Refurbishing a classic putter - thoughts?

[Sporting chance]

I have refurbed many putters over the years and I own buffing and blasting equipment and have access to chroming and hot bluing services.

 

My simple question is would you refurbish an old classic putter, for instance an original 8802 or Wilson Arnold Palmer to make it 'as new'? Obviously I wouldn't touch one that is very good / mint, however most out there are heavily dinted and the chrome is flaking off.

 

I know the gut reaction from most will be 'no' however if we had this approach say in the classic car world, nothing above 20 years old would be still running. By refurbishing wouldn't it potentially put the putter back in someone's bag to enjoy rather than put in a cabinet?

 

Would a collector pay more or less for a refurbished 'mint' version?

[scomac2002]

I suppose the danger is that once a set of classic clubs are refurbished, the tendency will be to leave them on display rather than play them so not to spoil the work done. There has been a lot of work on display throughout these forums and these clubs always cried out to me to be played. Would I pay more? Tough to say. Obviously the seller has to be compensated for the work done, but I sometimes think that all the fun lies in finding that great set of clubs and then doing the work yourself!

[dbuck47]

Generally speaking, any kind of refinishing greatly diminishes collector value, regardless of condition. A dinged designed by Arnold Palmer is worth more than a refurbished one. If one intends to use the item and has no interest in collector value, then one should do as one wishes.

If you are intending to do this for your own equipment that you will then play or keep for that matter, then fine. If you intend to refurbish items to sell, I think that this will rarely be a profitable thing. In vintage equipment right now, there is much nice stuff to be found for low prices--lower than your cost would be in the refurb. A lot of folks looking for this stuff intend to play it, so minor cosmetic blemishes are unimportant.

I think the only exception to this might be certain custom putter makers who offer refurb services on their own creations. Those do seem to bring a little premium over a standard item.

I think the only profitable area might be refurbing treasured items for those who already own them.

[birly-shirly]

dbuck has nailed it, in my opinion.

I wouldn't call myself a collector - nor would I pay collector's prices - but I think re-chroming would destroy much of the value in a genuine collectable.

I think there might be a market for classic playables refurbished to a high standard but at a price point somewhere below that of a new set off the rack. Like it or not, I think the wider marketplace would expect a discount as against modern clubs - whilst the guy who's already into classic probably knows that he can pick up still very playable examples for a relative pittance.

I also suspect that there's more value in refurbishing wedges than putters. Wedges suffer so much more wear and tear, and do eventually get discarded - whereas you very rarely hear of a putter having been "worn out".

I don't know how hard that makes it to turn a profit on the work involved. On the other hand, I know I've looked in vain in the past for someone in the UK who can do the sort of work that the Iron Factory does in the States.

[Sporting chance]

Thanks for the thoughts...much appreciated!

Burly-Shirley, if you want uk restorers drop me a private message. If it's not something I could do, I have other contacts that produce superb work.

[BIG STU]

[quote name='birly-shirly' timestamp='1402234447' post='9452847']
dbuck has nailed it, in my opinion.

I wouldn't call myself a collector - nor would I pay collector's prices - but I think re-chroming would destroy much of the value in a genuine collectable.

I think there might be a market for classic playables refurbished to a high standard but at a price point somewhere below that of a new set off the rack. Like it or not, I think the wider marketplace would expect a discount as against modern clubs - whilst the guy who's already into classic probably knows that he can pick up still very playable examples for a relative pittance.

I also suspect that there's more value in refurbishing wedges than putters. Wedges suffer so much more wear and tear, and do eventually get discarded - whereas you very rarely hear of a putter having been "worn out".

I don't know how hard that makes it to turn a profit on the work involved. On the other hand, I know I've looked in vain in the past for someone in the UK who can do the sort of work that the Iron Factory does in the States.
[/quote]Actually I was doing some of the restoration thing on old irons with a twist. Some purists are going to draw up when they read this. I was doing what I call reengineering and modernizing sorta like the way the military does the old B-52 bombers. I was doing it low tech low budget. My best example i took a set of old rough Tourney FC black faces that I purchased for $10and cleaned them up some not pristine museum pieces but serviceable. Thay had the old Pro-pel shafts in them and rotted GP green and black grips on them. Well I stumbled upon a set of takeout Rifle shafts for $50 I bought them. I had all intentions of building these clubs for me. Put all this together with a set of cord grips. Wow what a set. I had all intents of playing them for me. Well one of my friends who is a mini tour player from florida hit them and wow he had to have them. I sold them to him for $150 with the stipulation that when he got tired of them I would buy them back. It has been 4 years or so and i aint got them back yet. I do have another set of black faces but i dont want to modify them since they were my Dad's. but I do have a set of 80s remake Colorkromes and a set of remake VIPs and I have actually played those sets in competition. I still play the old black faces on my vintage set. I have gotten into the custom club thing because my friend runs a custom shop and I help promote stuff for him . I am probably going to re engineer either the Colorkromes or VIPs this winter though.