Sam,

Traditionally squash strings can be either 18, 17 or 16 guage depending on the string type and durability needed.

Typically an 18 guage string tends to give better power and cuts into the ball, but is prone to breaking (think of a thin elastic band). This is usually a 1.10mm diameter.

A 17 guage string (1.20mm) tends to be a bit thicker but still bites into the ball during shots. There are a lot of this size out there, including the no.1 string on the PSA tour - the tecnifibre 305.

A 16 guage string (traditionally 1.30mm) is best suited to string breakers or people who generally hack the ball with no regard for touch! But it is useable in most squash racquets.

 

The difficulty comes with variations in guage. the 1.25mm ashaway supernick is regarded as a 17 guage, but then so is the 1.2mm tecnifibre. But the 1.27mm RAB string is regarded as a 16 guage. Could anyone honestly tell me that you'd notice a diameter difference of 0.02mm?

The most important thing to get right is the type of string to suit your game style. I've used everything from 18 guage through to a 16 guage and all different types of strings too. I finally settled with the Ashaway Supernick XL Pro recently and I'm happy playing with that for the time being (for the record with just 0.01mm extra diameter then this string would be classed as a 16 guage!).

 

I guess it just takes time and patience (and a little knowledge of different string types) to find the perfect string for you.

 

Cheers

 

Adz

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I've just had two rackets restrung, I'm going picking them up on Wednesday. The guy tried offering me 16-gauge strings, which, according to a website I looked at, are the thickness of tennis strings, so I refused them.

 

I was told to look for 17 to 18 gauge strings and I've got one set of each on different rackets. I'll let you all know how I get on with them.

 

I'm really glad I did a bit of research before going out and getting them restrung. This is a good article to read:

 

http://www.squashplayer.co.uk/magazine/string_matters.htm

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adz, sent you an email

cheers

sparty

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Sparty,

Watdon are definitely the best value machines, and if you have a good worktop to string on then save yourself £75 by NOT buying the machine with the stand as you won't need it!

 

The way I learned was from the shop where I used to get my racquets strung. They did a fantastic job on my racquets, but I was moving house to 120 miles away and wasn't going to send my racquets up for stringing! I asked if they'd teach me to string and they showed me at no extra cost while stringing my racquets. It looked easy enough, so I bought some cheap string and used an old racquet to practise on when I had the machine. If you want, I could detail the stringing method I use (for 1 piece and 2 piece stringing) in an email? If so, then email me at bizarre_adz@yahoo.com and I'll email through step by step idiot proof instructions (not that I think you're an idiot, but it's hard to read instructions and string at the same time if they're too complicated!!

Take your time first time around and expect about 3 practise runs before you complete your first match ready racquet.

If you're looking for a good starting pack then go for........

 

1. Pro's Pro Pilot (£199)
2. Starting clamp (£12)
3. Pro's Pro Clay Court 1.29mm String (£27)

 

As a starting point this will cost you £265 but give you enough string to do over 23 racquets! You don't really need the starting clamp, but I'd recommend getting one at some point.... I waited 6 months before I bought mine, but it makes 1 piece stringing so much easier!

 

So there we go....... £265 is only about 13 or 14 restrings at full price, and if you start stringing for other people then you'll get your money back pretty quickly (especially if you consider that some strings are less than £1 per set to buy!!).

So if you want step by step instructions (or anyone else does), then I'm happy to either post them on here or to email them out........

 

Cheers

Adz

 

 

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Adz, having finally got sick of using various people to re-string my rackets to varying degrees of consistency, I am thinking of following you into the ' I string my own' route! Do you know of anywhere there they run courses in racket stringing in yorkshire area? how did you learn? did you just pick it up as you went along? I have looked at watkins and doncaster and think that their machines look like good value, anything else I would need?

cheers for you help

Sparty

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Apologies! The Supernick reel is only 110m - which is 12 restrings! So you ONLY save about £170!

Ha!

Adz

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Okies, if memory serves, I bought a reel of Ashaway Supernick XL Pro (the blue one with the white flecks in it) and it cost me approx £3.46 per string DELIVERED! (admittedly I had it delivered from America as a sales item!).

 

So assuming that 130m of string allows 14 restrings (at 9m a restring), and you save £14 per set, that mean a total saving of over £196 (which is almost enough to pay for the machine!)

 

Hope that helps with your decision!

Adz

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20 Pounds for stringing?! That's like $40 US. Most places would charge $20-30 in the states. String costs me about $8/racquet when I buy in the reel which is about a third of the cost of getting it strung at a shop. Like I said before, stringing yourself will pay off the stringer quickly.

I would suggest practicing on racquets you don't care about until you get comfortable. Compared with tennis racquets, squash racquets are quite fragile.

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Yeah got the shipping costs for the klippermate back and it is more than the machine, how easy does anyone find it learning to string and has anyone tried the pros pro challenger 2 (the cheap thing) and how is it?  HOw much do you save per stringing if you consider that i can get ashaway on my racquet for about £18 through a shop?

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Arthur,

First off don't bother importing a machine! There's a VERY cheap UK based company called "Watkins and Doncaster" (do a google search to find the contact details or just visit www.watdon.com ). I got my machine from them and the service and advice they have on offer really is second to none! I've been tremendously impressed with everything they have done for me and have no problems in recommending them to everyone!

 

As for strings.... I've started threads and written on threads elsewhere on SquashGame about the different types and the pro's and con's of strings. Right now I'm using a 1.25mm tecnifibre type string (it's a different make but very similar make-up). Costs aren't too bad and stringing is reasonably easy to learn if you have a logical enough brain. Hardest things to master are the knots, but videos are available online if you look for them.

 

As a guideline most stringers will add £7 to £12 per racquet on top of the string costs for a restring. With tecnifibre 225 or 305 coming in around £18 to £22 per racquet (for the record I charge £18.50 but most other stringers in the area charge £20 ).

 

Ask to see a racquet being strung (say that you're curious how its done!) and that way you can learn from someone else stringing. Having a lesson first hand is worth paying out extra for the stringing!

Cheers!

Adz

 

p.s. My machine is the Pro's Pro Pilot - Cheap, cheerful but incredibly effective! Also get a calibration device to keep it in check and to get the best out of the machine!

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I important the Klippermate machine and it's great. It's simple and it took me a few goes to get used to doing the stringing but now I love it! I can restring my rackets when I like and how I like. Still takes me over an hour to do one, mind. It's a good machine, I can only recomend it.

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I got the racquet going for a bit a practice today and was actually pleasently suprised!  The strings generate the most power i have managed yet and seemed to have a decent amount of control as well as they are strung tightly.  I wouldn't say they are the greatest, i would still pick ashaway supernick ahead of them by a mile but they are much better than factory strings!

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He should definitely restring it for you for free. I wouldn't play with tennis strings, only because tennis strings are usually built for durability or texture, and unless it's a 17 or 18 gauge string, probably isn't elastic enough for a light squash ball.

I have a mutual power dropweight stringer, I string about 20 racquets/year on it with no problems. be warned, squash racquets are a little more delicate than tennis racquets and using proper technique is important to not end up with a prematurely cracked racquet. Technifiber 225, Ashaway Powernick red and tecnifibre 305 are the only strings I recommend, in that order. If you do good stringing, the stringer will quickly pay for itself. I like fixed over flying clamps because many squash racquets have a fanned pattern that's a pain to string with flying clamps.

I actually have an old Klippermate that works fine, but haven't used since I upgraded. I modified it with one fixed clamp to be used with one flying clamp, works great for squash racquets. If you're interested, let me know if you want to give it a good home. My current stringer was about $350, has 6-point mounting and 2 fixed clamps and is a dropweight. The Klipper new is about $150, dropweight with 2 flying clamps. You can easily pay up to $600 for a good quality dropweight with fixed clamps by Gamma. Most weight around 20 lbs, so shipping is a little bulky. There are some good videos online now, look up the silent partner speed stringing videos, some are on youtube.

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Was bored and surfing the net on this topic, has anyone heard of the Klippermate restringer from the USA, it looks cheap, their blurb sounds good and i was wondering if anyone has any knowledge on it.

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