Pulling a shaft with heat gun

[flognut]

How long should it take for the epoxy to breakdown using a heat gun? FYI, trying to pull shaft from a G5 that was already reshafted once using golfworks strongest overnight epoxy.

 

Thanks

[wildwilly911]

i have had to heat some as long as 20 minutes

[joey3108]

Wood or iron?

 

Steel shaft or graphite?

[flognut]

to answer both replies.

 

it is a G5 driver with a graphite shaft. wow 20 minutes with a heat gun. didnt realize it could take that long. Can you use a butane torch, or is it not advised?

 

thanks gentlemen

[taylormadefan]

You can use a butane torch, but you have to be careful and it takes some experience. Heatgun is safer because it adds heat more slowly. You can always add a little bit more heat, but you can't take it away and you risk burning the shaft, hosel, or even club head paint if you go overboard.

 

Honestly, if you're not going to save the shaft, I'd just cut the shaft at the hosel and drill it out with an 11/32 bit.

[joey3108]

Heat gun is a lot safer when it come risk on burning the head.

 

Get all your puller ready, cut the ferrule, heat the neck/hosel area using a high heat setting and keep it moving with a little more concentration toward the face area. Never stay in one spot to long or you'll burn the head. Depending how powerful your heat gun is, it will dictate how long you have to heat it up. In most cases 2 minutes is plenty. Keep you eyes on the painted part to not discolor it from this heat.

 

Set it up real quick on your puller and you should have no problem at all.

 

Joe

[Gozz]

See advise above. It has never taken me longer than 3-4 mins.

[NPVWhiz]

Remember with a heat gun, there is a gradient of temperature...if you hold it on the high setting within an inch of the head, you're applying close to 1000 degrees F on the hosel and head. This is well within the range of gas torches, so the heat gun isn't foolproof. You can easily scorch the paint, melt plastic hosel plugs and end up applying way more heat to the hosel than necessary to break down the bond.

 

Most people use heat guns to minimize heat damage to the tip when pulling a graphite shaft, or to avoid scorching paint in either scenario with a fw or driver. I've been using GS Tour Van or 30/60 for most graphite shaft installations, and I've found that it only takes about 45 seconds at two inches on high (Black and Decker basic 2 setting heat gun) to get a pull.

 

Titleist heads can certainly take longer, but even the 24 hour epoxy is suppposed to break down at 250 deg F, so it shouldn't take much more than a minute in most cases. The key is to get the temp up uniformly, then get it on the puller and apply a little stress to the joint, then apply more heat and allow the bond to pull free right as the hosel hits 250 F. That way you'll at least minimize the risk of cooking the shaft. Once that hosel reaches 250, that heat goes very quickly to the shaft itself, which is never a good thing.

 

You need to put a little more clamping pressure on the shaft in the puller than most people are inclined to do when you first start pulling shafts...and there's always a little risk that you'll fracture the shaft, but most pullers these days have a good clamping mechanism.

 

The key to good pulls is just a little practice. Find a head and some old pullouts and get a few under your belt before you put the gun to that Diamana shafted job from Ebay!