Homemade swingweight scale for a poor man

If you have a favorite club, without knowing the swingweight all the rest of them have to do is balance to the same point at a fixed length from the end of the grip.... so you don't even need a swingweight scale.... just a fulcrum and a way to balance them at the same length...

I think that contraption would work, but only is necessary if you need to know the actual swingweight number. Or convince the wife to allow you $40 at golfsmith for an early christmas present.

Yes, this logrithmic formula is the basis for all swingweight scales.
Played college golf and learned this in my engineering classes.

So if the balance point is the same from the end of the grip, the SW will be the same? For some reason, I thought there was more to it than that.

Figuring out the swingweight number is a bit more complicated and involves a bit of math but if you just want the feel to be the same and don't need to know actual number then it can work without a scale.... As far as measuring goes, it's always the same length from the grip cap to the fulcrum.... From there length going the other weigh will affect it. As far as D2 or whatever goes, it's measuring downward force being applied to the grip side of the fulcrum by the clubhead side. That force can be a combination of weight and length, but D2 is always the same force, hence the need for a lighter clubhead on a longer shaft... So while you may not "know" the swingweight, you know you like the feel of your favorite club and can match the rest of the set. It's also why you can achieve a certain swingweight regardless of static weight, ie it's all relative..

No, this is not correct. As the weight changes (Sandwedge is much heavier than a driver) the balance point changes as well. A driver at D0 may have a balance point of 35.5" from grip end and a sandwege at D0 would have a balance point of 27.25"

I have attached a SW excel file I built as well. I sent an email to the website that was posted to get a copy of his to see how it matches up with mine.

I dont require an OJ carton or CD either.

1. Weigh on a gram scale.
2. Then balance the club on a pointed object and mark the balance point with a sharpie.
3. Measure from end of grip to balance point and enter grams and dimension (in inches) into spreadsheet.

I put a fraction to decimal convertor as well.

It will tell you the swingweight to 1/10 of a point.

[attachment=499953:Blank_SW...lculator.xls]

As long as you can know where the balance point is and the weight of the club including the ferrule and grip, you can get the swingweight.

The picture seems like a great idea to balance your club. After finding a balance point, mark it and measure the distance from the grip end to the balance point.

I used a similar device to assemble a set of irons at D2 swingweight. The following website will help you to get the correct swing weight.

Golfsmith component heads usually have hosel weight ports, which is very helpful to get the desired swing weight by using hosel port weights.

You might also want to read Joe Kwok's blueprinting method when he builds clubs.

http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT

Read my previous post regarding this:

You can install the ferrule using the club head at the correct depth after cutting the shaft at the length (standard length in my case) that you want. I used a golf club ruler and made something like below to measure the club length at 60 degree angle according to USGA.

Then you put your grip tape (about 11 inches long in my case) on the shaft without peeling it and use one of the same grips cut along the grip that you are going to use for the shaft and put it on the butt end tightly. In this way, you can measure the weight of each club and swingweight using the recommended website.

In order to balance the club, you can make one pretty easily by finding an object in triangular shape (the sharper, the better) and balance your club on it and mark the balance point and then measure the length from the grip end (of course after installing the cut grip) to that point.

I used a Biggest Loser Taylor Glass Digital Kitchen Scale ($19.99) to measure the weight of each club head, etc. It is accurate to 1 gram increments of up to 6.6 lb. Although it cannot measure up to .1 gram increments, it definitely helps when you don't want to spend a lot of money. I also weighed the grip and used the grip of the same weight. 9 out of 10 Snake Eyes grips were 49g and only one was 50g. When you actually assemble the club, the weight difference between epoxy used on the tip and the peeled grip tape will be minimal and will cancel out each other.

I have used this method that I had come up with to assemble a set of Lynx Black Cat Tour MC irons recently. I made all at D2 swingweight using 2.5g and 4g hosel port weights.

Attached image(s)

I used to add lead tape at the balance point on my putters, great way to add weight and not mess with swing weight.

[quote name='dieselglen' post='2081840' date='Nov 23 2009, 09:47 PM']No, this is not correct. As the weight changes (Sandwedge is much heavier than a driver) the balance point changes as well. A driver at D0 may have a balance point of 35.5" from grip end and a sandwege at D0 would have a balance point of 27.25"

I have attached a SW excel file I built as well. I sent an email to the website that was posted to get a copy of his to see how it matches up with mine.

I dont require an OJ carton or CD either.

1. Weigh on a gram scale.
2. Then balance the club on a pointed object and mark the balance point with a sharpie.
3. Measure from end of grip to balance point and enter grams and dimension (in inches) into spreadsheet.

I put a fraction to decimal convertor as well.

It will tell you the swingweight to 1/10 of a point.

[attachment=499953:Blank_SW...lculator.xls][/quote]

Oh no... I hope my post didn't come across as using the balance point.... I meant just like a swingweight scale to keep the fulcrum the exact same distance from the grip cap when measuring each club and get them to balance the same way... I maybe should delete my posts as I could confuse someone and totally mess up their set... lol

I've used the Swing Weight Estimator (link below) on several occasions and found that the estimated numbers were almost identical to the scale-measured values.

[url="http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT"]http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT[/url]

[quote name='turnbowm' post='2082471' date='Nov 24 2009, 09:58 AM']I've used the Swing Weight Estimator (link below) on several occasions and found that the estimated numbers were almost identical to the scale-measured values.

[url="http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT"]http://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT[/url][/quote]

Thanks for that link, it makes it a bit easier.

[quote name='dieselglen' post='2081840' date='Nov 23 2009, 09:47 PM']No, this is not correct. As the weight changes (Sandwedge is much heavier than a driver) the balance point changes as well. A driver at D0 may have a balance point of 35.5" from grip end and a sandwege at D0 would have a balance point of 27.25"

I have attached a SW excel file I built as well. I sent an email to the website that was posted to get a copy of his to see how it matches up with mine.

I dont require an OJ carton or CD either.

1. Weigh on a gram scale.
2. Then balance the club on a pointed object and mark the balance point with a sharpie.
3. Measure from end of grip to balance point and enter grams and dimension (in inches) into spreadsheet.

I put a fraction to decimal convertor as well.

It will tell you the swingweight to 1/10 of a point.

[attachment=499953:Blank_SW...lculator.xls][/quote]

Thanks, that spreadsheet works great.
Looks like all of these methods all come out the same.

[quote name='dieselG' timestamp='1259034471' post='2081840']
No, this is not correct. As the weight changes (Sandwedge is much heavier than a driver) the balance point changes as well. A driver at D0 may have a balance point of 35.5" from grip end and a sandwege at D0 would have a balance point of 27.25"

I have attached a SW excel file I built as well. I sent an email to the website that was posted to get a copy of his to see how it matches up with mine.

I dont require an OJ carton or CD either.

1. Weigh on a gram scale.
2. Then balance the club on a pointed object and mark the balance point with a sharpie.
3. Measure from end of grip to balance point and enter grams and dimension (in inches) into spreadsheet.

I put a fraction to decimal convertor as well.

It will tell you the swingweight to 1/10 of a point.

[attachment=499953:Blank_SW...lculator.xls]
[/quote]This is awesome! Who would ever buy a $200 scale when you got this?! Great Work!

I have to ask, what is your priority - to have swingweight matched irons or to hit each iron to its best ability?

I do have a SW scale to check my work, but pretty much think they are for people, e.g. club fitters that don't swing the clubs. So, I don't really think I need one. Instead, I use impact tape.

Basically, I hit a bunch of balls and keep adding lead tape to the ball of the club. I am looking for the SW that gets me the best centered impact pattern. Once I have found it, I move on to the next club. It is good to go through the process another day.

The first time I did this process, I only did 3 clubs, 3, 6 and 9 iron and then used a SW scale to see what I got. I checked the sw against an MOI formula and behold, the 3 clubs exactly matched the formula. In other words, if I entered the 3 iron sw, the formula told me the SW for 6 and 9 iron and which is exactly what I figured out at the range. So, I really don't think a SW scale is necessary. I do fancy making an MOI scale, which is an easy job.

The thing that I really want is a shaft frequency tester, because going down the MOI starts messing around with your shaft frequencies.

I recently have started my own adventures in optimizing the weight of my clubs.

I bought this simple postal scale for the purpose .....

[url="http://sites.dymo.com/Solutions/Pages/Product_Details.aspx?SegmentName=Office(DYMO_US1)&cat=Office_PostalScales(DYMO_US1)&prod=1772055(DYMO)&page=1"]http://sites.dymo.com/Solutions/Pages/Product_Details.aspx?SegmentName=Office(DYMO_US1)&cat=Office_PostalScales(DYMO_US1)&prod=1772055(DYMO)&page=1[/url]

..... and just had to post here to say that it is the best $30.- I have spent in years.

Homemade swingweight scale. You can make it out of anything. Use any weight ( I used 170 ounces). Hint, put a spirit level on the beam to mark the horizontal zero point.

Go to Golfsmith or anyone with a scale, Get two sticks and put any kind of weight to make one C0 and one E0 then calibrate the bar. D0 will be midway between. Yes it works! As good as my old golf club scale which I used to verify. No need for a gram scale or calculations.

I had to make myself an inexpensive one to take while I "snowbird" in Arizona. Total cost $ 00.0 because I used forgotten stuff.

Question for you guys... what kind of scale are you using to measure the weight of your clubs for this spreadsheet? I've got a generic kitchen scale laying around but it seems to only go to tenths. Is that fine?

Question for you guys... what kind of scale are you using to measure the weight of your clubs for this spreadsheet? I've got a generic kitchen scale laying around but it seems to only go to tenths. Is that fine?

tenths of what? Grams or Ounces? If grams it's probably fine (although precision and accuracy are not the same thing). However 1/10 of an oz is almost 3 gm so I personally would want a bit more accuracy then that.

Just bumping an old thread because I found this so incredibly useful in trying to determine the swingweight of my irons without a swingweight scale. I know this has it's limitations, but it seemed to work really well for me. You just need to find something thin and stable that you can balance your club on horizontally so you can measure the distance from the end of the grip to the fulcrum. I put a relatively thin rectangular piece of plastic in my bench vise and then balanced the club on that and used a tape measure to measure the length. I am reshafting my clubs during stay and shelter and want to make sure I don't totally screw up the swing weights. Hope this helps.

ehttp://www.leaderboard.com/SWINGWEIGHT

Thanks for the bump. I agree: very useful.

I can't get the excel file to open (iMac). Is anyone else having this problem?

I wasn’t able to open it either. I just used the link.

OP here. I will try to see if I still have the xls file somewhere, it should be backed up somewhere. I know I just recently deleted it from my local drive. I liked it because you could make notes on it and easily keep track of your whole set. I did end up purchasing a nice scale off of craigslist for $40 shortly after I posted, it makes it so much easier than messing around with this homemade method. I will say the homemade method gives quite accurate readings, I think the biggest room for error is getting the butt to balance point measurement as dead on as possible.

I found it:
Swinweights Blank.xls

If expenses are that tight simply take your clubs to a shop and have them measured. I wouldn't think it could cost much (I'm guessing between free to $10). Depending on your budget you can get a new swingweight scale for around $50 - though they aren't the best, but will give you relevant readings from club to club.

Good timing here, I just started building a SW scale from parts in my garage...should be done later today and I’ll test it out. The two threaded bolts are to press on the scale (one for calibration and other for measurement).

I'm only speaking for myself here. The reason I wanted something at the time was because I was building out a set and was trying to dry fit them and have the swingweight be somewhat consistent. Going into the local shop (20 miles away) and have them measured would do me little good as I would need them remeasured once I made any adjustments with tip weights. I have since purchased one, but at the time I was not sure if it would be worth it to buy one if it was going to be a tool used only one time. If you are only going to use it once or twice, I think the homemade version works just fine.

I agree with the above poster. I also think this method is helpful when trying to build a new set with the same swing weight as an old set for which you know the swingweight or at least know you like the way it feels. It may not be accurate in absolute respects, but relatively speaking it should be pretty close.

I also figured out a way to add weight to the head for purpose of calculating swing weight without the final build if you don’t have tip weights yet. Simply take a large fishing hook and attach fishing weights to the eye end of the hook and hang it on the hosel. Once you have the swingweight you want, weigh the hook and weight and you’ll know what tip weights you need to order.

Calibrated and tested, read D3.3 for a club I am pretty sure is D3...close enough for what I am looking for! Going to build a base for it and might change the battery/bolt taped on to something more elegant for calibration counterweight but all in all not bad for a few hrs of tinkering.

Well, mine isn’t as high tech as the previous poster but here’s what I’ve got.