The ferrule: any function?

[jobin]

On  the range today my driver shaft ferrule came loose. I slid in up and down the shaft easily.  My friend advised me to get it fixed immediately or damage may occur.  I nipped over to the shop and he smeared some epoxy on the spot and told me to wait 5 minutes.

 

But besides improving the good looks of my Ping driver, what the heck does the ferrule do?  Many years ago i think they had a good function of holding the wrapping threads tight when wooden shafts and head were used.  But today?

[SUPERG]

Just to complete the finished look, Ping game improvement irons used to not have one at all! 

[jvincent]

@jobin most ferrules are cosmetic.

 

However, there are some that are "collared" which mean there is a part of the ferrule that actually extends into the hosel. This is to provide some cushioning/protection between the inside of the hosel and the shaft. This is most important for graphite shafts.

[J13]

All cosmetic and for a finished look.  Collared ferrules help seat a shaft but they aren't necessary.

[ChipNRun]

Callaway bore-thru shaft irons (X18, X20) came without ferrules. They did have a tiny plastic o-ring (?) where shaft enters hosel.

Edited December 1, 2020 by ChipNRun

[Socrates]

On the Ping driver (I assume newer than G30 or G) the rubber ferrule does serve a function.  Ping went from quite a large number of shaft breakages at the hosel to next to zero when they added the rubber ferrule.  Their ferrule is different from most other OEM's in that theirs is rubber rather than hard plastic.

 

Ferrules that do no have a collar on them are mostly decorative.  The ones with a collar primarily serve to center the shaft properly in the hosel.  There is some cushioning there, but minimal.  The rest is decorative.

 

Different OEM's have different solutions to ferrule design.  TaylorMade irons are very different in that they use a 2-piece ferrule.  Ping has gone to a very frustrating ferrule design on their new irons and you are forced to use a special ferrule to center the shaft (unless you are very creative).

 

 

[Bye]

1 hour ago, ChipNRun said:

Callaway bore-thru shaft irons (X18, X20) came without ferrules. They did have a tiny plastic o-ring (?) where shaft enters hosel.

X14’s as well. Mine all broke within about 6 months and I ended up cutting them off. 
 

They didn’t look great without a ferrule on.