Anybody else feel like they should buy there own club building equip?

[TCMP]

And just do it all themselves?? No faith in local golf shop!

I feel like I can't trust my local golf shop guy. I take in clubs for lie adjustment and ask for 3* upright. He goes in the back and bends them and I check them out. I ask him what the lie angle is - low and behold he has no clue. He just stuck it in the machine and bent it more upright. This is the owner of the shop I am talking about here. He has been doing this for 20+ years.

I am in the middle of nowhere and this shop is the only shop within a 2 hour drive (round trip). I feel like I should just buy the equipment on golfworks (albeit the budget friendly models) and do it all myself so I know it's done right. I already do shaft extractions and installs myself as well as grips, hot melting heads etc. I don't like to ship clubs off to people to have this done because 1). It takes too long and 2). Shipping costs can be as much as the job themselves (albeit less than capital for equipment)

Anybody else have these delimmas?

[funkyfedora]

Besides work on my Byrons, I do everything myself... I live in a similar situation... Middle of nowhere...

[TCMP]

[quote name='funkyfedora' post='2128237' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:32 AM']Besides work on my Byrons, I do everything myself... I live in a similar situation... Middle of nowhere...[/quote]

I am also from KS

[funkyfedora]

Really? Where from?

[BENCHMADE]

Same boat just a step further. The only places around here are big box golf stores with high school kids payed by the hour. The sheer fact that everything stock off the rack would have to be broken down and rebuilt to my specs. I decided to start building my own. Every thing from putter to driver in my bag is components and built/bent/weighted by me. It builds a lot of pride and confidence. On a side note i became friends with the manager of one of the stores. He lets me come in after hours to use the loft/lie machines.

[TCMP]

[quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128247' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:40 AM']Same boat just a step further. The only places around here are big box golf stores with high school kids payed by the hour. The sheer fact that everything stock off the rack would have to be broken down and rebuilt to my specs. I decided to start building my own. Every thing from putter to driver in my bag is components and built/bent/weighted by me. It builds a lot of pride and confidence. On a side note i became friends with the manager of one of the stores. He lets me come in after hours to use the loft/lie machines.[/quote]

How do you like the maltby heads and components?

[funkyfedora]

The loft and lie machine is a beast and I rarely use it... I usually try and order it fit to me...

[TCMP]

[quote name='funkyfedora' post='2128250' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:42 AM']The loft and lie machine is a beast and I rarely use it... I usually try and order it fit to me...[/quote]

A little over an hour north of Wichita.

[funkyfedora]

Isn't salina near by? I am sure there is some club builders there... I live in Larned and go to college in Great Bend.

[blade_man]

I do all this and don't understand why shops don't list what they find they clubs loft and lie, I made an excel spreadsheet form to show what they are, what factory is and what I set them at. takes an extra 10 seconds per club. I also ask "do you want it 3* up from factory setting or from what they are now?" Really simple, sorry for the rant but just bugs the heck out of me for "customer service industry"

[taskerc]

I built my own mini workshop for just this reason. But also I did it to learn more about the sport I love. And I am a tinkerer by heart.

It is really a modest investment to get the ability to go it alone. And it is a lot of fun.

[thesiltman]

I'm starting to do all my club work. There are some locally that I would trust, but this is just another excuse to buy some more toys. In addition to knowing exactly what's happening to the clubs, it'll probably save money in the long-run. I figure two or three pulls will pay for my shaft extractor, and the gripping supplies paid for themselves pretty much the first time I regripped my clubs.

[TCMP]

[quote name='funkyfedora' post='2128257' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:49 AM']Isn't salina near by? I am sure there is some club builders there... I live in Larned and go to college in Great Bend.[/quote]

There is 1. That is the one I spoke of earlier.

[funkyfedora]

The loft and lie is the hardest part in my opinion... The other parts of rebuilding is easy. So go for it. I will reply later with what I started with.

[BENCHMADE]

[quote name='TCMP' post='2128249' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:41 AM'][quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128247' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:40 AM']Same boat just a step further. The only places around here are big box golf stores with high school kids payed by the hour. The sheer fact that everything stock off the rack would have to be broken down and rebuilt to my specs. I decided to start building my own. Every thing from putter to driver in my bag is components and built/bent/weighted by me. It builds a lot of pride and confidence. On a side note i became friends with the manager of one of the stores. He lets me come in after hours to use the loft/lie machines.[/quote]

How do you like the maltby heads and components?
[/quote]


Amazing! The finish and tolerances are superb. To be honest it ruined me a little. When i look at the off the rack clubs the finish/paint look like a child did it. I read all the time of people buildng a $300 driver only to pull the shaft and put something else in there. Just doesn't make sense to me. Because i have access to anything on the market "retail" to hit. I have compared every club i've made to whats out there. What i made is just as good and in most cases better than. BTW GW will hand pick heads for you. Also you can have them bent by them and know there right.

[TCMP]

[quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128382' date='Dec 16 2009, 09:47 AM'][quote name='TCMP' post='2128249' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:41 AM'][quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128247' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:40 AM']Same boat just a step further. The only places around here are big box golf stores with high school kids payed by the hour. The sheer fact that everything stock off the rack would have to be broken down and rebuilt to my specs. I decided to start building my own. Every thing from putter to driver in my bag is components and built/bent/weighted by me. It builds a lot of pride and confidence. On a side note i became friends with the manager of one of the stores. He lets me come in after hours to use the loft/lie machines.[/quote]

How do you like the maltby heads and components?
[/quote]


Amazing! The finish and tolerances are superb. To be honest it ruined me a little. When i look at the off the rack clubs the finish/paint look like a child did it. I read all the time of people buildng a $300 driver only to pull the shaft and put something else in there. Just doesn't make sense to me. Because i have access to anything on the market "retail" to hit. I have compared every club i've made to whats out there. What i made is just as good and in most cases better than. BTW GW will hand pick heads for you. Also you can have them bent by them and know there right.
[/quote]

That's great. I played a Maltby KE4 in 11* but it cracked and broke all the way around the adjustable weight in the back of the head. I didn't notice until my playing partner mentioned my driver sounded weird when I swung the club. Turned it over and the whole back of the club was broken out.

Not sure what happened.

[BENCHMADE]

[quote name='TCMP' post='2128453' date='Dec 16 2009, 10:22 AM'][quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128382' date='Dec 16 2009, 09:47 AM'][quote name='TCMP' post='2128249' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:41 AM'][quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128247' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:40 AM']Same boat just a step further. The only places around here are big box golf stores with high school kids payed by the hour. The sheer fact that everything stock off the rack would have to be broken down and rebuilt to my specs. I decided to start building my own. Every thing from putter to driver in my bag is components and built/bent/weighted by me. It builds a lot of pride and confidence. On a side note i became friends with the manager of one of the stores. He lets me come in after hours to use the loft/lie machines.[/quote]

How do you like the maltby heads and components?
[/quote]


Amazing! The finish and tolerances are superb. To be honest it ruined me a little. When i look at the off the rack clubs the finish/paint look like a child did it. I read all the time of people buildng a $300 driver only to pull the shaft and put something else in there. Just doesn't make sense to me. Because i have access to anything on the market "retail" to hit. I have compared every club i've made to whats out there. What i made is just as good and in most cases better than. BTW GW will hand pick heads for you. Also you can have them bent by them and know there right.
[/quote]

That's great. I played a Maltby KE4 in 11* but it cracked and broke all the way around the adjustable weight in the back of the head. I didn't notice until my playing partner mentioned my driver sounded weird when I swung the club. Turned it over and the whole back of the club was broken out.

Not sure what happened.

[/quote]

Odd, I would have talked to Jim over there. I'm sure they would have made it right.

[fadevs9]

i've taken over everything myself. I am a hogan nut and i got a set of apex rechromed. I took the heads tot he local pro who sent them to cllaway for x100 shafts, etc. Got them back and put them on another pro's scale. the swingweights varied from c-9 to d-4. they didnt check them. Since then, as soon as i get a set of stick, i tear them apart, spine align, rebalance and check lof/lie. It's not that hard.

[tcmgator]

I started doing my own club work about ten years ago for about the same reasons you are stating aside from the fact that paying someone else to do this work some ridiculous rate just pisses me off. With a little creativity and a table mounted vise you can do a lot of this stuff in your own shop.

I now live in South Florida, Key Largo to be specific. I have to drive a minimum of 30 miles to get to a place that will do club work. Then once you there you have to deal with guys who think they know everything and are threatened when you ask for specific things to be done.

Enough is enough... I do it all myself.


PS. It's bad enough that I do work for my friends too.

[chickenpotpie]

I started doing my own stuff earlier this year, and it is really fun and addictive. I'm just starting to get into spining and MOI'ing which is really interesting stuff. The rabbit hole just keeps going and going...

A reassuring example was a recent case where I wanted to send a putter to Ping through my local shop to be bent. I went there thinking they could bend the putter there (I don't have bending equipment, yet!). I had just installed new redwood grip on it and asked him to save it. He spent 20 minutes trying to inject solvent through the grip with a needle and just couldn't get it to release. It was so painful to watch that I finally just told him to cut it and have Ping replace it new. I felt like cluing him in to the Golfworks v-tool, but I didn't want to embarrass him. I could have removed that grip myself in about 3 minutes without working up a sweat had I known they couldn't bend putters there at his shop.

[farmer]

Working on clubs is not hard at all if you have the right equipment. The hard part would be to determine that you need 3* up or 1* flat or whatever. I've done all my own work for years and years, back to the wooden era, but have not done any bending. It's a lot of fun, but I would buy some old junkers to practice on before I tried my gamers.

[ballzo]

The one thing that I really wish I had was a loft and lie machine. I hate taking my stuff in to get bent.

[BENCHMADE]

You guys would laugh if i posted pics of my WITB lol.

[stage1350]

I learned back when I was in school. My dad knew one of the best club guys in the city and would take all his clubs there to be worked on. I was still in school and only had a part time job, so I couldn't afford his services. This guy was the best and was able to command a premium for his services. Just hanging out in his shop I learned his techniques and "secrets" to reshafting, gripping, etc.

I started off slowly, regripping. Then reshafting. The swingweighting. Later, I got a graphite puller right in the middle of the Titleist bore-through highlights. I got a loft/lie machine and now there are very few repairs I can't do.

I still want to get a launch monitor and net for the backyard and a good sandblasting cabinet. It's a cheaper hobby than strippers and far less risky. (just ask Tiger!)

[TCMP]

[quote name='BENCHMADE' post='2128772' date='Dec 16 2009, 02:31 PM']You guys would laugh if i posted pics of my WITB lol.[/quote]


Please post you WITB!

[JCAG]

[quote name='TCMP' post='2128235' date='Dec 16 2009, 08:29 AM']I feel like I can't trust my local golf shop guy. I take in clubs for lie adjustment and ask for 3* upright. He goes in the back and bends them and I check them out. I ask him what the lie angle is - low and behold he has no clue. He just stuck it in the machine and bent it more upright. This is the owner of the shop I am talking about here. He has been doing this for 20+ years.

I am in the middle of nowhere and this shop is the only shop within a 2 hour drive (round trip). I feel like I should just buy the equipment on golfworks (albeit the budget friendly models) and do it all myself so I know it's done right. I already do shaft extractions and installs myself as well as grips, hot melting heads etc. I don't like to ship clubs off to people to have this done because 1). It takes too long and 2). Shipping costs can be as much as the job themselves (albeit less than capital for equipment)

Anybody else have these delimmas?[/quote]

I will not defend the fellow, but in your post you did not say you asked him to measure them. You say you asked him to bend them 3* stronger. Did he or did he not do as you asked/told him to do?

Sometimes when a fellow comes into a business acting all knowing and trying to impress he knows more then the business does, he gets only what he asks for and nothing more. In may cases he gets what he asked for even if not the best for him. While I am not accusing you, I am asking did you do such? Many on golf chats do that.

[TCMP]

[quote name='accufitgolf' post='2129215' date='Dec 16 2009, 06:46 PM']I will not defend the fellow, but in your post you did not say you asked him to measure them. You say you asked him to bend them 3* stronger. Did he or did he not do as you asked/told him to do?

Sometimes when a fellow comes into a business acting all knowing and trying to impress he knows more then the business does, he gets only what he asks for and nothing more. In may cases he gets what he asked for even if not the best for him. While I am not accusing you, I am asking did you do such? Many on golf chats do that.[/quote]

What I asked him to do is match one of my other wedges lie angle (which is 3* up). To match it, it would require measuring the one I wanted matched. I didn't explicitly tell him 3* up. He obviously looked at it and went a couple degrees upright and called it good.

[lask]

This is the problem with so called "standards". 3* up for one company may be 66* but for another company it may be 68*. When going to a club-builder it is often best to ask for specific angle (67*) rather than 3* up. Some of this also depends on the machine used not all measure and bend in the same fixture a la mitchell.

[TCMP]

[quote name='lask' post='2129288' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:29 PM']This is the problem with so called "standards". 3* up for one company may be 66* but for another company it may be 68*. When going to a club-builder it is often best to ask for specific angle (67*) rather than 3* up. Some of this also depends on the machine used not all measure and bend in the same fixture a la mitchell.[/quote]

I agree with you. Again, what I asked is that he "match" the lie angle of the other wedge i brought in. This would require measurement on any account.

[JCAG]

[quote name='lask' post='2129288' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:29 PM']This is the problem with so called "standards". 3* up for one company may be 66* but for another company it may be 68*. When going to a club-builder it is often best to ask for specific angle (67*) rather than 3* up. Some of this also depends on the machine used not all measure and bend in the same fixture a la mitchell.[/quote]

This was not a standards issue. The customer handed the clubmaker two clubs. He said make club A the same lie as club B. In order to do this, he says the clubmaker would have to measure the lie on club B (whatever it was) then set the lie on club A to the same lie as club B.

Now if one knows enough about loft and lie machines one can match one club (loft and/or lie) to another without properly measuring. It is a matching job. Not a measuring job.

All it requires is mounting the original club and measuring it (regardless of the measurement) then mounting the 2nd club identical and bending it to the same measurement as the 1st. Again, this matches them (as requested by the original poster) but it does not measure them.

To clarify/explain:

1. Loft and lie machines are designed to bend. Many question if they accurately measure. Top quality clubmakers will also have an additional machine to measure with. They typically cost about $150.00 and upto about $1,200.00 for a top line machine.

2. If adjusting lie based on sole strike marks it is quite common to lock the club in the machine anyway you can. Measure the lie then bend it the amount required, say 3*. Well the club will be bent the 3* even if the original measurement was not the actual mesurement.

3. Above #2 also the same procedure if say you want to bend the loft on your clubs 2* strong. Again, no need to measure the loft as the job is bend each 2* strong.

All of that said, a good clubmaker will have a sperate loft and lie measuring device and will trust this machine more then a loft and lie machine to measure with. They will also measure and record the club specs and give you a copy for your records.

When dealing with loft and lie do yourself a favor. Forget the word standards as there are none. Deal in exact numbers. Do not trust your clubs are what you have been told they are especially if off the rack. Get them measured. Get them set to what you want and recorded. Accept that many believe loft and lie machines do not accurately measure.

Hope this helps.