Clubs raised from the dead.

I have restored/rebuilt a number of clubs, as have many of us I imagine.

Some of those clubs should no longer have been on life-support never mind being resuscitated and restored to active service. I call these clubs my Lazarus collection.

Invariably I acquire them from folk who have given up on them, but....the itch starts....maybe I can do something with this, :rolleyes:

So, here is my first offering, a Forgan of St Andrews Black Magic Putter

The Black Magic Putter was one of, if not the first, putters to be fashioned from a material called 'Vulcanite' which was an early 'plastic' made by boiling rubber in molten sulphur, hence the name. Vulcanite had previously been used for inserts (commonly in Bulldog style brassies).

The putter was heavy but measured only 32 inches, and being a lead weighted mallet design came with toe hang and a lot of sensuous feel. Also, in a further revolutionary design feature, the hickory shaft was covered in pyrotene, the material later to be seen on early metal shafts.

This one was in a sad state, the head had been snapped off. They fetched good money in the heady days of collectible years of the 80s and 90s. Someone had glued the head back together with household impact adhesive and then covered the evidence with car filler and sprayed it in matt black.

I separated the two pieces (unsophisticated brute force) and cleaned the impact adhesive off with iso-propyl alcohol (also used for getting chewing gum off furniture). The two surfaces were roughed up with a Dremel attachment and reglued using West System Epoxy, (2 part and runny, used by boat builders). I gave it a couple of days to harden and then cut out a channel around the seam which remained. This was filled with a stiff mix of Epoxy and powdered graphite, trowelled in place and left overnight.

All that remained was a file down, cut back to the original Vulcanite surface, polish and 'Voila', my Lazarus Black Magic putter which goes out for it's first turn on the links tomorrow

.

Good topic Chris, and great job on the restoration of that Lazarus © Putter

I have zero DIY skills myself, but I am looking forward to getting some clubs back on track, albeit via the usual sources of UK hickory club maintenance!

Here are some recent acquisitions awaiting attention:

2x Stewarts & 1x Spalding Irons (the wood has woodworm and is beyond help - currently planted grip down in the garden as a bird perch)

[attachment=2493427:Rusty Clubs 01.jpg]


4x Gibsons and 1x Stewart Mashie

[attachment=2493429:Rusty Clubs 02.jpg]



Will post an "After" pic when they are all done.

Thanks, Geoff.
Some really nice resurrection material there, I covet the Gibsons, although I do believe I have a flanged 1 iron in stainless somewhere but the metallurgy isn't very good.

Well you did it again I learned something. Never heard of or seen of Vulcanite to just now. Beautiful job of restoring that putter. restoring is a mild word I will rephrase Nice job of raising that putter from the dead!

Well, the Lazarus Black Magic putter seemed to go down well.

Here is another putter which previously languished in Brendan Casey's hoard. Brendan is a long time hickory dealer, well known to some of you and a buddy/ travelling companion to the late John Sherwood. Brendan is still working and has an Ebay tag of Dublinboy, go and look him up.

Anyway, I was looking for a left handed hickory Schenectady putter for a friend and Brendan offered me such a putter except that this one had the back of the mallet sawn off and filed flat to make a Right Handed putting surface. Not a bad idea and it was just the right loft and had been executed well. As with all these things, there was a snag. In removing the back of the putter all the weight had been removed as well, making it totally useless. BTW the shaft stamp, and it's an original shaft, reads Auchterlonie St Andrews.

The photos show the putter, the drilled heel and toe lead weights and a satisfactory D0 swing weight. It now putts as a putter should. The lead is molten and poured if you were wondering.

[attachment=2515235:DSCF2106.JPG]

[attachment=2515223:DSCF2107.JPG]

[attachment=2515231:DSCF2108.JPG]

[attachment=2515233:DSCF2109.JPG]

Well here are some of the irons that I posted further up the thread ... now looking slightly more healthy, and all very playable !

[attachment=2584309:Lazarus 01.jpg]


Very pleased in particular with how the Stewart 1-Iron tuned out. The Stewart 3-Iron was more pitted, but actually plays very well, and is stamped 'Tom Hood', who at various points in his golf career was the Pro at the renowned 9-hole course at Royal Worlington & Newmarket.

The Spalding club has some interesting stampings for La Moye Golf Club, Jersey (USA guys ... Jersey is a UK owned island in the English Channel ... near North France, and notable in golf as the birthplace of course of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray)


Well worth a game if anyone is ever over that way ...

Their history is quite interesting: [url="http://www.lamoyegolfclub.co.uk/the-clubhouse/club-history/%20%20-"]http://www.lamoyegol...lub-history/ -[/url] course officially opened in 1905 by Harry Vardon himself.

And Christopher 'Hickory' Homer ran a big 80 set hickory event for their Centenary, where he was royally entertained, fed and watered..

[quote name='Blade Junkie' timestamp='1422099630' post='10808593']
The Spalding club has some interesting stampings for La Moye Golf Club, Jersey (USA guys ... Jersey is a UK owned island in the English Channel ... near North France, and notable in golf as the birthplace of course of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray)

Well worth a game if anyone is ever over that way ...

Their history is quite interesting: [url="http://www.lamoyegolfclub.co.uk/the-clubhouse/club-history/%20%20-"]http://www.lamoyegol...lub-history/ -[/url] course officially opened in 1905 by Harry Vardon himself.
[/quote]

Love the clubs, but "owned by the UK"?! Jersey was indeed the birthplace of Vardon and Ray (which in itself is pretty mad given that it is an island nine miles by five and had one golf course then), as explained in The Greatest Game Ever Played. It was also the birthplace of me. It is a crown dependency. The Channel Islands which includes the bailiwick of Jersey are part of the British Isles, but not the United Kingdom (and I don't think Europe, much to the OECD's chagrin), Jersey having its own money, government, tax laws and so on. Basically offshore tax-haven, eighty thousand alcoholics clinging to a rock just off the coast of France.

Turn to page six in your history books and you'll find that Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy when William invaded in 1066, so, technically, Jersey "owns" England if anything. You're welcome.

New Jersey was a colony under one of the Carterets, an old Jersey family, naming it after their birthplace. Am I related to these people, Vardon or Ray? Probably. How do I put this? The gene-pool doesn't have a deep-end...

Two nice courses on Jersey, La Moye, a proper big course up on cliffs amongst sand-dunes...

http://www.1golf.eu/images/golfclubs/la-moye-golf-club_038987_full.jpg

..and Royal Jersey, shorter old fashioned gorse-lined links...

http://www.royaljersey.com/imagedisplay.aspx?id=2801&m=background

Strong winds and high tides, has some challenging water-hazards...

https://www.golfboo.com/sites/default/files/styles/612x372/public/campos_golf_images/152567/p198uv0g2924nhf81lqclap3i4.jpg

Small island, but two very different courses. Two of the three places where my name is up on the wall, and I didn't even write these ones!

Great food, lovely place to go and play. Anyone even thinking about it, please let me know.

Nice Worlington link too. Crazy course. "The Sacred Nine" was my home course for university golf so was lucky enough to play there pretty much every week for three years. Surrounded by farmland, but greens like a links. Is also stuck in a complete time-warp, but that in itself is a beautiful thing. Hoping to play it with hickories one day. Someone has taken some nice photos of the place here...

http://s237.photobucket.com/user/seanrobertarble/media/Royal%20Worlington%20and%20Newmarket%20GC/030_zps1ee43fe5.jpg.html

Thanks for the lovely pictures, Jonny!

The Worlington slide show has me longing for summer in a big, BIG way....

[quote name='Kathy Marie' timestamp='1422383522' post='10828957']
Thanks for the lovely pictures, Jonny!

The Worlington slide show has me longing for summer in a big, BIG way....


[/quote]

WE still have to deal with all this ice, cold and snow for at least another 6-8 weeks! Time for a vacation to someplace warm!

The BGCS have an annual match at Royal Worlington with hickories, organised by Nigel Notley. I haven't played, getting across England diagonally is a pain.

Thanks, Jonny, good stuff in your posts!

[quote name='jonnygrouville' timestamp='1422354470' post='10826411']
[quote name='Blade Junkie' timestamp='1422099630' post='10808593']
The Spalding club has some interesting stampings for La Moye Golf Club, Jersey (USA guys ... Jersey is a UK owned island in the English Channel ... near North France, and notable in golf as the birthplace of course of Harry Vardon and Ted Ray)

Well worth a game if anyone is ever over that way ...

Their history is quite interesting: [url="http://www.lamoyegolfclub.co.uk/the-clubhouse/club-history/%20%20-"]http://www.lamoyegol...lub-history/ -[/url] course officially opened in 1905 by Harry Vardon himself.
[/quote]

Love the clubs, but "owned by the UK"?! Jersey was indeed the birthplace of Vardon and Ray (which in itself is pretty mad given that it is an island nine miles by five and had one golf course then), as explained in The Greatest Game Ever Played. It was also the birthplace of me. It is a crown dependency. The Channel Islands which includes the bailiwick of Jersey are part of the British Isles, but not the United Kingdom (and I don't think Europe, much to the OECD's chagrin), Jersey having its own money, government, tax laws and so on. Basically offshore tax-haven, eighty thousand alcoholics clinging to a rock just off the coast of France.

[/quote]


Hahaha - ok so I just failed my "life in the UK" test - please can I be deported somewhere warm

And Johnny - having read your post and also having looked at a Jersey map ... I now understand your username lol.

A further sidenote, I was actually[i] conceived[/i] in Jersey myself, albeit emerging 9 months later in Epsom. Only been back once, when I drove slowly around the island in a Mini Moke in the rain and played 18 holes of golf somewhere on the St Brelards side - rather too drunk to remember where

[quote name='Kathy Marie' timestamp='1422383522' post='10828957']
Thanks for the lovely pictures, Jonny!

The Worlington slide show has me longing for summer in a big, BIG way....


[/quote]

+1

I'm curious to the age of the fortifications shown in the Jersey shots. What period are they from?

I sure would like to have a go at Worlington. The photos remind me of a couple of heritage 9 hole courses that I love to play!

Okay. Will see what I can remember from school...

The lone tower out at sea near La Moye is Napoleonic. There are dozens of these martello towers around the coast, but only a few are offshore like this one. Jersey has the second largest tidal range in the world, so you can walk out to these at low tide. The tide doesn't go out in Jersey; it f**ks off.

The big castle overlooking the bay near Royal Jersey is called Mont Orgueil. There are some fortifications here dating back to Roman times, the outer walls are Norman, it was used until Elizabethan times and the Germans added their own modifications during the Second World War, cleverly disguising them to make them look like parts of the original castle. Crafty.

Royal Jersey itself has two regency era forts on the course itself (both out of bounds if you hit it over the walls) and some bunkers left behind by the Germans.

I have posted this before, but just love this photo...

http://www.tpl.eu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/1.jpg

This is taken from the top of one of the forts, now used to store the greenkeeping equipment. On the left is one of the German bunkers, right of the first fairway with the sea all the way down the slice-side of the first four holes.

I know I am partisan, but this is my favourite first tee shot in golf...

http://www.tpl.eu.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/2.jpg

Just make sure you don't go on the beach... or hit the German fortification... or pull it and get stuck behind the big fort... and did I mention it is normally windy? Have started lots of good rounds with a seven on a very short par five...

Lots of German stuff left over from the occupation.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2810/9591085738_2cd9bbdebc_z.jpg

Quite a few of my family were there during this time and my folks have still got their identification papers, reichmarks and all sorts. And before you ask, no, I don't have any tall blond cousins...

Thanks jonny! I really appreciate all the detail.

Turns out PJ La Folley had ten brothers, six of whom were golf pros ... all ten served in WW1 .. and all ten survived ... now that must be some kind of unique event for the Great War.

I am tempted to email Spielberg so he can do "Saving Private La Folley" .. the storyline would be along the lines of nine brothers have already made it home, and they organise a search for the tenth ... finding him in No Man's Land in the middle of the Somme, Mashie in hand, hitting hand grenades at the Germans with smooth hickory swings ...

OK, now let's get back to the main thread what with the golf season being in it's final throes.

A month ago at the annual hickory match between an 'English' team and the Scots at Coldstream (Scottish Borders) Robin Morris of The Royal Burgess GC , Edinburgh gave me some clubs and in exchange I would 'see what I could do' with an old club belonging to his friend which had some sentimental value.
Unseen, I took it home and was pretty horrified when I saw what I had committed to.

So this new post is about how this project transpired with a few photos of how I went about it and the outcome.

Clearly the club head needs an insert to repair the major damage to the face, it needs a new horn slip and of course, the brass base plate is mising and needs replacing.
The photos show the material I have available.
You can see various insert options; new ABS in white, blue and red, recycled inserts, and one of my favorites, leather. Recycled plough trace and harness leather is hard to come by, but it is old and very tough. I use it mainly on pre 1900 clubs where the face has been damaged by the stony hard gutty. The first one I did was a J&D Clark, Musselburgh, scare neck bulger driver back in 1996. It was impossible to tell from an original, so I like the material. Also, it's easy to work.
I have a range of recycled and original new brass base plates, so it's just a question of finding one that is a slightly oversize fit.
The epoxy is boat builders West System designed for use in the manufacture of softwood boats. The epoxy has a built-in wetting agent so it penetrates the wood.....good for rotted persimmon in this case.
The fillers used in conjunction with the epoxy are hickory sawdust and for filling old screw holes, floculated silica. This sets rockhard and will take new screws easily.
The lower photo shows the wood head in a single leg vice (vise) and the level of damage is plain to see.

Very much looking forward to seeing how this turns out. Love "workshop" pictures!

Thanks Jonny.

I don't think I need to show pictures of the filled screw holes.I used epoxy as mentioned and a mix of Floculated Silica (same stuff as inside magic snowstorm globes of your childhood). There were also some small areas of persimmon on the outside which had denatured which I removed and filled with the same and filed to shape.

Next up is the first tricky bit, chopping out the recess and fitting a leather insert.
First measure up the area of the face you want to protect and cut the insert to size. Then scribe the outline (box cutter blade) of the insert on the face and, with a hacksaw, make two saw cuts to define the area you are going to chisel away. To help this process, make two more sawcuts inside that defined area. Then just hack away until the insert drops in nicely.

Then fit a piece of horn slip, easier said than done. There is the lateral dimension to measure and fit which is obvious, but there is also a curve to the sole which is less so and tricky to file.. Then glue into place and file flat to fit.
[attachment=2976664:DSCF2307.JPG]
[attachment=2976654:DSCF2308.JPG]

Now we are ready to fit the brass base plate. The one I had was new and unused and came in a bundle from a basement clearance of a retired Pro's shop. About 30 I believe, all sizes and some right back from the bulger era.
This was easy, all you do is select an oversize one, mark out the drill holes, drill and screw into place (with some effort but no skill) The beauty is the screws pull the plate into shape and all that is left is to file the brass to fit flush with the base....job done.
Just one thing missing now. The insert looks a bit naked. How about a few pegs to liven it up amd add a little bit of extra authenticity?
[attachment=2976656:DSCF2310.JPG]
[attachment=2976658:DSCF2311.JPG]
[attachment=2976660:DSCF2312.JPG]

And there we are, improbable though this seems, this is now fully playable.
I believe that nearly any wood can be rebuilt to within the SoHG guidelines and be as playable as it was when first made. It won't play as strongly as one of the excellent replicas available because of the design short-comings of the era in which it was made. However, it will give an excellent account of itself within the parameters of play up to the 1930s!

Wow, that's amazing!

Doff of the cap to the hickory restoration skills. Fried gold.

A double Bravo Zulu!!!

Great job Chris. Played that course with Mr Knowles The course was a great hickory test

Thanks everybody. I appreciate your comments.

May I add as a slightly off-topic postscript the names of Tommy Horton and Wayne Stephens to the list of Jersey golfers worthy of recognition and also thank Stixman for an enjoyable and informative read.

Tommy is indeed a legend. Played quite a bit with him over the years.

And a hickory player! A couple of years ago he was over to the mainland to play in his first hickory event, had borrowed some clubs and wanted some practice. We sorted out a game the evening before, mid-summer, round Walton. Magic. He said afterwards that it was the most fun he'd had playing golf for years and, needless to say, some of the shots he was hitting were incredible. Real shot-making. Great stories too.

As we were going round, I was pointing out lines off tees and stuff, as I normally do with guests. About halfway round, half-remembered something so had to ask and the following conversation ensued...

"Did you ever have the course record here?"

"Don't think so, no."

"I think you did. I think there is one of your cards on the wall in the bar."

"Don't think so."

We checked. There is. My best round there is a couple under and I'd been pointing out lines to a guy who had shot 67 there in the 1960s.

Wayne! I was too young to remember him leading the Open at Troon after one round, but the scorecard for that is proudly up on the wall at Royal Jersey. Sadly ran out of steam and popped a couple onto the railway on the Friday, I think. Do remember him hitting it miles. And being sponsored by Howson with their Hippo driver...

Never mind clubs raised from the dead, also topic raised from the crypt.

I took this driver out yesterday after a spell of 'light restoration'. It went great, like new. The photos show before and after, hopefully they demonstrate what can be done in the dimnishing world of original hickory.

The driver is a D&A Anderson and Sons Elite model, mid 1920s and is held together with faith, craftsmanship and West System Epoxy. Cost to me £25 inc. shipping, value ...priceless.

Before

After

Superb job, that split in the neck looks like it had up moved with the shaft.

My limited handiwork doesn't extend to that level!

Nice work!!!