Reshafted Hogan Persimmons

[northplatteriver]

Question for the group. I just picked up a set of Hogan 1953 Commemorative Woods and the serial number on the toe says K82042. This usually indicates it will have an Apex 4 shaft. I am pretty sure at least 2 of the 4 clubs will have those shafts since they still have the leather Neuman grips on them, but since they have not arrived yet I cannot confirm. I can tell that the driver shaft band is a True Temper Dynamic and has a green Victory grip. I can also tell from the bindings on the hosel that it appears to have been reshafted since they go up higher on the club than what I have seen on in other pictures. My question is how common was it to reshaft a persimmon club? The Apex 4 is already a stiff shaft, but was it that common to reshaft a club just to get a different feel like they do so much today? Also wanted to see if anyone has suggestion on how to get that deep gouge out of the sole plate on the three wood. The True Temper picture I included is not from these clubs, but I am guessing that is what is on the driver.

[northplatteriver]

Question for the group. I just picked up a set of Hogan 1953 Commemorative Woods and the serial number on the toe says K82042. This usually indicates it will have an Apex 4 shaft. I am pretty sure at least 2 of the 4 clubs will have those shafts since they still have the leather Neuman grips on them, but since they have not arrived yet I cannot confirm. I can tell that the driver shaft band is a True Temper Dynamic and has a green Victory grip. I can also tell from the bindings on the hosel that it appears to have been reshafted since they go up higher on the club than what I have seen on in other pictures. My question is how common was it to reshaft a persimmon club? The Apex 4 is already a stiff shaft, but was it that common to reshaft a club just to get a different feel like they do so much today? Also wanted to see if anyone has suggestion on how to get that deep gouge out of the sole plate on the three wood. The True Temper picture I included is not from these clubs, but I am guessing that is what is on the driver.

I have been waiting to find a set of these for a decent price for a very long time. Hopefully they will hit as sweet as I think they will. I have heard they are one of the best sets of Hogan persimmons that were made. Hoping they will be the ones to kick the 92 Redline persimmons out of the bag.

[twidener]

It was pretty common to change shafts. There were a lot of different flexes in Dynamic shafts. You needed to have a club repair person that knew what they were doing so they wouldn't crack the neck. The gouge on the three wood can be repaired by cold forging. It won't be completely smooth but the with a little work you can get it pretty smooth. A man who used to work on my clubs taught me how he did cold forging. You need a small ball-peen hammer that has a smooth surface. A new hammer works best because it has no dents or gouges. Then he told me to take a wash cloth or small towel and place it over the gouge on the club and very lightly hammer the metal in the direction to fill the gouge. It just takes a few taps to make the metal move and fill the hole. You remove the towel or wash cloth often to see your results. When you get the gouge filled then you can lightly tap to make it smoother. You can use a small file to smooth it out even more. It's not going to be perfect but it does eliminate the gouge. I've done soleplates on woods and small gouges on the sole of my irons and they turned out nice. The soleplate on your 3 wood is, I believe, brass so it should not take much work at all to repair it. You want to move the highest part of the gouge towards the leading edge so it will smooth out the gouge. It's not hard to do. Just be patient and use very light taps of the hammer. And do NOT use any heat. It's cold forging.

[northplatteriver]

It was pretty common to change shafts. There were a lot of different flexes in Dynamic shafts. You needed to have a club repair person that knew what they were doing so they wouldn't crack the neck. The gouge on the three wood can be repaired by cold forging. It won't be completely smooth but the with a little work you can get it pretty smooth. A man who used to work on my clubs taught me how he did cold forging. You need a small ball-peen hammer that has a smooth surface. A new hammer works best because it has no dents or gouges. Then he told me to take a wash cloth or small towel and place it over the gouge on the club and very lightly hammer the metal in the direction to fill the gouge. It just takes a few taps to make the metal move and fill the hole. You remove the towel or wash cloth often to see your results. When you get the gouge filled then you can lightly tap to make it smoother. You can use a small file to smooth it out even more. It's not going to be perfect but it does eliminate the gouge. I've done soleplates on woods and small gouges on the sole of my irons and they turned out nice. The soleplate on your 3 wood is, I believe, brass so it should not take much work at all to repair it. You want to move the highest part of the gouge towards the leading edge so it will smooth out the gouge. It's not hard to do. Just be patient and use very light taps of the hammer. And do NOT use any heat. It's cold forging.

Many thanks TWidener! I am hoping I would not need to remove the sole plate to do this since the taps will be light, is this correct?

[birly-shirly]

If I had to guess, I'd think that one out of a set of 4 having a Dynamic shaft was damage replacement rather than fine tuning. Nice find though. My '53 Driver is one solid piece of timber and in terms of build quality and attention to detail definitely looks a cut above my other, mostly '80s era, persimmons. Hope you like the set just as much.

[twidener]

You're correct. Should have written that in my earlier post. No need to take the sole plate off.

[raggal62]

Judging by the shaft steps, the 3,4,5 woods appear to have the original Apex's. Anybody's guess why the driver was reshafted, but the clubmaker in me doesn't like the whipping way up the shaft. I would remove it, check the neck for cracks and re-whip it correctly.

[elwhippy]

Heads could do with a little TLC but a cracking set of woods.

[northplatteriver]

Judging by the shaft steps, the 3,4,5 woods appear to have the original Apex's. Anybody's guess why the driver was reshafted, but the clubmaker in me doesn't like the whipping way up the shaft. I would remove it, check the neck for cracks and re-whip it correctly.

Kind of what I was thinking also. Most likely will have to take a peek and make sure everything is solid. Have not re-whipped a club before, so I guess it's time to learn.

[northplatteriver]

Judging by the shaft steps, the 3,4,5 woods appear to have the original Apex's. Anybody's guess why the driver was reshafted, but the clubmaker in me doesn't like the whipping way up the shaft. I would remove it, check the neck for cracks and re-whip it correctly.

Kind of what I was thinking also. Most likely will have to take a peek and make sure everything is solid. Have not re-whipped a club before, so I guess it's time to learn.

Looks pretty simple for the rewhipping, any suggestions on material to use?

 

[raggal62]

Just reuse the whipping if it's in good shape when you remove it. You should have more than enough to get the job done.