3 Wood Shaft into 2 Iron??

[MurphyAttacks]

I have a spare CB 2iron head, .355 that I was considering experimenting with. I have an old stock graphite 3-wood shaft (X-stiff, 70g) that is sitting around and was considering putting it in the 2-iron and trying it out as a pseudo-driving iron. My initial tinkering seems like I need to cut the butt down about 3" to get to the proper length relative to my 3-iron. Any inputs or thoughts on if this could be a worthwhile experiment? Or just a terrible idea?

Thanks!

[cristphoto]

Typically a wood shaft has a .335 tip and a taper iron is .355. I'm no expert but you would need to either use more epoxy or shim to use a wood shaft in an iron. A parallel iron shaft is .370 so if that's the case its an even looser fit.

[Howard_Jones]

I can be shimmed, but there want me much left of the butt section on that shaft, so its a question of how it will play. (i have not seen the EI profile for it, so i cant tell), and you will most likely need some BU tape to get size enough to add a grip, so in general...not a good idea.

[Adam C]

Also it will probably just look odd, with a .335 shaft coming out of what would usually be .370 at the end of the ferrule. And really light weight. And you have to figure out how to tip it to deal with the head weight difference. All that being said, if the shaft isn't going to be used otherwise and you are just looking for an experiment, then give it a go.

[Z1ggy16]

You'll need to tip it and use a shim. With cutting it down that much... in my experience it will probably feel much stiffer than you'd want.

[Old Tom Morris]

You’d have to tip trim that shaft to the point where it would be too stiff for Greg Norman. Plus, it’s kind of light.

[Stuart_G]

My guess would be that the heavier head and the removal of most of the butt section will make it play softer.

[Z1ggy16]

If he tips it appropriately AND cuts it down to a driving iron length, you say it will feel softer? I'm not sure I understand. Perhaps if he didn't tip it at all I could see that.

Last year I took an old 3w shaft I had laying around that was tipped 1/2'', and cut it down from the 42.25'' to like 38.5'' to try some experiment with a 5w head I had laying around (tried to make like a forgiving but accurate club). I added weight to the 5w head to get a good swing weight and did not tip the shaft. It felt stiff as a board and was awful. It was a diamana B shaft as well, so it wasn't an overly stiff design to begin with.

[Stuart_G]

Interesting, although not really enough details about your build to really know how it might relate to the OP's. It would certainly interesting to see some frequency numbers on a build like that. How much build up tape did you need to get the grip size correct?

If he could tip it properly maybe, but I was thinking that most wood shafts don't have a parallel tip section long enough to tip for that much extra weight.

[Z1ggy16]

Not too much extra bc the diamana B I had was a 630 OD at the butt (uncut, 80g version).

I think you hit the nail though... Definitely need to make sure he would have enough inches to get a proper tip. I don't think he had given the head weight here, so it's just a guess at this joint.

 

[Howard_Jones]

A #2 iron head should be about 233 grams, and close to a 7W, so head weight might not be the largest issue, while both shaft weight and lack of butt section might.

Shaft weight alone is like you know a large mess, woods is either 46 or 47 long, while Hybrids is most often only 42, so "70 grams and 70 grams" is not the same weight.

70 grams /46" uncut = 1.52 grams pr inch x net cut shaft L (lets use 38") = 57.8 grams net shaft wgt

70 grams /42" uncut = 1.66 grams pr inch x 38 = 63.3 grams

Most players who hits a 70 gr X flex 3W, would be in the area of 90 grams uncut for a Hybrid /42" = 2.15 grams pr inch x 38 = 82 grams net cut wgt.

..he will be like 24 grams down vs what we normally use as hybrid shafts if the 3W shaft was 70 gr uncut

Softer or stronger vs butt section is a question of EI profile. If this shaft is like RIFLE FCM with a almost strait line on flex progression from mid to butt, it play WAY softer when most of the butt is cut off, (7 cpm pr inch butt section on the same PL) while if it has a very weak butt into a stiff midsection, flex might not be that bad, but the grip will not have much of a tip section to be installed on, so a large part will be down at the taper part of the shaft and need a ton of BU tape, maybe enough to counterbalance the shaft...(haha..no i dont think it will be Counter weighted, i only visualize the project)

For fun, it could be tried if that shaft is "worthless", and a shim from .335 to .355 can be made....

[Stuart_G]

@Howard_Jones that's good except he said he's building to 3 iron length so after swing weight adjustments for that length would more likely be close to 3i head weight.

[MurphyAttacks]

Been away from a computer for a few days, but I appreciate all the feedback!

For some clarity; I'm extremely amateur at club making/tinkering and just enjoy messing with extra stuff I come across, or that gets replaced with newer stuff in my bag. So this entire project/experiment was born completely from just having extra stuff around and too much time on my hands. Not a super serious undertaking to get a truly usable or in the bag club; more of a let's see what happens...if it works, awesome! If not, oh well!

After initial tinkering, I realized the difference in the shaft being .335 vs. the .355, so going to try a shim. The shaft is a stock aldila, nothing fancy, that I don't have any use for and seems more hassle to try and sell/ship when I can maybe get some fun out of it. Also, never use the 2-iron and is currently un-shafted, (and i don't have a weight for the head, sorry!).

 

[Stuart_G]

@MurphyAttacks just realize that the difference between a .335" tip and a .355 tp tip is much more than those numbers make it seem. A .355 shaft is only that diameter at the very tip and it tapers up to .370 over the first 1/2" of the tip. So for most of the hosel insertion depth, the difference is really .035" not 0.020".

[TheInfidel]

On 5/22/2020 at 4:34 AM, MurphyAttacks said:

Been away from a computer for a few days, but I appreciate all the feedback!

For some clarity; I'm extremely amateur at club making/tinkering and just enjoy messing with extra stuff I come across, or that gets replaced with newer stuff in my bag. So this entire project/experiment was born completely from just having extra stuff around and too much time on my hands. Not a super serious undertaking to get a truly usable or in the bag club; more of a let's see what happens...if it works, awesome! If not, oh well!

After initial tinkering, I realized the difference in the shaft being .335 vs. the .355, so going to try a shim. The shaft is a stock aldila, nothing fancy, that I don't have any use for and seems more hassle to try and sell/ship when I can maybe get some fun out of it. Also, never use the 2-iron and is currently un-shafted, (and i don't have a weight for the head, sorry!).

 

Keen to hear how this went or is going?  I've looked at a similar experiment with old clubs laying around and wondered about the results.