First Iron Build

So I picked up a nice set of Adam's MB2 heads on here a while back and finally got all the supplies/shafts etc in. Everything I read on here and golfworks chart showed these irons as being .355 taper tip and that is what I ordered. Dry fitting some of the parts together checking things out it seems like a lot of slop with shaft inserted dry into the hosel. Is it normal for there to be some play or did I get an odd ball set of heads? What is the easiest way to check for sure? I don't have any .370 shafts here to check with.

They may in fact be .370 either from the factory or modified after (reamed out). If you have some calipers you can measure for sure.

This is equivalent to the caliper suggestion but if you have drill bits in the 3/8 and 23/64 range, you could use them to roughly check diameters too. If they are .370 heads, you can still shim the shafts and have it all work out.

Just order a 10 pack of shims and glue them up!

I checked with digital calipers as deep as I could and was about .37, assuming the heads are .370 and taper tip doesn't taper that quickly. Guess I will have to order shims, don't believe anyone locally will have.

i like the spring ones more then brassy ones

I ran into the same thing about 7 or 8 years ago with some adams heads i purchased. Had shafts and ferrules all ready to go when i realized they were 370. You can get a 10 pack off of ebay for $7 or $8 shipped and have them in 2 or 3 days. I have made shims out of tin cans and they worked well, but its pretty easy to order online. Might even try amazon prime and get them even faster!

> @AB1981 said:

> I checked with digital calipers as deep as I could and was about .37, assuming the heads are .370 and taper tip doesn't taper that quickly. Guess I will have to order shims, don't believe anyone locally will have.

Even for a taper tip hosel, it will be 0.370 at the top and stay that diameter until the last 1/2" of the bore. Too deep for most calipers to reach to measure properly. It may be .370 all the way down or it may just be a sloppy bore job or poor tolerances from the manufacturing process.

Doesn't change the good advice you've been given though. Shimming is the best approach. Home made from aluminum cans or dry wall fiberglass mesh tape are too very common methods. Or you can buy from a builders supply like golfworks.com or billy bob's golf or Hireko golf.

3/8" drill bit only goes 1/4" into the bore if that far. I am playing a tournament this weekend with a friend that has built a bunch of clubs. Going to let him check it out and see what he thinks.

> @AB1981 said:

> 3/8" drill bit only goes 1/4" into the bore if that far.

That's not surprising - 3/8" = 0.375 so is a bit too big either way.

> @Stuart_G said:

> > @AB1981 said:

> > 3/8" drill bit only goes 1/4" into the bore if that far.

>

> That's not surprising - 3/8" = 0.375 so is a bit too big either way.

So I found a 23/64(.359) drill bit and it bottoms out in the bore which confirms to me they are .370 heads. Going to attempt shimming with mesh drywall tape, thanks for all the help.

Get some calipers. You don't need super accurate ones and as you will likely only be using them sparingly you can go cheap. Harbor freight starts at less than $10.

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-composite-digital-caliper-63586.html

This is a basic tool that every club maker should have.

https://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-shaft-and-hosel-gauge-set/p/gm1047/

> @TomMatreyek said:

> This is a basic tool that every club maker should have.

>

> https://www.golfworks.com/golf-mechanix-shaft-and-hosel-gauge-set/p/gm1047/

That would have been helpful, will have to pick one up if I decide to keep building. Have to see if this set holds together, lol.

I put the shafts in this evening. Had trouble getting the mesh to stay put on a couple heads but other than that seemed to go pretty smoothly.

> @RSinSG said:

> Get some calipers. You don't need super accurate ones and as you will likely only be using them sparingly you can go cheap. Harbor freight starts at less than $10.

>

> https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-composite-digital-caliper-63586.html

I already had calipers, they don't help much because you can't measure down in the bottom of the bore as someone else mentioned.

> @AB1981 said:

> > @Stuart_G said:

> > > @AB1981 said:

> > > 3/8" drill bit only goes 1/4" into the bore if that far.

> >

> > That's not surprising - 3/8" = 0.375 so is a bit too big either way.

> So I found a 23/64(.359) drill bit and it bottoms out in the bore which confirms to me they are .370 heads. Going to attempt shimming with mesh drywall tape, thanks for all the help.

>

I had thought about suggesting that check - but 0.004 isn't really that far off and could be just manufacturing tolerances.

Doesn't really matter though - shimming is the right way to go regardless.