Hawk 10: worth the money or not?

[albertnch]

I am a 17 year old Highschool varsity tennis player and I pop strings at least once a month. Also my entire family plays tennis and they pop their strings occasionally. Thus I have decided to make the investment of a stringing machine. I came upon the Hawk 10 as being cheap and being able to do the job, also being portable allowing me ot take on tournaments and such. But, with the mixed reviews I have heard I am not sure if I should spend some more money and get a slighty better stringer. Can anybody help me?

[kelden]

The Hawk 10 absolutely sucks. I bought it as my first machine but then had to return it because it was such junk. The string gripper on that machine is terrible since it can't grip string and when I tried to call for help all the guy from maxline said was "pull harder". If you are looking for a good drop weight machine go with the Klippermate (www.klipperusa.com (http://www.klipperusa.com)) which became my second machine after the hawk 10 or if you are willing to spend the money get a spring tension machine such as the eagnas hawk 800 which became my third machine. The klippermate has a very good patented string gripper which makes stringing a breeze. Good luck!
Mike

[Canadaman]

Don't buy anything from Maxline or Eagnas at any price. I had a similar experience with them with a slightly more expensive machine. It did not pull tension smoothly and the linear gripper was sticky. Maxline told me that I don't know how to operate a drop-weight machine.

I returned my machine, chewed them out thoroughly, and lost over $ 100 in taxes and shipping to Canada. They just don't care.

[kelden]

Sorry Canadaman but I have to disagree with you. Although their drop weight machines might suck because they dont have a patent like klippermate has or silent partner their spring tension machines are great. I have one and so do two of my friends. We all really like our machines. For spring tension machines you dont use a special system to grip string like drop weights do so there is no real patent one company can have over another. My eagnas came packed very nice and is very easy to use. I have had no problems so far with anything including the clamps since I bought it two years ago and I string over 25 racquets a month. Best of luck!
Mike

[turbo_slug]

Sorry Canadaman but I have to disagree with you. Although their drop weight machines might suck because they dont have a patent like klippermate has or silent partner their spring tension machines are great. I have one and so do two of my friends. We all really like our machines. For spring tension machines you dont use a special system to grip string like drop weights do so there is no real patent one company can have over another. My eagnas came packed very nice and is very easy to use. I have had no problems so far with anything including the clamps since I bought it two years ago and I string over 25 racquets a month. Best of luck!
Mike

interesting fact about Eagnas drop weight machines is that their old ones had ratchets while their new ones dont.


eagnas is still selling some of their old models but with a new name and a slightly different mounting system. the GE and GEII dont seem to have ratchets while the old King Z12-5 looks nearly identical but has the ratchet. the king z12-5 also has a very similar but slightly different mounting style.

i have an old AG 602. it is exactly the same thing as the King Z12-5. i must say that the ratchet makes stringing way easier.

[Jeff]

I have had a Hawk 10 for about a year, and while it does the job, it is far from being a first class piece of machinery. I had to round off part of the tensioning drum because it kinked the string and also had to file off all the sharp edges on the flying clamps. The threaded post that holds the raquet table/hold down clamps did not thread far enough into the frame, so I had to modify that slightly so that the threads would fully engage the frame of the machine. I have used a Kilppermate and think the tensioner is much better but I like the Hawk flying clamps better. I also found that the drop arm would bind up occasionally, so the pivot bolt needed adjustment. I would not buy another! I don't much care for the 2 point frame hold downs on these machines, either. If it is in your price range, go with the Klippermate. Its resale is much better when and if you decide to upgrade in the future.
I just ordered a Laserfibre and am looking forward to its arrival.

[Gaines Hillix]

I'd go with a ratcheting tension head model from a reputable company like Gamma, Alpha, Silent Partner or Laserfibre. The Klippermate machines are sturdy and they have good support, but the clam shell jaws do not allow you to keep the string in the jaw while reversing the arm to retension the string if necessary. It can take a lot longer to finish the job on a Klippermate than on a machine with a ratcheting head.