too far into the handle. I had to stop to clear the debris twice till reaching the maximum length of the drill bit.FInally used the pressured air to clear any remaining dust from the newly formed hole on the handle.

Final result

Monday, April 2, 2018

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Yonex classification of 2018 racquets for skill level

Discovered the following Yonex chart while trolling the net.

Looks like the Yonex view of suggested racquet(s) for a certain skill level.


Thursday, February 1, 2018

Overstretched badminton strings

I am high-lighting this concern due to a recent incident by a friend.

He is one with the adamant belief that badminton strings should not move AT ALL after a restring and will have MAXIMUM repulsion as well  as durability aka philosophy of "good, fast and cheap" in a different guise???

He made such a request to his usual stringer (not me) for tension of 24lb and that the string must not move at all during usage ... his wish came true and upon every hit of the shuttle - only goes to  midcourt and sounds like he was playing with a wooden plank upon every hit😝!!!

Reason is because for the badminton string to have repulsion, it must not have been overstretched eg still able to stretch and shrink back to it's original shape - exactly like a spring. Otherwise you should request to use steel wire instead of string!

So be careful what you wish for, you may just get itπŸ˜‡

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

String diameter verification (aka SDV) - Japan only issue Yonex BG66 Maxima

Good news here since it's suppose to have been their primo stuff... unfortunately I have discovered not all strings with a declaration of  Made in Japan  to be up to spec - will reveal in the following months.


BG66 Maxima is currently no longer in production. If you are lucky enough to locate any, they would cost an arm&leg!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Digital Calipher Vernier (to 2-decimal point) - for verifying string thickness

Finally managed to obtain a reasonable cost digital calipher vernier which was accurate to 2-decimal points. Purchased it during the Black Friday sales.

As per received

The LR44 battery was pre-loaded.  Now to test for accuracy and if it was functional:-

1. Switch it on and set units to millimeter.

2. Slide the jaws to the minimum gently and press the ZERO button to calibrate it accordingly.

3. Next I slide the caliper jaws open until the display showed 5.00mm - not as easy as it seems due to the 2-decimal point accuracy.

4. Then I place it next to a ruler for comparison - ruler in centimeters (but was placed up-side downπŸ˜’)

Works as advertised!
As such I was not going to return it πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

Close-up of the ruler and caliper jaws

Friday, December 1, 2017

Awaiting a digital vernier calipher ... (***UPDATE#2***)

Purchased a unit capable of displaying up to 2-decimal points on eBay and it was suppose to have arrive by 1st week of Sept2017.

Unfortunately not arrive yet. Hence will delay the article on how thick a string really is VS the specification on the packaging. 

Am sure we have all notice on the packets of strings (from the same manufacturer & model) - some appear to be thicker visually, than the other at the shop display.


8Oct2017

eBay refunded as looks like the seller from Hong Kong was not very responsive. Seem to encounter quite a few of such issues when buying from HK sellers on eBay.


1Dec2017

Took the Black Friday opportunity to buy a digital calipher capable of 2-decimal points - fingers cross. Now awaiting delivery from the US.