Tennis Racket Question

Jerryc41 · Apr 27, 2020

Inspired by a recent post showing a uke made from a tennis racket, I bought three from eBay. One just arrived, and it's slightly warped, maybe a little more than 3/4". It's a MacGregor Tournament Lloyd Budge.

I have two options: straighten it or leave it. The rim of the racket will just be serving as a frame for the body that will go inside it, so it would only make an aesthetic difference. I suppose perfect is better than "pretty good," so I'll look into straightening it.

Opinions welcome.

Jerryc41 · Apr 28, 2020

I'll reply to my own post. : )

After removing the strings, I soaked the racket in water for a few minutes and then put it under a heavy weight. I'll leave it for a few days. If it doesn't straighten out enough, I'll see what the other two rackets look like when they arrive.

Kenn2018 · Apr 29, 2020

The older wooden rackets used to come with a press for the racket head. It was wooden clamp an open trapezoidal shape. Two frames held together by four wing nut bolts. One in each corner. After playing you would slide the press over the head and tighten the four bolts. The string tension tended to twist and warp the head. So you used the press to keep the head straight.

There were lots of occasions where someone would hit a hard return slightly off center and the head would break and collapse.

Then came the aluminum rackets. HUGE advance. Composites & carbon fiber with oversize faces completely transformed the game towards power over control and touch.

Jerryc41 · Apr 29, 2020

Kenn2018 said:
The older wooden rackets used to come with a press for the racket head. It was wooden clamp an open trapezoidal shape. Two frames held together by four wing nut bolts. One in each corner. After playing you would slide the press over the head and tighten the four bolts. The string tension tended to twist and warp the head. So you used the press to keep the head straight.

There were lots of occasions where someone would hit a hard return slightly off center and the head would break and collapse.

Then came the aluminum rackets. HUGE advance. Composites & carbon fiber with oversize faces completely transformed the game towards power over control and touch.

I thought of buying a cheap (if possible) aluminum racket and making a uke out of that. I'll see how the wooden one goes first.

Tennis Racket Question

Jerryc41

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Jerryc41

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Kenn2018

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Jerryc41

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