Learning the trade/art/skill of club making

[Plancaster1]

So I am newly invested in this journey.  My local golf shop charges 10$ to pull, 15$ to install and 10$ to do anything fancy.  So I says to my self, "Self, WTF?  you can figure this out."  Down the rabbit hole I went.  So I have several questions:

 

1. When would I need those brass things that are like fillers?

2. How many times can I heat up and reinstall a shaft before it begins to deteriorate?

3. .370 and .355, whats up and how many/what type of clubs use which size?  I'm a bit confused on this one btw.

4. Graphite shafts, how will I know if I overheated it with my torch when pulling?  I have a steady hand and it worked putting a hybrid shaft into my 4 iron but I wonder.

5. What is the single best investment I can make for the long term as far as a tool goes?  I've got some things but I was looking at the ball bearing spine finder, or something in the 50-100 price range.

 

Thank you,

Tinkering in Costa Mesa

 

PAul

[spinnywedge]

I've just gotten into doing some small work for myself lately. I don't intend to do lots of stuff, but I learned a lot watching YouTube videos the past few weeks. Ryan Barath and McGolf have some very good detailed stuff.

 

1. You'll most likely need brass shims if you're installing .355 taper shafts into .370 parallel heads to make them fit snug.

2. I don't think there is a limit on steel shafts really. For graphite, I think you can do around 5 times.

3. .370 and .355 are both iron shaft sizes (most all woods use .335). Usually you'll find more game improvement heads take .370 shafts while more players type ones take .355. They try to match the hosel size to the shafts that are typically played by those type players. You call always ream out the hosel or use shims if needed, but you won't usually see someone using DG shafts in SIM irons or Elevate shafts in blades.

4. I haven't done anything with graphite, but I know you should use a shaft puller. I know the tip can look frayed, not sure if that is overheating or a bad pull.

5. Make sure you have a good table or workbench and a vise. I'd put a spine finder pretty far down on my list for new people though. I'd say maybe a 1" belt sander or cutoff saw? I'm kind of guessing because I don't have either yet. I'd add a shaft puller if you want to do graphite, but those are more expensive I think. 

Edited April 29, 2021 by tbrumbeloe13

[Ger21]

1 hour ago, Plancaster1 said:

4. Graphite shafts, how will I know if I overheated it with my torch when pulling?  I have a steady hand and it worked putting a hybrid shaft into my 4 iron but I wonder.

You'll likely know just by looking at it.

It's next to impossible to pull a graphite shaft without a shaft puller without ruining it. If you twist the shaft at all it'll basically unravel

With a shaft puller, it should break free at the lowest possible temperature, preventing damage.

 

[mogc60]

Shaft puller would be your best investment. You can basically do everything else with tools you probably already have. 
 

.355 taper tip iron shafts

.370 parallel tip iron/hybrid shafts

.335 wood shaft tips

Luckily that’s about all you’ll see anymore other than some older clubs and putters. 
Steel shafts no limit of reusing but tip prep is important Everytime. Graphite can go a long way if you use low heat and a good shaft puller. I’ve pulled some shafts 7-8 times with no issues. 
Brass shims are to fit smaller shafts to larger hosels. Honestly you won’t use them often. 
Now some advice, find about 10 old clubs for cheap or if you have some laying around and tear them apart and put them back together again. It’s that simple. Screw them up, do them perfect, in between, it doesn’t matter but you will learn what works without fear. It’s not rocket science, it’s pretty simple until you get into find tuning weights and other things but also easily learned with some practice. I broke my 5 iron when I was 13. My dad said either you better be rich or learn how to fix them yourself if you’re going to break them. I’ve done my own club work ever since. Never broke another club but I’ve tinkered ever since. It’s very simple stuff...just takes practice. 

Edited April 29, 2021 by mogc60

[TwistedSister]

1 hour ago, Ger21 said:

You'll likely know just by looking at it.

It's next to impossible to pull a graphite shaft without a shaft puller without ruining it. If you twist the shaft at all it'll basically unravel

With a shaft puller, it should break free at the lowest possible temperature, preventing damage.

 

Impossible?  Not true.  I have done it many times...  difficult yes.  impossible no!

[TomMatreyek]

The best investment you could make would be a trip to Mitchells or Maltby/Golfworks for one of their multi day classes.  You will learn in four or five days what it would take you weeks or months to figure out by watching YouTube and trial and error.  You'll learn correct techniques so that you won't have to make the mistakes on your own clubs.

 

If you want basic necessary tools then:

1.  Swingweight or MOI scale depending on how you plan to build

2. Cutoff wheel/ferrule turner

3.  Graphite shaft puller

4.  Grip station that can be put in a vise

 

Check Mitchells or Golfworks for pricing.

 

Have fun!!

Edited April 29, 2021 by TomMatreyek
spelling

[SavageHenry]

Like others have said, a shaft puller might be the single best investment you'll make. The Mitchell graphite shaft puller is the way to go. Simple, solid, and will last forever. 

[Plancaster1]

37 minutes ago, mogc60 said:

Gosh, I love this thread, really learning a lot about this stuff.  I never realized Mitchell existed, that's a fantastic resource.  I've been buying my ferrules from ebay.  Purple is kind of my thing.  So with the ferrule turning, what is that and why is that different than say, sliding one on the end, setting the head and then using the overflow of epoxy to set the ferrule right?  TBH, the ones I got are nice and snug and dont move around at all, use a dremel on the epoxy to get it off and tidy up the plastic if there is any muss, also acetone and finger work helped me out of one that was a little too snug.  So, ferrule turner, what and why?

 

 

[Sparty4202]

8 hours ago, Plancaster1 said:

So I am newly invested in this journey.  My local golf shop charges 10$ to pull, 15$ to install and 10$ to do anything fancy.  So I says to my self, "Self, WTF?  you can figure this out."  Down the rabbit hole I went.  So I have several questions:

 

1. When would I need those brass things that are like fillers?

2. How many times can I heat up and reinstall a shaft before it begins to deteriorate?

3. .370 and .355, whats up and how many/what type of clubs use which size?  I'm a bit confused on this one btw.

4. Graphite shafts, how will I know if I overheated it with my torch when pulling?  I have a steady hand and it worked putting a hybrid shaft into my 4 iron but I wonder.

5. What is the single best investment I can make for the long term as far as a tool goes?  I've got some things but I was looking at the ball bearing spine finder, or something in the 50-100 price range.

 

Thank you,

Tinkering in Costa Mesa

 

PAul

You definitely need to spend some time on YouTube watching the golf assembly videos that are available. It’s not terrible complicated but there are a lot of tricks to the trade. Next go to Golfworks and Mitchell and look at the proper tools needed for golf repair and decide what you’d like to spend your money on, this can get expensive but you need the proper tools to do the job.

[Plancaster1]

OH I spent some time on youtube alright, I'm invested as far as that goes.  I already have a vice, bought a 2x4 basics workbench and shelves for this, bought the epoxy kits, purple ferrules (cause that's my s***), regripping tools, hosel reamers, several dremel bits that I've adapted, groove tool, brass shaft weights, I'm getting ready to get the DIY ball bearing spine finder but I get the sense I should get something else.  I'm working with irons and steel and I have the tools for that for now so I'm going to skip the shaft puller for the moment and practice on my old TA3 irons for awhile, see what I can learn.  I already had to redo my wedges cause I screwed them up, I got the clamps I need for the epoxy to set.  shaft extensions, shaft extension epoxy, cause it's different.  I guess I'm either going to go down the FLO trail or the loft/lie trail from here, I think. 

[halliedog]

If you are mainly working with steel shafts as you mention above, shaft puller not necessary at all.  A vise and shaft clamp (which you already seem to have) along with a butane torch will work perfect for steel shaft pulls.  Like @dhacker56, I've pulled my share of graphite without a puller (mostly out of adapters, not actually inserted into the head so much easier to do), but I've also toasted a few when first learning, but you can get the feel for it if you do it enough.  There is quite a bit of debate on here of what heat to use for pulling graphite, I tend to go with the torch over the heat gun.  Highest heat, applied to directly to the hosel for the shortest time necessary to break the bond, to me is better than lower heat that can spread up hosel into shaft - that's where delamination and damage can occur.

 

It sounds like from your description of doing ferrules you are on the right track.  Basically, buy the correct ID, and get as close the OD as possible (always err over on OD, never under on this, you can take some plastic off but can't add it on).  I generally get it pretty close to start and then finish by spinning in a T-shirt soaked in acetone to get the right match to the hosel and add a nice sheen.

 

Gripping is probably the easiest thing to DIY, I just did a set of 8 irons in the kitchen sink of my 1BR apartment a few weeks ago without a vise or anything, just have to be careful of where excess solvent is going (back at my house I do have a gripping station to re-use solvent or use air, so I'm a believer either of those are good investments). 

 

You don't need separate epoxies for adapters, extensions and clubheads, just get a good one and it will work fine for all (it does go bad though with age, so whenever open a pack I write the date on the tubes and throw out after a year or so).  You shouldn't need special clamps for the epoxy to set if you've prepped everything correctly - good surface to adhere to, and good airflow to prevent them from pushing back out (sounds like you ran into this problem?).  If re-using shafts, make sure to prep the shaft and inside of hosel, and clean the epoxy from inside of shaft with drill or awl or something - best done right after pull while still warm!  If re-used shafts still have grips, take a nail and punch through the grip tape on butt end of shaft to allow airflow.  I started out doing Pings which had a "friction fit" that required you to actually drive the shafts down to fully seat, so out of habit I always do this even if not really "required" on other sets.

 

There are other things you can pick up along the way that are handy.  Swingweight scale and brass tip weights are good in my opinion, if you are sensitive to that.  A good gram scale comes in handy from time to time.  Air compressor with good sized tank if you plan to blow on grips.  Shafts are good enough these days I would never even consider a Spine/FLO set-up.  Just look through the GolfWorks catalog and figure out what you would likely to use the most.  Most of their power tools are way over-priced in my opinion, but some other stuff they sell is well worth it - i.e. you won't find it anywhere else.  Some stuff you can DIY and it will be every bit as good as what they offer, other stuff not so much.  

 

If I could pick anything right now it would probably be a loft/lie machine, but I just wouldn't use it enough to justify cost over paying someone else the $5-$8/club to do it.  I keep checking eBay/Craigslist type sites every now and then, but not holding my breath, and that's OK because it would have to be an awesome deal to make it worthwhile.

[Ger21]

12 hours ago, halliedog said:

You don't need separate epoxies for adapters, extensions and clubheads, just get a good one and it will work fine for all (it does go bad though with age, so whenever open a pack I write the date on the tubes and throw out after a year or so).

Good epoxy does not go bad in a year. I've probably bought epoxy for clubbuilding 3 times in the last 25 years, and built a few hundred clubs with it.

In a cool environment, with the bottles sealed, it should easily last 5 years or more, possibly even longer.

If you feel more comfortable buying new every year, then go for it. But it's not necessary at all. If you mix a batch up, and it hardens, it's still good. Simple as that.

[Ger21]

14 hours ago, Plancaster1 said:

So with the ferrule turning, what is that and why is that different than say, sliding one on the end, setting the head and then using the overflow of epoxy to set the ferrule right?  TBH, the ones I got are nice and snug and dont move around at all, use a dremel on the epoxy to get it off and tidy up the plastic if there is any muss, also acetone and finger work helped me out of one that was a little too snug.  So, ferrule turner, what and why?

 

I've managed to build a lot of clubs over the years, without a ferrule turning belt, just using rags and acetone. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy, and only takes about 2 minutes/club.

You really want to get all the epoxy off before it cures, so you don't have to grind it off and risk scrathcing the clubhead or ruining the ferrule.
I tear paper towels into small 2" squares. After inserting the shaft, use one square to remove most of the squeeze out.
Follow with another to get whatever's left. Then a quick wipe with a rag and acetone to get it squeaky clean. When it cures, you can go right to ferrule cleanup.