Lighter Tip-Heavy shafts for near Single-Length build

[ARL67]

Hey WRX'ers

 

I'm into partial single-length, short length increment, and MOI matched builds ( have an Auditor MOI measuring device ).  The Steelfiber i95cw Regular has been my go-to shaft over the last many builds & flirtations.  I'm also fine with Steelfiber i110cw however they are butt heavy so require much heavier tips weights.  For my next 5-GW main set build ( 2021 T200 )  I will be using 7 x  i95cw Wedge ( 36.5" uncut ) shafts in an exercise to maintain a more uniform flex and balance point, at least that's my thinking.  I build Single-Length 8i-LW , then 1/4" increments for 7-6-5i ,  so only a 3/4" total length spread.

 

I'd like to give steel shafts a go in one of my backup sets ( ZX5 5-GW ) , going with 7 x Wedge steel shafts.

 

What are some lighter weight and tip heavier steel shafts ?

 

I've been researching Dynamic Gold 120 series X100 / S300 / R300 and they sound like they might fit the bill.  I'm kinda' keen on the 120 R300 as it is 116g at 37.0" uncut.  I could use a bit more launch and spin with the ZX5 heads. I'd have no problem with the 120 S300 / X100 as my playing lengths are plenty short and fatigue / strength is not an issue.  Does S300 generally offer tighter dispersion over R300 ?

 

Any other offerings from the other shaft manufacturers  ?

I'm aware of the KBS $-Taper HT series but the lightest available is 120g at 37.5" uncut.

 

thanks ~ Andy

[Deepy]

22 minutes ago, ARL67 said:

I will be using 7 x  i95cw Wedge ( 36.5" uncut ) shafts in an exercise to maintain a more uniform flex and balance point, at least that's my thinking.

7x Wedge flex with more or less the same length combined with regular iron heads will not provide a uniform flex and balance point. The longer iron heads are lighter than the wedges therefore using the same shaft in all of the clubs will make them flex less.

 

22 minutes ago, ARL67 said:

I'd like to give steel shafts a go in one of my backup sets ( ZX5 5-GW ) , going with 7 x Wedge steel shafts.

 

(...) I could use a bit more launch and spin with the ZX5 heads.

If you are looking for more launch and spin with the ZX5 heads, I'd recommend not going wedge steel shafts with this set. A 5i head installed on a wedge flex shaft will play extremely stiff.

 

I'm coming from the other side of the "problem". I got a cobra one length iron set with the factory installed shafts. This means the taper tip (constant weight) shafts were used and cut to the exact same length but using the same head (weight) for all of the clubs. The results are lower spinning wedges and short irons and higher spinning long irons. While this might be benefical for most of the golfers, it isn't for me.

So I am currently waiting for the steelfiber i95 to arrive so that I can try ~7i/7i tip trimmed shaft in every club.

 

 

[Fairway14]

39 minutes ago, ARL67 said:

Does S300 generally offer tighter dispersion over R300 ?

 

Yes.

[ARL67]

 

FYI:

I do MOI builds either via a SW scale or via the Auditor MOI device.  I deal with head weight, shaft length, and SW or MOI assembly and measuring and re-measuring up the wazoo.   I can bring head weight up a LOT with heavy tip weights, heavy weighted ferrules, and lead tape.  I've been building none-standard for a long time now, meaning other than industry standard 1/2" length and 0.5 Lie Angle increments per club.   My build method is an evolution of what works for me over several years of building, gaming my sets, and revising as I understand more.  I spend a lot of time on a GC2 / GC-Quad in the off-season looking at my numbers as well.  There are trade offs for every build method, be it industry standard, or single-length, or all variations in-between.

 

I tried SL with Cobra F7 OL and a full set of Wishon EQ1-NX.  My complaint with them is the head properties -> big chunky game-improvement sizing.  If I were to dabble in a true SL set again, it would be with the Cobra Forged Tec OL as they are a smaller "Players"  type of head.

 

About Me:

I'm 54, with 96mph Driver SS, and play courses 6000-6400, and usually shoot mid-high 70's if I've been playing a lot and getting in my rounds to build consistency.  I shot Par a few times last year for the first time.  My main weakness is my 5-6 irons , and I'm not ready to go down the hybrid road just yet for those slots.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by ARL67

[TKS]

Y'all are pretty sick. But in a good way. Tinker on!

[Cwebb]

Have you measured the MOI of an iron with a Steelfiber i95 vs an i110 with the same head weight?   Hard to imagine that the MOI would be lower with the 110, even with some counter-balance weight distribution

[Howard_Jones]

Dynamic Gold SL might be the shaft you are looking for.
BP is moved against the tip to compensate for the weight loss from the OG 130 grams series, so as SW they comes out the same.

 

[driveandputtmachine]

20 hours ago, ARL67 said:

 

FYI:

I do MOI builds either via a SW scale or via the Auditor MOI device.  I deal with head weight, shaft length, and SW or MOI assembly and measuring and re-measuring up the wazoo.   I can bring head weight up a LOT with heavy tip weights, heavy weighted ferrules, and lead tape.  I've been building none-standard for a long time now, meaning other than industry standard 1/2" length and 0.5 Lie Angle increments per club.   My build method is an evolution of what works for me over several years of building, gaming my sets, and revising as I understand more.  I spend a lot of time on a GC2 / GC-Quad in the off-season looking at my numbers as well.  There are trade offs for every build method, be it industry standard, or single-length, or all variations in-between.

 

I tried SL with Cobra F7 OL and a full set of Wishon EQ1-NX.  My complaint with them is the head properties -> big chunky game-improvement sizing.  If I were to dabble in a true SL set again, it would be with the Cobra Forged Tec OL as they are a smaller "Players"  type of head.

 

About Me:

I'm 54, with 96mph Driver SS, and play courses 6000-6400, and usually shoot mid-high 70's if I've been playing a lot and getting in my rounds to build consistency.  I shot Par a few times last year for the first time.  My main weakness is my 5-6 irons , and I'm not ready to go down the hybrid road just yet for those slots.

 

 

I despise tip weights in irons, my first custom set of irons (from an acclaimed custom builder showed me this)  We then reworked everything adding lead tape to the heads themselves that needed it.

 

However if your preferred method is tip weighting then steel is the better way to go with more room to add heavier tip weights.

 

I play a crazy setup as well.  My 7 iron is roughly "standard".  I put it in quotes because there really isn't a standard anymore or maybe there never was because of how manufacturers measure.  I go down from the 7 in 1/4 increments to the PW, and the PW, GW, SW, LW are all the same length.  I port the heads on the GW-LW in the back flange near the hosel and work my way out until I get the headweight I want.   In my 9 and PW I port in the hosel itself unless I need to remove more weight and then I pull from the head itself.

 

I go up 3/8 increments from the 7 to my longest iron.  I am adding lead tape here to the back of the head.  I bend EVERY head for loft and lie (Lie using the dry erase method from Howard) and loft for gapping.  I bought a mitchell machine because moved 6 hours away, and then when I moved back he had retired.  I do not use an auditor for MOI, but a scale similar to the one Howard uses based on head weight, shaft weight, balance point, and length.  

 

[Poolparty]

Shafts that come to mind are the DG 105 and Accra iSteel

[ARL67]

5 hours ago, driveandputtmachine said:

I despise tip weights in irons, my first custom set of irons (from an acclaimed custom builder showed me this)  We then reworked everything adding lead tape to the heads themselves that needed it.

 

However if your preferred method is tip weighting then steel is the better way to go with more room to add heavier tip weights.

 

I play a crazy setup as well.  My 7 iron is roughly "standard".  I put it in quotes because there really isn't a standard anymore or maybe there never was because of how manufacturers measure.  I go down from the 7 in 1/4 increments to the PW, and the PW, GW, SW, LW are all the same length.  I port the heads on the GW-LW in the back flange near the hosel and work my way out until I get the headweight I want.   In my 9 and PW I port in the hosel itself unless I need to remove more weight and then I pull from the head itself.

 

I go up 3/8 increments from the 7 to my longest iron.  I am adding lead tape here to the back of the head.  I bend EVERY head for loft and lie (Lie using the dry erase method from Howard) and loft for gapping.  I bought a mitchell machine because moved 6 hours away, and then when I moved back he had retired.  I do not use an auditor for MOI, but a scale similar to the one Howard uses based on head weight, shaft weight, balance point, and length.  

 

 

 

Cool build method too with a combo of 1/4" and 3/8" increments.  One of my other sets is  very similar but staring at stock 9i length of 36.0" ungripped, then 1/4" gaps for 8i and 7i, then 3/8" gaps for 6i and 5i.  I do it that way as it is easier to attain my SW targets with longer longer 3/8" gaps for 7-6-5i

[ARL67]

13 hours ago, Cwebb said:

Have you measured the MOI of an iron with a Steelfiber i95 vs an i110 with the same head weight?   Hard to imagine that the MOI would be lower with the 110, even with some counter-balance weight distribution

 

A SF i110cw will SW about 3 points less than an i95cw Regular.

Building a 5i to 36.75" ungripped requires a LOT of additional head-weight.  The  extra 3 SWP requires an extra 6 grams or so above and beyond what can be achieved with the i95cw Reg.   And I'm completely happy with the i95cw Reg , so no desire to build with the i110cw.

Edited August 26, 2021 by ARL67

[ARL67]

1 hour ago, Poolparty said:

Shafts that come to mind are the DG 105 and Accra iSteel

Thanks for the heads-up on the Accra iSeries Steel , available in 105, 115, 125.   I forgot about that one and see that it's balance point is at 19" , same as the i95cw Regular. 

Edited August 26, 2021 by ARL67

[Cwebb]

1 hour ago, ARL67 said:

 

A SF i110cw will SW about 3 points less than an i95cw Regular.

Building a 5i to 36.75" ungripped requires a LOT of additional head-weight.  The  extra 3 SWP requires an extra 6 grams or so above and beyond what can be achieved with the i95cw Reg.   And I'm completely happy with the i95cw Reg , so no desire to build with the i110cw.

 

Yes, I'm aware of the swing-weight scale difference.  I was wondering if you had done an actual MOI machine measurement on these....and if it would show that the 110 is "less" than the 95.  

 

As I'm sure you're aware, that counter-balance can give a certain impression on a swing-weight scale, but will not translate that way to the more precise MOI machine and how the club actually swings.  The classic example is a heavier grip on a shaft, that will show a lighter swing-weight, but not a lower MOI.  This same thing can be there with counter-balanced shafts

[ARL67]

^^^ Ya, interesting observation about a counterbalanced shaft having a similar measured SW affect as a heavier grip.

 

Regardless of the math I still go by feel.  If it doesn’t feel right, then it’s not right.  The last set I built using my Auditor had the PW and 7i feeling a bit off, even though the Auditor measured them really close to my target MOI number.  The PW felt too light and the 7i too heavy.  I chalk it up to shaft anomalies.  Makes me wonder if I should even have bought my Auditor if my feel is still the over-riding factor.  I can build very accurately with my SW scale combined with my precise anal retentiveness over being exact LOL!

Edited August 26, 2021 by ARL67

[Poolparty]

6 hours ago, ARL67 said:

Thanks for the heads-up on the Accra iSeries Steel , available in 105, 115, 125.   I forgot about that one and see that it's balance point is at 19" , same as the i95cw Regular. 

Ryden says the BP of iSeries is .1" and i95CW is 1". The Accra should be more tip heavy, no?

 

The iSeries is also a good looking shaft with a feel and profile I like a lot. It's a winner. Just be careful w acetone around them