Replacing an iron shaft after breakage ?

[Stehal]

So the shaft on my 4 iron snapped off about 3/8" above the hosel.  I already have shafting epoxy, so measured the shaft dia and ordered a new shaft the same model, flex etc. I heated the hosel and managed to pull the broken piece out with a little work.  I noticed it looks like a bit of melted blue plastic in the end of the shaft and there is also some at the bottom of the hosel in the centre.  I haven't done this before and am wondering if there is something I needed to get to go in the end of the  the shaft ? or maybe the new shafts have some kind of plastic plug in them ? It's a Callaway Apex CF16 with an XP95 S300 shaft. 

[Stuart_G]

3 hours ago, Stehal said:

So the shaft on my 4 iron snapped off about 3/8" above the hosel.  I already have shafting epoxy, so measured the shaft dia and ordered a new shaft the same model, flex etc. I heated the hosel and managed to pull the broken piece out with a little work.  I noticed it looks like a bit of melted blue plastic in the end of the shaft and there is also some at the bottom of the hosel in the centre.  I haven't done this before and am wondering if there is something I needed to get to go in the end of the  the shaft ? or maybe the new shafts have some kind of plastic plug in them ? It's a Callaway Apex CF16 with an XP95 S300 shaft. 

 

Factories frequently use a small plastic insert in the shaft tip.  It''s only purpose is to help keep the epoxy from going up into the shaft.   It's not required or important to the performance of the club.   If too much epoxy does get into the tip it might break off later and cause a rattle in the shaft that can be annoying.  They are not used very often outside the factories setting.  Just be careful you dont' use too much epoxy.  Most should go on the shaft tip, don't just dump a bunch into the hosel and you shouldn't have any problems.

 

The only other thing that is used in the tip during the build are tip weights to match the swing weight of the club to the rest of the set.  But those are not plastic.  For steel shafts, they are either lead or brass.   Ideally the builder checks the swing weight of the club (with the head dry fit to the shaft) before gluing up and adjusts as needed with those tip wights.   If you don't have a scale, you can always just adjust by feel on the range with some lead tape.

 

 

[Stehal]

That makes sense. Its definitely plastic, not lead or brass.  I can easily put a small dab of silicone, or even hot glue in the end of the shaft and let it dry before I epoxy it in to prevent epoxy going up the shaft. 

[Stuart_G]

1 hour ago, Stehal said:

That makes sense. Its definitely plastic, not lead or brass.  I can easily put a small dab of silicone, or even hot glue in the end of the shaft and let it dry before I epoxy it in to prevent epoxy going up the shaft. 

 

You don't want to do that or you can create an air lock in the hosel that will try and push the head back off before the glue gets a chance to set.  Those little plastic tabs are specially designed to allow air that's trapped in the hosel to escape through the shaft interior while still keeping (most) of the epoxy out of the tip.

 

[Stehal]

Ok thank you.  I will just make sure not to have excessive epoxy in the bottom of the hosel.  I just did my driver and was pretty straightforward to ensure even coverage.