Torching Stainless and carbon DIY - Part 1 and part 2 3-8-14 Update 3-22-23

[Bunker2Bunker2]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

From this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 

 

[robrey85]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

From this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks fantastic man!

[Bunker2Bunker2]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

From this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks fantastic man!

Thanks!!

Toying with stripping it back again and giving it another go to see if I can get it cleaner this time - if nothing more than just to get some more practice in. Next stop if some oil can vokeys that I've already stripped.

Who needs gun blue?!!?

[hanetrob]

Looks great! I would get the hozel a bit more.The color change there might be distracting. But that is just me.

[Bunker2Bunker2]

Looks great! I would get the hozel a bit more.The color change there might be distracting. But that is just me.

I thought that too at the start but the shaft kind of blends in to the hosel this way and I don't notice it that much.

[srsc02]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

 

 

What material is this putter made from? Is there a resource out there that has this information for a range of putters?

[Bunker2Bunker2]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

 

 

What material is this putter made from? Is there a resource out there that has this information for a range of putters?

This was carbon steel and Oneagusta's guide is for stainless but it is essentially the same process only carbon gets through its colour range at much lower temperatures and therefore much quicker - I think I torched mine for a max of 10 mins with butane.

Ultimately, the majority of putters out there today will be stainless or carbon steel so this Oneaugusta's guide is comprehensive enough for most projects - just figure out which variant of steel you have and adjust your torching time accordingly.

Hope this helps.

[GolfWithdrawals]

Buy shaft clamp to hold shaft in vise heat on low heat with propane or other and go evenly around shaft to about 3 inches up for about 2 or 3 minutes, use leather gloves to twist and pull head off.

 

One more question, I've completed the sanding process of my stainless steel putter. I wasn't able to get all of the nicks out of it but it looks a whole lot better. Will the torching come out ok if it has some small nicks in it? Thanks again!

[oneaugusta]

Buy shaft clamp to hold shaft in vise heat on low heat with propane or other and go evenly around shaft to about 3 inches up for about 2 or 3 minutes, use leather gloves to twist and pull head off.

 

One more question, I've completed the sanding process of my stainless steel putter. I wasn't able to get all of the nicks out of it but it looks a whole lot better. Will the torching come out ok if it has some small nicks in it? Thanks again!

Nicks will not hurt the torching but you will see them, especially if you have it polished up. Maybe post some pictures of what you have so far.

[GolfWithdrawals]

Buy shaft clamp to hold shaft in vise heat on low heat with propane or other and go evenly around shaft to about 3 inches up for about 2 or 3 minutes, use leather gloves to twist and pull head off.

 

One more question, I've completed the sanding process of my stainless steel putter. I wasn't able to get all of the nicks out of it but it looks a whole lot better. Will the torching come out ok if it has some small nicks in it? Thanks again!

Nicks will not hurt the torching but you will see them, especially if you have it polished up. Maybe post some pictures of what you have so far.

[oneaugusta]

Buy shaft clamp to hold shaft in vise heat on low heat with propane or other and go evenly around shaft to about 3 inches up for about 2 or 3 minutes, use leather gloves to twist and pull head off.

 

One more question, I've completed the sanding process of my stainless steel putter. I wasn't able to get all of the nicks out of it but it looks a whole lot better. Will the torching come out ok if it has some small nicks in it? Thanks again!

Nicks will not hurt the torching but you will see them, especially if you have it polished up. Maybe post some pictures of what you have so far.

Hard to say with the small picture but it looks pretty smooth and polished, would clean with alcohol and give it a go!

[GolfWithdrawals]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

[GolfWithdrawals]

Here's my first go following oneaugusta's method. I will openly admit that I probably should have taken more care when cleaning it as you can see some blemishes from what is likely greasy hand oil and I skipped the polishing part too as I was too impatient!!

That being said, I'm happy with my first go - the pictures don't do the colours justice - in proper daylight this thing is dazzling!

P.s. oneaugusta is right when he says that when carbon steel starts to change colour, it changes quick. I stopped once I started seeing some purple as I wanted a good mix of purple and blue but got probably 90% blue as it continued to 'cook' after I took the heat off.

 

From this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

How were you able to post that many pictures? For whatever reason this site isn't allowing me to post the other pictures due to the size, even though they are the same size as the one I just posted.

[oneaugusta]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

Really great effort, your hard work and attention to detail paid off, putter looks fantastic! Can you post a full size picture of the end result of just the finished putter?

[GolfWithdrawals]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

Really great effort, your hard work and attention to detail paid off, putter looks fantastic! Can you post a full size picture of the end result of just the finished putter?

 

I edited my post to show the finished project. The only way it would let me do it is by deleting the other pic and that is the biggest size it would allow.

[GolfWithdrawals]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

Really great effort, your hard work and attention to detail paid off, putter looks fantastic! Can you post a full size picture of the end result of just the finished putter?

 

When I finished the paint fill on the bottom and wiped with acetone to get the excess paint off, I wiped off the entire head to get any paint that might have spread. I think the acetone took off a lot of the chromatic blue finish. Now it looks kinda light brown/blue with hints of blue and purple. It still looks good but I really liked the chromatic blue that it was before. Does acetone hurt the torched finish or did it just leave a film on the putter?

[oneaugusta]

No acetone will not hurt it, try washing head with soft cloth and dish soap and then dry and see if color comes back to original. Have seen some putters when you get hot enough for blue finish have some brown spots, this is the small amount of carbon coming out of the stainless. Not sure why it happens with some but not all 303 stainless, haven't seen this on TP Mills 304 stainless?

[GolfWithdrawals]

No acetone will not hurt it, try washing head with soft cloth and dish soap and then dry and see if color comes back to original. Have seen some putters when you get hot enough for blue finish have some brown spots, this is the small amount of carbon coming out of the stainless. Not sure why it happens with some but not all 303 stainless, haven't seen this on TP Mills 304 stainless?

 

Washed it with a soft rag and soap and the color came back. I almost forgot how nice it looked. Have you have torched a Designed by Cleveland Napa/8802 style putter? I have one I want to torch but don't know what it's made out of.

[oneaugusta]

No acetone will not hurt it, try washing head with soft cloth and dish soap and then dry and see if color comes back to original. Have seen some putters when you get hot enough for blue finish have some brown spots, this is the small amount of carbon coming out of the stainless. Not sure why it happens with some but not all 303 stainless, haven't seen this on TP Mills 304 stainless?

 

Washed it with a soft rag and soap and the color came back. I almost forgot how nice it looked. Have you have torched a Designed by Cleveland Napa/8802 style putter? I have one I want to torch but don't know what it's made out of.

No but have done one of the Never compromised milled series Robusto that is 303 SS, It came out very nice.

[HandsomeMatt]

No acetone will not hurt it, try washing head with soft cloth and dish soap and then dry and see if color comes back to original. Have seen some putters when you get hot enough for blue finish have some brown spots, this is the small amount of carbon coming out of the stainless. Not sure why it happens with some but not all 303 stainless, haven't seen this on TP Mills 304 stainless?

 

Washed it with a soft rag and soap and the color came back. I almost forgot how nice it looked. Have you have torched a Designed by Cleveland Napa/8802 style putter? I have one I want to torch but don't know what it's made out of.

the Designed by's are all chrome plated carbon steel unless it was one of the rarer black finished models. I've got a bunch of them and have stripped a few down to bare steel and then gun blued them, keep them oiled but eventually the gun blue turns to a deep brown (likely oxidization) unless you strip it and re-do it. I also had one copper plated that looks pretty great but isn't as soft feeling as it was before. As mentioned earlier, carbon turns to the brilliant blues and purples much faster than stainless and it's also possible to go right past the colors until it actually just has kind of a yellow tint.

[GolfWithdrawals]

No acetone will not hurt it, try washing head with soft cloth and dish soap and then dry and see if color comes back to original. Have seen some putters when you get hot enough for blue finish have some brown spots, this is the small amount of carbon coming out of the stainless. Not sure why it happens with some but not all 303 stainless, haven't seen this on TP Mills 304 stainless?

 

Washed it with a soft rag and soap and the color came back. I almost forgot how nice it looked. Have you have torched a Designed by Cleveland Napa/8802 style putter? I have one I want to torch but don't know what it's made out of.

the Designed by's are all chrome plated carbon steel unless it was one of the rarer black finished models. I've got a bunch of them and have stripped a few down to bare steel and then gun blued them, keep them oiled but eventually the gun blue turns to a deep brown (likely oxidization) unless you strip it and re-do it. I also had one copper plated that looks pretty great but isn't as soft feeling as it was before. As mentioned earlier, carbon turns to the brilliant blues and purples much faster than stainless and it's also possible to go right past the colors until it actually just has kind of a yellow tint.

 

How do you get the chrome plating off?

[HandsomeMatt]

Dremel, hand sanding to finish polishing, OR take it to be beadblasted. I have a dremel tool that I use for stripping chrome , sanding wheels will do the job but it isn't something you get done in a few passes and it requires a lot of hand sanding too. Usually I'll check progress with gun blue to make sure I don't leave any copper or nickel plating behind.

[bliznock]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

Really great effort, your hard work and attention to detail paid off, putter looks fantastic! Can you post a full size picture of the end result of just the finished putter?

 

When I finished the paint fill on the bottom and wiped with acetone to get the excess paint off, I wiped off the entire head to get any paint that might have spread. I think the acetone took off a lot of the chromatic blue finish. Now it looks kinda light brown/blue with hints of blue and purple. It still looks good but I really liked the chromatic blue that it was before. Does acetone hurt the torched finish or did it just leave a film on the putter?

 

Are there any paint fill steps you could have taken to limit the amount of acetone that touches other parts of the club? Just curious as I'm thinking about taking on this project. thanks!

[GolfWithdrawals]

I gave it a go with oneaugusta's method. Thanks for taking the time to share your method with us and for answering questions. This was my first putter refinish and first time using a blow torch for anything. I had a blast torching this putter even though it took almost an hour and I can't wait to do another one. The time went by fast. I am going to try and post pictures showing the entire process which took me about 5-6 days, just working on it for a couple hours a day after work. I do wish I would have taken the time to get all of the dings out while sanding with the 120 grit, but I have tendonitis in my elbow and I got a little impatient with the stubborn finish and dings. I started with 120, then 320, 400, 800, 1000, 2000 & 7000. I then cleaned with acetone and polished it a few times with Flitz semi chrome and finally torched it. Hope y'all enjoy.

 

It wouldn't let me post all of the separate pics, so I had to do it this way with less pics. Hopefully it works

Really great effort, your hard work and attention to detail paid off, putter looks fantastic! Can you post a full size picture of the end result of just the finished putter?

 

When I finished the paint fill on the bottom and wiped with acetone to get the excess paint off, I wiped off the entire head to get any paint that might have spread. I think the acetone took off a lot of the chromatic blue finish. Now it looks kinda light brown/blue with hints of blue and purple. It still looks good but I really liked the chromatic blue that it was before. Does acetone hurt the torched finish or did it just leave a film on the putter?

 

Are there any paint fill steps you could have taken to limit the amount of acetone that touches other parts of the club? Just curious as I'm thinking about taking on this project. thanks!

 

The acetone didn't hurt the finish at all. I just followed the directions on paint fill from some of the threads on here.

[ajax5184]

Anyone have experience refinishing an old tear drop putter? I am pretty sure its carbon steel underneath the nickel, but does anyone know for sure?

[ajax5184]

Another pic.

[Joe85]

Can you do a "torched" finish to a carbon steel putter? I have a banged up DB-4 Seemore I got for $13 bucks from PIA and it's a mess. I don't want to put much into restoring it but like darker finishes

 

 

Anyone?

[oneaugusta]

Can you do a "torched" finish to a carbon steel putter? I have a banged up DB-4 Seemore I got for $13 bucks from PIA and it's a mess. I don't want to put much into restoring it but like darker finishes

 

 

Anyone?

Yes, raw carbon can be torched, there are about 3 different colors you can get with good surface preparation.

[Joe85]

Can you do a "torched" finish to a carbon steel putter? I have a banged up DB-4 Seemore I got for $13 bucks from PIA and it's a mess. I don't want to put much into restoring it but like darker finishes Anyone?

Yes, raw carbon can be torched, there are about 3 different colors you can get with good surface preparation.

 

 

Is glare a problem with these finishes at all? Or not even a little bit?

[oneaugusta]

The blue and brown oil quenched may have a touch of glare mid-day if high polished finished but nothing like polished silver.