My Restoration Project. Scotty Cameron Classic Newport Restored to Black Oxide.

I have decided that I am going to restore a couple of putters myself, how hard can it be? I have read a few things from different sites about how to restore or make a new finish on a putter. I plan on making my Classic Newport have a Caswell black oxide finish. I will give pictures and talk about my experience restoring so ya'll can do it too.

*NOTE: the Caswell black oxide finish did do anything to the Studio Select. I assume this means it doesn't work on all stainless steel heads, thats probably why there is the stainless blackener gel.

Here are the original pictures. It started as a rust bucket.

I read up on the internet about removing rust and I came across a coke bath or soaking in vinegar. I don't have any coke, so I went with vinegar. After about 20 minutes of soaking in vinegar, I started bushing it with paper towels, which did very little, then with a polyester brush. The brush did a lot to get the rust off. After a little bit of brushing and an overnight soak (don't know if its necessary), the putter looked like this.

I went to my local hardware store and got 60 grit, 220 grit, and 400 grit sandpaper. The 60 grit definitely scratched up the putter, the 220 grit worked well, and 400 grit made it match the finish of my studio select. Here are pictures of my Studio Select before and after sanding. I wish I had better pictures, but these are the sellers originals. The top line was pretty rough, worse than it looks in these.

Before:

After:

As you can see, sanding did not take care of all the dings, there are still a couple left. There are a couple of dings along the top line, but it is much much better. Actually gamable now... Above is what 400 grit sand paper looks like after a bit of sanding. I may go 500 or 600 next time...

Now, sanding with 400 grit first, took off a lot of the rust on my Classic Newport, without scratching the club. This is after a bit of sanding with mostly 220 grit, then finished off with 400 grit.

This is all I have so far. I plan on doing a little more sanding, possibly with 600 grit, or sandblasting. Then I will put a Caswell black oxide finish on it and seal it. I have seen a few Caswell black oxide finishes in and they look awesome. I can't wait. Ill keep you posted.

5/16/13

I just worked for two hours on these putters: sandblasting, sanding, removing paint fill, and the black oxide finish. Here is the step by step on what happened.

I started by taking the paint fill out of the Newport with aircraft paint remover, and scrubbing with a brush. It got a little bit more rust off also.

Next, I sanded some more, and then sandblasted it. Afterwards it looked like this, pretty sweet. The sandblasting gives it a cool satin looking finish. I almost thought about leaving it like this. As you can see, sandblasting just takes out scratches and gives the putter a nice finish. There are still some marks that I couldn't get out without a buffer or a done of sanding.

And now for my favorite part.... Drum roll please! The black oxide finish. This provess was so cool to watch. We took a bowl of the chemicals, and then dipped the head in for 5-10 seconds. It instantly turns black! Like I said in the note above, it does not work on stainless heads. It simply does nothing. But it worked beautifully on my Classic Newport head.

This is what the putter looked like after drying out of the chemical bath. It is way more gray than after you seal it. Take a look at these vs the next set. This is 5-10 seconds submerged in the chemicals, only one time. I guess doing it another time makes it even darker... and a third time does damage to the head form what I hear. But don't be fooled by the pre-oil results.

Next, I put the oil sealing solution on the head and it became much, much darker.

After sitting for about an hour it was pretty dry. Looked like this. The word of the wise is to let it sit for 2 days and really let the oil sink into the metal.

And here is a comparison to my Studio Select color.

I want to give a shout out to Jason at Jay's Club Shack in Simi Valley, CA for helping me out, and letting me use his tools. If you ever need anything done, he is the guy to go see.

Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out. I think it looks awesome. It has come a long ways! I'll post more if I do more! Cheers!

Looking good so far!

very interested in this as I just did the same thing with my Tei3 gun blue

To easily remove the rust (and all other finishes including the gun blue if applicable) use "krud kutter" from home depot. I poured some in a bowl and placed the putter in the bowl. Full 100% solution with the putter head fully submerged for about 2 hours.

Then remove the putter and sand with 0000 steel wool. You will be down to the bare metal. The next step was using the dremel. Since I had already sanded it down, I only needed to buff it. I used the buffing wheel found in the bottom right of this pack:

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=EZ684-01

After everything was well polished I tried my hand cold blueing. The result was not very good, but it will do for now. I sprayed it with krylon's cyrtal clear enamel to help prevent future rust.

I will anxiously wait and see how your black oxide finish turns out and may give that a try.

The fun part was the paintfill.

good luck

Nice putters! I was going to buy a old scotty but there was some small nicks on the face of the putter. I was wondering if it affects performance in anyway? It is a scotty pro plat newport 2.

They would have to be some pretty big dings to affect performance. I wouldn't be able to tell you without looking at it.

More pictures tonight! Just did two hours of work on these ^^^

great work.

Did you polish the end result with 0000 steel wool?

Thanks! I did not polish with steel wool. I simply sanded, sand blasted, dipped in the chemical, and sealed with oil on a rag. I had heard of people using steel wool, but I didn't find it necessary in this case.

This looks great!

Nicely done! Any plans for a paintfill? I like the sand blasted raw kind of finish, but the black looks great too and probably easier on the eyes in the sun.

I think a simple white paintfill would be awesome.

Wow OP those look phenomenal! The sandblasting really takes DIY resto's to a whole 'nother level if you have the means/ability. I love the satin finish on the Studio Select.

You should know that Caswell also sells a stainless steel blackener (#370) that also works on raw carbon steel (from what I've read on these forums). I am currently rehabbing a Studio Style for a buddy of mine and plan on dipping my Callaway Jaws wedges also so I'll try to post pics of my process/end product. It seems that cold-dipping is much more effective than cold-blueing with a rag application. I have used Birchwood Casey Perma Blue on the wedges and it seems to wear off immediately after hitting a few balls; hopefully dipping them in the ss blackener and sealer will have a longer lasting effect.

Paintfill - I'd recommend original on the oilcan, and something vibrant for the Studio Select. I love how some of the translucent paints look in the cherry bombs - check this out:

Here's a pic of what the ss blackener can do:

Thread link:

http://www.golfwrx.c...ater +two +tone

This is a nice looking update, and shows how important thorough prep work is to the finished product but is also a good example of how superior brush/needle applied paintfills are to their pen counterparts. You can get away with a pen on most lettering and handstamps but the SS cherry bombs are a real acid test of paintfill. A translucent acrylic paintfill would've really had me salivating over this baby.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great looking putter and I would game the **** out of it!

Wow OP those look phenomenal! The sandblasting really takes DIY resto's to a whole 'nother level if you have the means/ability. I love the satin finish on the Studio Select.

 

You should know that Caswell also sells a stainless steel blackener (#370) that also works on raw carbon steel (from what I've read on these forums). I am currently rehabbing a Studio Style for a buddy of mine and plan on dipping my Callaway Jaws wedges also so I'll try to post pics of my process/end product. It seems that cold-dipping is much more effective than cold-blueing with a rag application. I have used Birchwood Casey Perma Blue on the wedges and it seems to wear off immediately after hitting a few balls; hopefully dipping them in the ss blackener and sealer will have a longer lasting effect.

 

Paintfill - I'd recommend original on the oilcan, and something vibrant for the Studio Select. I love how some of the translucent paints look in the cherry bombs - check this out:

 

 

 

Did you do this paint fill? What type of paint did you use? And did you use any type of sealant on it? I've been using acrylic paint then using a nail polish clear coat to seal it, which seems to flake after a few rounds on the course. So, looking for alternatives ;)

No that is not my work - here is the thread that is from:

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/430009-paint-fill-101/page__st__90__p__3175460__hl__+iris#entry3175460"]http://www.golfwrx.c...is#entry3175460[/url]

I would guess that that is Tamiya X acrylic, and he probably swabbed the bombs (very lightly) with some thinner/alcohol to make the paint run toward the outside of the depression rather than gather in the center.

The Tamiya X gloss paints are probably the most recommended on these forums. I plan on using Testors (I have both acrylic and enamel bottles) since that is what I could find locally; they have also been used by others with success. Even nail polish works well, but it sets up rather quickly so that can be both a positive (less wait time) or negative (not able to do multi-color fades). Some folks seal their fills with Sally Hansen Hard As Nails etc.

What area of the club is the fill flaking from?

[quote name='smeech8000' timestamp='1373558538' post='7432154']
No that is not my work - here is the thread that is from:

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/430009-paint-fill-101/page__st__90__p__3175460__hl__+iris#entry3175460"]http://www.golfwrx.c...is#entry3175460[/url]

I would guess that that is Tamiya X acrylic, and he probably swabbed the bombs (very lightly) with some thinner/alcohol to make the paint run toward the outside of the depression rather than gather in the center.

The Tamiya X gloss paints are probably the most recommended on these forums. I plan on using Testors (I have both acrylic and enamel bottles) since that is what I could find locally; they have also been used by others with success. Even nail polish works well, but it sets up rather quickly so that can be both a positive (less wait time) or negative (not able to do multi-color fades). Some folks seal their fills with Sally Hansen Hard As Nails etc.

What area of the club is the fill flaking from?
[/quote]


Mostly from the sole paint in the #'s, which I attribute to the sole making contact with the ground. It's just the clear coat that seems to be flaking at the moment. My concern is I used acrylic paint, which I found starts to run when it makes contact with water (I think I read that about acrylic paint). So now I'm afraid to clean my clubs and chance all the paint running.

I'm going to remove all the paint fill though and have another go at it. I like the translucent paints. Maybe I will give a better brand of paint a try and that Hard as Nails coating you suggested. I think also one of my problems is that I filled the areas with too much paint, which didn't leave enough room for much of the clear coat. So maybe that is one reason it is starting to flake already - because there wasnt a deep enough layer.

Ah I see. I wouldn't worry about the acrylic running out of your numbers on a soggy day - as long as it has had ample time to set up and cure then it should be fine.

You could even try scrubbing them down with a brush and warm water to test it out since you plan on redoing anyways - that would be way more rigorous than anything the course could do to them.

very nice!

My easy resto. I actually like the beat up, bag chattered head. So I left it as is.

OP, judging by the tour dots, I think that was an old school 'Made for the Tour' Newport. It was likely worth mucho dinero pre-sanding.

[quote name='Pondy' timestamp='1373779279' post='7450676']
OP, judging by the tour dots, I think that was an old school 'Made for the Tour' Newport. It was likely worth mucho dinero pre-sanding.
[/quote]

Unfortunately it was not a tour made newport. I have looked into it. There would be no sole stamping and the cherry dot on the face would be bigger. But non the less, its still a cool putter. I like it.

[quote name='sTmGolfer' timestamp='1373238224' post='7404688']
Nicely done! Any plans for a paintfill? I like the sand blasted raw kind of finish, but the black looks great too and probably easier on the eyes in the sun.

I think a simple white paintfill would be awesome.
[/quote]

I have recently acquired a button back and I am thinking I may sandblast it also. I love the satin finish. It is much easier on the eyes in the sun. That is the exact reason I want to sandblast it, so it has the same silver color, but no glare. My BB has so much glare, it is awful. But then again, am I a fool for sandblasting an $800 putter? I'm, still deciding.

Has anyone tried doing custom work to a Nike Method 001? I'm not sure if the polymer in the face could take the chemical bath.

I would love to change the finish to black like smeech8000.

[quote name='semipopular' timestamp='1373816846' post='7451902']
[quote name='sTmGolfer' timestamp='1373238224' post='7404688']
Nicely done! Any plans for a paintfill? I like the sand blasted raw kind of finish, but the black looks great too and probably easier on the eyes in the sun.

I think a simple white paintfill would be awesome.
[/quote]

I have recently acquired a button back and I am thinking I may sandblast it also. I love the satin finish. It is much easier on the eyes in the sun. That is the exact reason I want to sandblast it, so it has the same silver color, but no glare. My BB has so much glare, it is awful. But then again, am I a fool for sandblasting an $800 putter? I'm, still deciding.
[/quote]

I have a Button Back Newport 2. I would never consider sand blasting it. Polarized sunglasses? Yes. Risk messing with an $800 putter? Not me

[quote name='Pondy' timestamp='1373840112' post='7453658']
[quote name='semipopular' timestamp='1373816846' post='7451902']
[quote name='sTmGolfer' timestamp='1373238224' post='7404688']
Nicely done! Any plans for a paintfill? I like the sand blasted raw kind of finish, but the black looks great too and probably easier on the eyes in the sun.

I think a simple white paintfill would be awesome.
[/quote]

I have recently acquired a button back and I am thinking I may sandblast it also. I love the satin finish. It is much easier on the eyes in the sun. That is the exact reason I want to sandblast it, so it has the same silver color, but no glare. My BB has so much glare, it is awful. But then again, am I a fool for sandblasting an $800 putter? I'm, still deciding.
[/quote]

I have a Button Back Newport 2. I would never consider sand blasting it. Polarized sunglasses? Yes. Risk messing with an $800 putter? Not me
[/quote]

Okay so lets say I don't sand blast it. Can I have the custom shop do a studio style finish on it? Or something with a little more grain to take the glare away?

[quote name='semipopular' timestamp='1374122185' post='7479170']
[quote name='Pondy' timestamp='1373840112' post='7453658']
[quote name='semipopular' timestamp='1373816846' post='7451902']
[quote name='sTmGolfer' timestamp='1373238224' post='7404688']
Nicely done! Any plans for a paintfill? I like the sand blasted raw kind of finish, but the black looks great too and probably easier on the eyes in the sun.

I think a simple white paintfill would be awesome.
[/quote]

I have recently acquired a button back and I am thinking I may sandblast it also. I love the satin finish. It is much easier on the eyes in the sun. That is the exact reason I want to sandblast it, so it has the same silver color, but no glare. My BB has so much glare, it is awful. But then again, am I a fool for sandblasting an $800 putter? I'm, still deciding.
[/quote]

I have a Button Back Newport 2. I would never consider sand blasting it. Polarized sunglasses? Yes. Risk messing with an $800 putter? Not me
[/quote]

Okay so lets say I don't sand blast it. Can I have the custom shop do a studio style finish on it? Or something with a little more grain to take the glare away?
[/quote]

You have limited options when it comes to SSS putters. You can email them and ask if they could knock down the finish for you but it's really not an option on their site. I haven't put my buttonback in play for quite some time but I don't remember any significant glare from it.

I have a new resto project. I found an old oil can Newport 2. I think it would look great in black, but I also like the oil can. What to do, what to do...

Got a propane torch? Sand it, blast it, polish it, torch it, quench it.

There should be other threads around here with more detailed DIY instructions but that's the gist of it. Here's a link to a well documented DIY torch finish by a member here named hebron1427:

http://thepowerfade.com/2011/12/12/club-repair-restoring-a-putter-part-1/

The model he restored is much easier to sand/polish than a NP2 since a blade profile has no nooks and crannies. Result is fantastic especially for a first effort. Proof that the more thorough your prep, the better the overall result in the end.

Wow, thats pretty cool. I'm glad you showed me that. I may just try that. Stay tuned!

[quote name='semipopular' timestamp='1368687216' post='7045450']
I have decided that I am going to restore a couple of putters myself, how hard can it be? I have read a few things from different sites about how to restore or make a new finish on a putter. I plan on making my Classic Newport have a Caswell black oxide finish. I will give pictures and talk about my experience restoring so ya'll can do it too.

*NOTE: the Caswell black oxide finish did do anything to the Studio Select. I assume this means it doesn't work on all stainless steel heads, thats probably why there is the stainless blackener gel.

Here are the original pictures. It started as a rust bucket.

[attachment=1684658:Original Back.JPG][attachment=1684666:Original Sole.JPG][attachment=1684664:Original Sole Face.JPG][attachment=1684670:Original Topline Back 2.JPG][attachment=1684668:Original Toplin.JPG]


I read up on the internet about removing rust and I came across a coke bath or soaking in vinegar. I don't have any coke, so I went with vinegar. After about 20 minutes of soaking in vinegar, I started bushing it with paper towels, which did very little, then with a polyester brush. The brush did a lot to get the rust off. After a little bit of brushing and an overnight soak (don't know if its necessary), the putter looked like this.

[attachment=1684678:Soaked Back.JPG][attachment=1684680:Soaked Face.JPG][attachment=1684682:Soaked Sole.JPG][attachment=1684684:Soaked Topline.JPG]


I went to my local hardware store and got 60 grit, 220 grit, and 400 grit sandpaper. The 60 grit definitely scratched up the putter, the 220 grit worked well, and 400 grit made it match the finish of my studio select. Here are pictures of my Studio Select before and after sanding. I wish I had better pictures, but these are the sellers originals. The top line was pretty rough, worse than it looks in these.

Before:
[attachment=1684692:Select Original Face.JPG][attachment=1684694:Select Original Topline.JPG]

After:
[attachment=1684706:Select Sanded Topline.JPG][attachment=1684704:Select Sanded Topline Back.JPG][attachment=1684702:Select Sanded Face.JPG][attachment=1684700:Select Sanded Face Topline.JPG][attachment=1684696:Select Sanded Back 2.JPG]


As you can see, sanding did not take care of all the dings, there are still a couple left. There are a couple of dings along the top line, but it is much much better. Actually gamable now... Above is what 400 grit sand paper looks like after a bit of sanding. I may go 500 or 600 next time...

Now, sanding with 400 grit first, took off a lot of the rust on my Classic Newport, without scratching the club. This is after a bit of sanding with mostly 220 grit, then finished off with 400 grit.

[attachment=1684708:Sanded Back 2.JPG][attachment=1684710:Sanded Face 2.JPG][attachment=1684712:Sanded Face Topline.JPG][attachment=1684714:Sanded Sole 2.JPG][attachment=1684716:Sanded Topline.JPG]


This is all I have so far. I plan on doing a little more sanding, possibly with 600 grit, or sandblasting. Then I will put a Caswell black oxide finish on it and seal it. I have seen a few Caswell black oxide finishes in and they look awesome. I can't wait. Ill keep you posted.

5/16/13
I just worked for two hours on these putters: sandblasting, sanding, removing paint fill, and the black oxide finish. Here is the step by step on what happened.

I started by taking the paint fill out of the Newport with aircraft paint remover, and scrubbing with a brush. It got a little bit more rust off also.

[attachment=1686048:Removed Sole.JPG][attachment=1686050:Removed Back.JPG]


Next, I sanded some more, and then sandblasted it. Afterwards it looked like this, pretty sweet. The sandblasting gives it a cool satin looking finish. I almost thought about leaving it like this. As you can see, sandblasting just takes out scratches and gives the putter a nice finish. There are still some marks that I couldn't get out without a buffer or a done of sanding.

[attachment=1686052:Blasted Back.JPG][attachment=1686054:Blasted Face.JPG][attachment=1686056:Blasted Sole.JPG][attachment=1686058:Blasted Topline.JPG]


And now for my favorite part.... Drum roll please! The black oxide finish. This provess was so cool to watch. We took a bowl of the chemicals, and then dipped the head in for 5-10 seconds. It instantly turns black! Like I said in the note above, it does not work on stainless heads. It simply does nothing. But it worked beautifully on my Classic Newport head.

This is what the putter looked like after drying out of the chemical bath. It is way more gray than after you seal it. Take a look at these vs the next set. This is 5-10 seconds submerged in the chemicals, only one time. I guess doing it another time makes it even darker... and a third time does damage to the head form what I hear. But don't be fooled by the pre-oil results.

[attachment=1686060:Dyed Back.JPG][attachment=1686062:Dyed Face 2.JPG]


Next, I put the oil sealing solution on the head and it became much, much darker.

[attachment=1686076:Oil Back.JPG][attachment=1686078:Oil Face.JPG]


After sitting for about an hour it was pretty dry. Looked like this. The word of the wise is to let it sit for 2 days and really let the oil sink into the metal.

[attachment=1686064:Dry Back.JPG][attachment=1686066:Dry Face.JPG][attachment=1686068:Dry Sole.JPG][attachment=1686074:Dry Topline.JPG]

And here is a comparison to my Studio Select color.

[attachment=1686070:Dry to Select Back Comparison.JPG][attachment=1686072:Dry to Select Face Comparison.JPG]

I want to give a shout out to Jason at Jay's Club Shack in Simi Valley, CA for helping me out, and letting me use his tools. If you ever need anything done, he is the guy to go see.

Overall, I am very happy with how it turned out. I think it looks awesome. It has come a long ways! I'll post more if I do more! Cheers!
[/quote]

what did you use to seal it? I am currently refinishing a scotty?

good day people..one question..i have a SC pro platinum..would Caswell blue ruin my club..cannot get all of the finish off of the cluyb

[attachment=2704413:20150410_121141.jpg][attachment=2704415:20150410_121329.jpg][attachment=2704417:20150410_121542.jpg][attachment=2704419:20150410_121632.jpg][attachment=2704413:20150410_121141.jpg][attachment=2704415:20150410_121329.jpg][attachment=2704417:20150410_121542.jpg][attachment=2704415:20150410_121329.jpg][attachment=2704417:20150410_121542.jpg][attachment=2704431:20150410_122441.jpg]


these are my pics after i knocked off the rust