FERRULE POLISHING SECRETS

Hey,

Okay, what's your trick to finishing your ferrules to a bright shiny finish?

I use acetone sparingly on a piece of paper towel. Am I not using enough acetone?

Come on, share your secret!!

I have been using acetone for almost 20 tears with great results. You may be correct that you are not using enough.

Aittle wax and a linen belt

You will never get that factory shine with acetone

Acetone I find is the only way, just don't work it to much. Quick wipes with a wet cloth will give you the best results.

... They must not need to turn and finish on OE sets, to get them that shiny?

[quote name='BlakeBstone' timestamp='1340744983' post='5172734']
Aittle wax and a linen belt
[/quote]
Any particular type wax? You use a linen belt on a belt sander?

I use car wax. And yes belt sander

I finish with a linen belt and then use the actone. I don't need the wax if done right.

[quote name='BlakeBstone' timestamp='1340744983' post='5172734']
Aittle wax and a linen belt
[/quote]
I get you now. You turn them down on the belt sander using a linen belt. As I do. Then you apply the wax and polish?

That's correct

After you turn it down. Take your butaine torch and lightly brush the flame over it.

The torch will melt the ferrule. I buff the ferrule down with a coarse sandpaper. Then I take a q-tip and dip it in acetone. Then make single strokes in one direction, until every side of the ferrule has been wiped. It allows for a nice matte satin finish. No glare.

I use 2 different ways depending on....

Acetone on a strip of clothe WET, fast and light, DONT ad force, then it will ruin the ferrule
- You can "touch up" by light WET touches to the ferrule, and let the acetone dry by itself

The electric heat gun i use for shaft pulling.
- Fast moves, not to close. Takes A LOT of training since you are moving on the edge of melt down of the ferrule
DONT do this on a club you just assembled, but do a lot of practice on older "junk clubs" you can ruin the ferrules on so you learn the limits for heating

[quote name='Howard Jones' timestamp='1340778671' post='5175770']
I use 2 different ways depending on....

Acetone on a strip of clothe WET, fast and light, DONT ad force, then it will ruin the ferrule
- You can "touch up" by light WET touches to the ferrule, and let the acetone dry by itself

The electric heat gun i use for shaft pulling.
- Fast moves, not to close. Takes A LOT of training since you are moving on the edge of melt down of the ferrule
DONT do this on a club you just assembled, but do a lot of practice on older "junk clubs" you can ruin the ferrules on so you learn the limits for heating
[/quote]

Thanks again!

Use a t-shirt not a paper towel.

I use this tool. To get that nice shinny finish after getting it to the correct size I just put a lot of Acetone on the lint free clothes and do 1 fast turn and pull it off. Turns out perfect and factory finish like every time..

https://www.golfworks.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_GW0101

Okay, here it is. Acetone - Paper towel folded into 1/4 size (in half then in half again), soak half of it then LIGHTLY wipe the ferrule from base to top. Then, LIGHTLY buff with cotton cloth till the desired shine is attained.

If the ferrule is not flush with the hosel at the bottom? Prior to doing the above, tape the hosel with ONE LAYER of masking tape and the shaft with 3 layers. Then, lightly sand to flush using a strip of 220 grit sand paper the same width as the ferrule. Hold the sand paper strip by the ends and LIGHTLY work the ferrule down using the same motion you see the shoe-shiners use when buffing shoes.

I don't use machines to sand of buff ferrules because there's always the chance of over doing it. Damn hard to put plastic back on a ferrule!!!

BT

Using the momentum of the head of the club spinning around as you hand spin it, you can reduce the ferrule down to the proper size of matching the hosel of the head. And at the same time put a sheen on the ferrule

I have access to bees wax and warm it up a wee bit and apply a very very thin coat and then spin the head some more to polish the ferrule to a final shine.

Wow...lots of different techniques here!!

Here is my tried and true method.

1. Use a [b]LINT FREE[/b] rag. This is key, no exceptions.
2. Tape area of shaft at end of ferrule, build up enough so almost flush with o.d. of ferrule. To make sure during turning you don't taper the ferrule right down flush to the shaft.
3. Wet rag thoroughly with acetone
4. Apply wet area of rag to area where ferrule meets hosel with thumb and forefinger and turn rapidly using some pressure. You may need to reapply acetone until ferrule is turned down sufficiently. Don't worry if the ferrule looks a little rough during the turning process, the next steps will clean her up.
5. When turned down use a clean area of the rag soaked in acetone and quickly rub lightly up and down this time. Key here is to do it fast and sparingly. this will take out and of the roughness caused when turning down.
6. Final step that adds the shine is to apply 91% isopropyl alcohol using the same technique as step 5. This neutralizes the acetone which if left on after step 5 can dull the ferrule as the residue that is left eats the plastic just a little.

Using this technique I get a shiny/smooth ferrule that looks great. No need for machines/belts unless you're working with a high volume.

I concur with using a lint free linen cloth. The smooth cloth leaves less marks on the ferrule if you apply too much contact pressure. Another good point from above it to make sure the cloth is WET, not just damp. You want to get the ferrule wet with acetone, but don't press on it or the cloth will leave marks.

I use 220 grit cloth sanding strips if the ferrule needs to be reduced. You can stop there if using acetone, but if you want an alternate technique try moving to finer grit paper (work up to 600) and then use plastic polish on a strip of cloth (saw back and forth to achieve a smooth finish). This method is less technique sensitive than using acetone and leaves a really nice smooth finish.

[quote name='TJCDAS' timestamp='1340814987' post='5177924']
Use a t-shirt not a paper towel.
[/quote]
Yeah, sorry bout that. I do use an old t-shirt cloth.

Going to go ahead and revive a really old thread just to point out that THIS works like a charm. I was struggling like crazy to bring back some shine to a very dull ferrule that I had just installed and turned down and nothing worked until I tried isopropyl alcohol.

> @Need4spd said:

> Going to go ahead and revive a really old thread just to point out that THIS works like a charm. I was struggling like crazy to bring back some shine to a very dull ferrule that I had just installed and turned down and nothing worked until I tried isopropyl alcohol.

+100, 91% isopropyl alcohol. I general tape off the shaft, sand to size and hit with a twist or 2 of alcohol and done!

Grail golf...lol...I haven’t had to turn and polish a ferrule in 10 years. Almost every iron head made today will fit perfect to a .530 OD ferrule. Grail golfs are fantastic and cheap and the service is off the charts. Stock some .530, .535 and .540 OD and you have perfect fits and factory shine. Just my experience. I dont miss turning ferrules that’s for sure

> @mogc60 said:

> Grail golf...lol...I haven’t had to turn and polish a ferrule in 10 years. Almost every iron head made today will fit perfect to a .530 OD ferrule. Grail golfs are fantastic and cheap and the service is off the charts. Stock some .530, .535 and .540 OD and you have perfect fits and factory shine. Just my experience. I dont miss turning ferrules that’s for sure

Get a caliper, order the size that works from Grail! Yep.