Blade users thread (NO DEBATING CLUBHEADS! NO Buy Sell Trade!)

[Bigmean]

 

So this is the plan. Hopefully my plater still messes with small Cash jobs and remembers the mp 14 he did years ago....got it all in my car, so stopping by hopefully today or when I can and get these bad boys done up...

[Nard_S]

@kaaayell, thank you appreciate the offer. I just pulled the trigger on a brand new set of SPB #4-PW + W. I had an offer in on shaft pulls 2 weeks ago ($175) and a BIN offer yanked them from me. So I re-checked and there was still 2 new sets there and figured well that won't last long and just grabbed one at $259 w/ shipping. If I can track down a #3i shaft all is good but not tragic if I don't.

 

@Bigmean, thanks. I like the strategy of finding great shafts in clubs nobody wants. I have acquired 2 sets of FM Precisions 6.5's that way it was dirt cheap.You'll probably do as well on the graphic front with some patience.

 

Ah, the fun dilemma is what heads get the SPB?. I'm leaning to FG59 but I have at least 4 options that are worthy of them.

[Bigmean]

I think about 200 pages ago I was raving on the precision fcm I had in that set of macs. Really probably one of most under rated shafts going. Not surprised you are on it....

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Bigmean said:

 

>

> So this is the plan. Hopefully my plater still messes with small Cash jobs and remembers the mp 14 he did years ago....got it all in my car, so stopping by hopefully today or when I can and get these bad boys done up...

 

Going for the same finish as the MP14s? They're raw aren't they? The MP14 head looks sort of raw copper in the picture, which is very cool.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

> @Christen_The_Sloop said:

> One club turned what could have been an absolutely outstanding first and possibly last round of the spring into a waking nightmare. Ironically, it's the club I spend the most time with. Still, it's probably not entirely it's fault. My wedge game is just weaker than weak.

>

> It's funny how a round of golf develops. I smashed my first drive down the pipe on the opening 320 yard hole, when I got up to it I was sitting in the front bunker. Couldn't get it up and down, but it was a relatively easy par. Two pars later and another smashed drive on the fourth and I was 200 yards out on the par five. I was feeling it. Hit the next one slightly heavy, leaving a simple pitch 70 yards to the pin. Next one slightly skinny, over the green and down a nasty slope to a back pin, and I had my _first_ blow up - a @#%&ing 9. Story of my day. Smashed drive - heavy, heaving, haunting wedge. 8 times from the middle of the fairway, between 50 and 120 yards I failed to get it on the green (once on the same hole). The one time I hit the green with LW I had 40 feet down hill. Pitiful. I hit all but one fairway on the front nine, I couldn't have asked for nicer positions off the tee and shot 42. The back nine, I shall not speak of. I forgot how diabolical the course design was. Probably not the best course to start my year, but it gives me pretty stark feedback about the state of my game. On the bright side, even when I played 3-4 time a week, when I was near scratch, I've never driven it better. I chalk it up to exercise. I can get myself into some good positions and I'm not worried about how I'll feel the next day.

>

> The Modus shafts are super smooth. I really want to get out and fix everything, but I probably won't play all that much until the fall.

>

>

 

What were the fairways like? The fairways on the course I played in early March were horrendous, like spongy mud. Seemed like even though the grass was dormant, they'd mown the fairways really close. Anyway, it made getting a clean strike really tough. It was better to play from the rough, where there was still some straw-like grass.

 

Funny thing about my wedge play. The better I am with my pitching in practice before a round, the more likely I am to be terrible on the course.

[Bigmean]

Mp14s are raw.

 

I had him do the 3 iron in copper to see what that would look like/come out, but did not want to pony up for the set like that. At the time it was bright and gaudy, but this head has aged (IMO) quite well and the copper patina is like a perfect dark with interest and funk and ZERO maintenance unlike my set of rust buckets that literally I don’t use, can’t hit in sim cause I don’t want oil or rust hitting my

Screen, and frankly I love raw but not in a Florida garage....I would rather the onoffs raw frankly, but the upkeep is too much. And the copper cleans to shiney new if so inclined with nothing. Wipe on a copper cleaner, done. I really like how this head has aged in neglect tho. As long as I don’t get internet “iron refinisher” pricing, I am going copper.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Totally agree that the aged copper patina looks fantastic. Hope your plater mate can do em cheap for you.

[revanant]

> @Bigmean said:

> Mp14s are raw.

>

> I had him do the 3 iron in copper to see what that would look like/come out, but did not want to pony up for the set like that. At the time it was bright and gaudy, but this head has aged (IMO) quite well and the copper patina is like a perfect dark with interest and funk and ZERO maintenance unlike my set of rust buckets that literally I don’t use, can’t hit in sim cause I don’t want oil or rust hitting my

> Screen, and frankly I love raw but not in a Florida garage....I would rather the onoffs raw frankly, but the upkeep is too much. And the copper cleans to shiney new if so inclined with nothing. Wipe on a copper cleaner, done. I really like how this head has aged in neglect tho. As long as I don’t get internet “iron refinisher” pricing, I am going copper.

 

Dumb question, but have you tried anything to keep the rust off? Or keeping that set indoors?

[Bigmean]

He moved and does powder coating aluminum now no plating hahaha..

 

Good news bad news.

 

Found another plater. They do more finishes, like a lot. Their satin nickel looks great. Their black looks great. Lots of bronze and antique options. Bad news, $50/head. I never begrudge a tradesman fair money, but replating irons is really cost prohibitive. Between irons, plating and shafts this set is going to get pricey.

 

Re: 14s... I can clean them up nice, re cold black ox, oil up etc, but I just don’t care to after years of doing it. If you game raw heads a lot and not in Florida then really non issue. I am going to do that set. I wanted to satin nickel it but at $50/head I am a little paralyzed on that now.

[NRJyzr]

> @Bigmean said:

> He moved and does powder coating aluminum now no plating hahaha..

>

> Good news bad news.

>

> Found another plater. They do more finishes, like a lot. Their satin nickel looks great. Their black looks great. Lots of bronze and antique options. Bad news, $50/head. I never begrudge a tradesman fair money, but replating irons is really cost prohibitive. Between irons, plating and shafts this set is going to get pricey.

>

> Re: 14s... I can clean them up nice, re cold black ox, oil up etc, but I just don’t care to after years of doing it. If you game raw heads a lot and not in Florida then really non issue. I am going to do that set. I wanted to satin nickel it but at $50/head I am a little paralyzed on that now.

 

Durability and refinish cost is one thing that has long had me peeking towards the old 17-4 stainless Ping sets. S59 are somewhat similar to MP32's cut muscle, could play them as a durable almost-blade. LOL

[clutchputt71]

I have played numerous blades over the years. Palmer Peerless, Macgregor VIP Curtis strange blades, Walter Hagen blades, Wilson staff tour blades, three different titleist tour model blades, Cobra Norman blades and Mizuno MP14, 29, 33, MS4, MP59, and now MP18. Love the Mizuno blades the best by far, but will say I played my best round ever with the Palmer Peerless blades. 1-SW, played great with them and shot a 65 once. Had my putter rolling well that day to.

[Nard_S]

> @Bigmean said:

> I think about 200 pages ago I was raving on the precision fcm I had in that set of macs. Really probably one of most under rated shafts going. Not surprised you are on it....

 

Yeah, don't have to tell but you come across tasty JDM with them, do not hesitate. The 6.0 is a great alternative to S300. The 6.5 is somewhat stout so I may end up SS 1x with a set. Plan is to grab 2 heads from 3 sets and run comparison on 6.5 and SPB and find the right match for irons. Final build on all will include dowels & leather grips. After that I have Maruman CX41's heads that are TI, by then I'll know which shaft (S400 is an option too) that goes into those.

 

[NRJyzr]

Nard, what flex SPB you messing with? You may have mentioned it, but I'm not remembering, and I'm too lazy to go back and look. LOL

[Bigmean]

> @clutchputt71 said:

> I have played numerous blades over the years. Palmer Peerless, Macgregor VIP Curtis strange blades, Walter Hagen blades, Wilson staff tour blades, three different titleist tour model blades, Cobra Norman blades and Mizuno MP14, 29, 33, MS4, MP59, and now MP18. Love the Mizuno blades the best by far, but will say I played my best round ever with the Palmer Peerless blades. 1-SW, played great with them and shot a 65 once. Had my putter rolling well that day to.

 

Peerless were my brothers set ground up....he still has the 1-sw and he could drill that 1 iron.

 

Mizuno blades are like the gateway drug to JDM. This all started when I got a second lease on golfing this lifetime, broke 80 first time with my mp14s I have had for 15 years literally and wanted to treat myself to "the best blades out there now"..... went to PGA superstore, left there thinking my clubs are better than anything I hit there, went to Internet for down low, found wrx, found JDM, and now I think all I have really done is somehow made an expensive sport ridiculously more expensive.....

 

 

[clutchputt71]

> @Bigmean said:

> > @clutchputt71 said:

> > I have played numerous blades over the years. Palmer Peerless, Macgregor VIP Curtis strange blades, Walter Hagen blades, Wilson staff tour blades, three different titleist tour model blades, Cobra Norman blades and Mizuno MP14, 29, 33, MS4, MP59, and now MP18. Love the Mizuno blades the best by far, but will say I played my best round ever with the Palmer Peerless blades. 1-SW, played great with them and shot a 65 once. Had my putter rolling well that day to.

>

> Peerless were my brothers set ground up....he still has the 1-sw and he could drill that 1 iron.

>

> Mizuno blades are like the gateway drug to JDM. This all started when I got a second lease on golfing this lifetime, broke 80 first time with my mp14s I have had for 15 years literally and wanted to treat myself to "the best blades out there now"..... went to PGA superstore, left there thinking my clubs are better than anything I hit there, went to Internet for down low, found wrx, found JDM, and now I think all I have really done is somehow made an expensive sport ridiculously more expensive.....

>

>

 

I totally agree!!!! Very ridiculously expensive, but well worth it!!!

[Nard_S]

> @NRJyzr said:

> Nard, what flex SPB you messing with? You may have mentioned it, but I'm not remembering, and I'm too lazy to go back and look. LOL

 

Going with "S", internet chatter suggests they are somewhat true or even strong to flex. Has near same soft butt/high kick characteristic and weighting of S300/400 but they are noted for their smoother feel and should launch with lower spin too. Some folks rave, some go 'meh'. Kinda fun to find out where I land.

[Kingcat990]

I'm sorry. I can't get over that price of $50/head for a base coat. That's crazy.

[NRJyzr]

> @Nard_S said:

> > @NRJyzr said:

> > Nard, what flex SPB you messing with? You may have mentioned it, but I'm not remembering, and I'm too lazy to go back and look. LOL

>

> Going with "S", internet chatter suggests they are somewhat true or even strong to flex. Has near same soft butt/high kick characteristic and weighting of S300/400 but they are noted for their smoother feel and should launch with lower spin too. Some folks rave, some go 'meh'. Kinda fun to find out where I land.

 

I wouldn't call them lower, so much, but they *do* appear to be lower spin. And I would definitely agree on the smoother feel aspect. I've still got a set in my TG-898 Rams. Take them out rarely these days as my set are X, which might be a touch much for me these days. I can get away with using them, but it feels like a bit of work. ;)

 

I wouldn't say they are strong to flex, unless that's merely the comments about X. Many guys felt they were a touch softer than DGX, others suggested that may have been a perception borne of the smoother feel.

 

I've thought about trying to score a set in stiff, but haven't looked too hard yet.

 

Interested in hearing how you likey. :)

[Christen_The_Sloop]

 

>

> What were the fairways like? The fairways on the course I played in early March were horrendous, like spongy mud. Seemed like even though the grass was dormant, they'd mown the fairways really close. Anyway, it made getting a clean strike really tough. It was better to play from the rough, where there was still some straw-like grass.

>

> Funny thing about my wedge play. The better I am with my pitching in practice before a round, the more likely I am to be terrible on the course.

 

Fairways were shite. The first time I played there they were recently punched and sanded, and they were pretty thin and sandy again. The grass is really funny too, it's kind of crusty or wiry. Not lush, like I'm used to back home. Not really ideal for striking. I hit 3 of 4 par 3s, so that says something. First was 9 iron, next 8 next 9 and next 9 (really nice variety of distances, huh?).

 

I said to my father in law, as my tragic wedge play was laid bare, on about the 6th or 7th hole - A smart player would lay-up to about 140 or 150 yards and have a good full club into each green. But, I was hitting driver obscenely well. I missed two fairways with it in 12 attempts and the misses were still playable (mind you, they were still perilously close to the white stakes). Generally, when I miss it only a little, it's gone. Fairways were looking so wide, I felt I was hallucinating.

 

I was really happy with my iron striking to be quite honest, I was able to play a lot of nice controlled shots with a slight draw. I'd like to do a little Ironman at one of the short riverside courses and see if I can get my iron game really on track.

 

[Nard_S]

> @Kingcat990 said:

> I'm sorry. I can't get over that price of $50/head for a base coat. That's crazy.

 

Copper & nickel are the most valued of wide use metals. If someone offered a high nickel cast club these days, they would have to command premium dollars for it. The base price of copper is up like 30% in the last 7-8 years alone. Domestic manufacturing is in boom, domestic plating faces higher costs than those in Asia so yeah, $50 per head is pricey but I can see why. Shopping quotes might get you to $40 but doubt without volume it can go cheaper.

 

[Bigmean]

> @Kingcat990 said:

> I'm sorry. I can't get over that price of $50/head for a base coat. That's crazy.

 

Well, it is nuts, but it is $65+ for stripping chrome, sanding out dings and copper everywhere on internet sooooooo, yeah..

 

I am really thinking about changing to their oil bronze finish though. I wanted copper, but I think copper looks bad with all the shafts I a looking at? I may put the Shingo recoils in them and out the shingos in whatever I get cause copper looks great with silver and black only it appears.....it would look good with White, but the shafts I am looking at in price and stats are all white with red lettering just for logo by grip. Think red and patina copper fight?

 

I am keeping copper. Everyone has satin, chrome or dark. I can always put recoils in them or just be super patient on yahoo auction.

 

 

[Bigmean]

Oh yeah, I payed $35 like 3 or 4 years or so ago so it is in line. I just wish there was more of a “bulk” discount. I even offered to double order and bring my MP 14s, I think that was really their bottom for worth doing. I offered to sand them but they don’t want other hands touching their stuff mid way, I respect that.

[Kingcat990]

Hmm. Well, I somehow caught pneumonia and influenza on Monday so I can't go back to work until next Monday. So I'm bored and need something to do, I'll ask my plater again what he would charge for copper or his plating breakdown. I was getting quotes of DLC for around $50/head. That process is significantly more complex than plating. I paid nowhere near $50/head when I did my Macgregor's in copper. I guess it really depends what you expect them to do. I handed my Macgregors over at "plate ready" condition. A good plater would want you to leave a nickel base on, so they could "mush buff" a copper coat. That would eliminate little dings and pits to an extent.

 

Part of me wants to just go into plating as a side gig when I hear prices like this. This process isn't that complex, or difficult. I would be completely negated of Hazwaste disposal costs as I work in specialty chemical manufacturing and could easily dispose of chemicals safely ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Bigmean]

Nailed it kingcat. It is the waste and hazards. At some point when I was going through sets a lot I looked into it, even removing chrome not hard or big deal, but it is tubs of technically stuff you can’t dump.

 

DLC was local? I would do the

Mp 14s in that.

 

I think I finally have a vision on this copper onoff set. First off, yahoo auction is not like eBay. I have lost 2 sets I have been interested in over hesitation and presumptuous auction attitude that BIN not gone for 5-8 days means it will rot there till I make up my mind and probably cause not a good price. That is not how it works there. Something can be fair value and will sit if no one “needs it” cause it is a steal, and when a party looking for it or similar comes along they take it. That is what I am Gathering.

 

Think I found shafts in stats and graphics that should work, and I am going to get grips from there too to make this an all japan only

Set. I played 18 (poorly mind you, lots of fat shots for some reason) on Tuesday, and back has felt good since. I am going to be playing the shingos a lot, I may be playing this project set a lot, and A if a summer of positives I am going to make a move to graphite with BBs...

 

I don’t think graphite is back related as swing turns, but if I am getting 20% shock relief, it is a big deal to me. I had baaaad shots, and was thinking it will hurt tomorrow, I didn’t even take an anti inflammatory next day so that is big. Also losing a little weight and doing some core stuff ?.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Strengthening my core has been huge for pain relief, speed and stability in my swing. Glad it's working for you too, Biggie.

[Nard_S]

I have a set of spare Mac Cobra heads and always desired to blank them and go copper. My thought on it was setup an electrolysis tank, de plate chrome, chrome attaches to another metallic object, throw that and in scrap and it gets done without major hazards to people or environment. Then use leading process that was commonly used in old school body work except use a non-leaded solder, blank, sand and polish, sharpen grooves and send off to plate in good prep, look to pay $25-$35 a head for rack mount copper with MIL-spec callout. Assemble with dowels and my gosh that would be crazy nice. Would be a labor of love and quite time consuming so all this can wait many years. But that's how I would do it.

[Bigmean]

So I really looked into this. And it was the waste water/wife (she is an analytical chemist and has a different idea of hazard and safety than myself in construction) that kobashed it. Also, for the price of one iron set, it is not worth it. If you are redoing 3-5 a year, maybe flipping etc, then yeah.

 

 

Tiger nick on eBay has a good little biz doing this. I have a feeling he has a Gig with local dlc and platers. I think that would be a fun side job, and I did it with putters for a bit, but ultimately

You would need to control entire process, and golf perception is so much based on blind brand association that I am sure people that would say how amazing pxg dlc finish is think tiger nicks is hack, and it very well may be same. I had that issue with putters, not done by a company I have heard of, them it is worthless. This another very real reason I like jdm so much, it is a middle finger to The marketing machine that dictates golf equipment and peoples ideas about it.

[Bigmean]

Helll yeah....just won a set of roddio i10s at best price I have seen them go for!!!!! And from a dude so no consumption tax. Score.

 

This just really expanded my graphite plans. I am bringing those in and holding them as I am not going to waste them in anything but my BB set. At what I got them I can get what I am getting for copper onoffs (attas 10s iron) and I am going to get a cheap set of ad75s shafts to put my MP14s in and see how bad the lighter weight is...

 

Super jacked!

[Nard_S]

> @Bigmean said:

> So I really looked into this. And it was the waste water/wife (she is an analytical chemist and has a different idea of hazard and safety than myself in construction) that kobashed it. Also, for the price of one iron set, it is not worth it. If you are redoing 3-5 a year, maybe flipping etc, then yeah.

>

>

> Tiger nick on eBay has a good little biz doing this. I have a feeling he has a Gig with local dlc and platers. I think that would be a fun side job, and I did it with putters for a bit, but ultimately

> You would need to control entire process, and golf perception is so much based on blind brand association that I am sure people that would say how amazing pxg dlc finish is think tiger nicks is hack, and it very well may be same. I had that issue with putters, not done by a company I have heard of, them it is worthless. This another very real reason I like jdm so much, it is a middle finger to The marketing machine that dictates golf equipment and peoples ideas about it.

 

As far as I know you used de-ionized water for the electrolysis. All heavy metals get attracted to and plated to another object via current. Water can be filtered to microns and it all comes off pretty responsible and well within EPA limits. Definitely would confirm before I did it though, do not need hazards lying around for expensive disposal, all for golf clubs.

[Bigmean]

I was looking at a kit on line. There is a receiver metal, but maybe not the water but the fumes emitted? She knew more about it than me cause chemist, but that said she was also probably being unreasonable cause in garage and kids and wife etc....I got her involved because of what she does, thinking she could help, and she looked into it and shut it down hahahahaha. That is my memory of it anyway.