Frankenstein set

[CUBuffaloes]

Inspired by this: 

 

I've decided to start working on my own Frankenstein set. One thing I did want to consider in my build was the offset of the irons so that the set flowed nicely. I limited my choices to major US manufacturers (no Honma or Miura irons) and wanted to get an 8 club set of irons (4-GW). I also stayed away from hollow and foam filled clubs and focused on small cavity players type irons. This is what I came up with:

 

4i - PING i210 22.5* 4.6mm offset (will bend to 23*)

5i - Srixon ZX7 25* 3.4mm offset (will bend to 26*)

6i - Mizuno JPX 921 Tour 30* 3.0mm offset

7i - Callaway X-Forged CB 33* 2.8mm offset (will bend to 34*)

8i - Cobra Tour MIM 37* 2.3mm offset (will bend to 38*)

9i - Titleist T100 42* 1.8mm offset

PW - Taylormade P7MC 47* 1.5mm offset (will bend to 46*)

GW - Wilson Staff CB 50* 1.0mm offset

 

I plan to eventually complete an entire Frankenstein bag of 14 different manufactures. I intend to not get any specialty (e.g. Evnroll putter, etc.) but focus on companies that make everything from Driver -> putter (I'll make an exception for New Level, I want to get one of their clubs into this set). 

 

I want to get the head weights right so assembly will not commence until I have all the heads collected. I was able to source a PING i210 4-iron head on eBay so that one is already on the way :).

 

[CKaneb]

this is a pretty sick idea, definitely update this post or make new posts as everything comes together 

[CUBuffaloes]

48 minutes ago, CKaneb said:

this is a pretty sick idea, definitely update this post or make new posts as everything comes together 

Will do. Hopefully it won't take too long. I plan on funding this by actually selling off all my other clubs that have been collecting dust.

[rwl]

Interesting idea but I have to ask, why?

[BREWMASTER95060]

Wilson staff tour blade and Hogan round sole blades

all off eBay.

Edited November 25, 2021 by BREWMASTER95060

[BREWMASTER95060]

If you have a PO Box I can send you some odds and ends and heads that I have for your second set of Frankenstein clubs.

The idea is so good they’ll be more than one set they’ll be more than two sets there will be many sets.

[BREWMASTER95060]

🙂
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Club Hoe

Edited November 25, 2021 by BREWMASTER95060

[CUBuffaloes]

20 minutes ago, rwl said:

Interesting idea but I have to ask, why?

 

Who are you and why are on on GolfWRX? 😛

 

 

j/k - I just think it'll be a great project to build a usable set from different manufactures. Everyone makes good clubs and sometime we pick and chose based on preconceived ideas and personal biases. I also have a ton of unused clubs and forcing myself to sell stuff in order to fund this project will actually net me a reduction in my club hoarding and hopefully result in a unique useable set of clubs. 🙂

 

[CUBuffaloes]

12 minutes ago, BREWMASTER95060 said:

If you have a PO Box I can send you some odds and ends and heads that I have for your second set of Frankenstein clubs.

The idea is so good they’ll be more than one set they’ll be more than two sets there will be many sets.

Thanks for the offer but I think I'm set on the selection I posted. It is tempting to build a retro set (I have some old Mizuno MP-62 and Titleist DCI heads in boxes somewhere) but the ones I'm going with should net a nice playable set for me.

 

[Howard_Jones]

7 hours ago, CUBuffaloes said:

Inspired by this: 

 

I've decided to start working on my own Frankenstein set. One thing I did want to consider in my build was the offset of the irons so that the set flowed nicely. I limited my choices to major US manufacturers (no Honma or Miura irons) and wanted to get an 8 club set of irons (4-GW). I also stayed away from hollow and foam filled clubs and focused on small cavity players type irons. This is what I came up with:

 

4i - PING i210 22.5* 4.6mm offset (will bend to 23*)

5i - Srixon ZX7 25* 3.4mm offset (will bend to 26*)

6i - Mizuno JPX 921 Tour 30* 3.0mm offset

7i - Callaway X-Forged CB 33* 2.8mm offset (will bend to 34*)

8i - Cobra Tour MIM 37* 2.3mm offset (will bend to 38*)

9i - Titleist T100 42* 1.8mm offset

PW - Taylormade P7MC 47* 1.5mm offset (will bend to 46*)

GW - Wilson Staff CB 50* 1.0mm offset

 

I plan to eventually complete an entire Frankenstein bag of 14 different manufactures. I intend to not get any specialty (e.g. Evnroll putter, etc.) but focus on companies that make everything from Driver -> putter (I'll make an exception for New Level, I want to get one of their clubs into this set). 

 

I want to get the head weights right so assembly will not commence until I have all the heads collected. I was able to source a PING i210 4-iron head on eBay so that one is already on the way :).

 

Sick but fun idea, and i have a word of advice here before you actually build the set. Measure VCOG on all club heads, and make sure they have a natural progression. We DONT want a set with high VCOG in the long end and low VCOG in the short end.

Here is how you measure it DIY.
- You need a pen of the type we push a button on the back to get the tip out.
- a paint of some sort (what ever you have at hand)
- a vise.

Push the button to get the pen tip OUT, and dip the tip in paint
Push the button again so the pen tip hides
Place the pen as vertical as you can in a vise, pen tip UP
(make sure you can access the button on the back)

Place the loose club head, FACE DOWN on the pen tip, and move it until you find the spot where the head can rest on the pen tip without any support from your hand. When you have found that spot, hold the head in that position with one hand, and push the pen button with the other so you get a paint mark on VCOG.

Now measure the distance from the leading edge and up to VCOG.
While you are at it, measure distance from the end of the grooves both from heel and toe side, and take notes.

The measurement we got here is NOT how it will be during play, and thats why we SHALL see a progression where VCOG starts LOW in the LONG end, and move up on the face as loft goes up.

During play, LOFT itself "lowers" VCOG as loft goes up, so if the set has heads with THE SAME VCOG for all "in play", the progression ratio during this measure method with the pen, shall have a progression of 0.14 mm pr 4* of loft.

Example, lets say the #4 iron as the longest club had its VCOG 4/8 up from the leading edge. Thats 12.7 mm. The shortest club, your GW is 7 x 0.14 higher = 1.0 mm or at 13.7 mm up from the leading edge. This is MINIMUM progression to keep VCOG at the same actual height at impact for all heads, so expect progression to be HIGHER, since we shall end up at about 7/8" on a 60* LOB

It might look like splitting hairs, but since you mix different models, there is a risk that this "1.0 mm"(who in reality is HIGHER) ends the wrong place in the set, and that means launch and spin values might go up and down, even with equal loft gaps. (expected launch and spin want be "right".)

So, be prepared to remove/replace one or more heads who "dont fit in" on VCOG....

Keep us updated, the project is sick but interesting 

Edited November 25, 2021 by Howard_Jones

[CUBuffaloes]

11 hours ago, Howard_Jones said:

It might look like splitting hairs, but since you mix different models, there is a risk that this "1.0 mm"(who in reality is HIGHER) ends the wrong place in the set, and that means launch and spin values might go up and down, even with equal loft gaps. (expected launch and spin want be "right".)

So, be prepared to remove/replace one or more heads who "dont fit in" on VCOG....

Keep us updated, the project is sick but interesting 

 

Thanks. Always appreciate your insight and knowledge. I did think about this but it might start getting expensive for me. I do plan to start off with 4* gapping in loft and hopefully that gets me close (also part of the reason I'm trying to use similar types of heads).

 

I also realized that for some of the irons I'm bending the offset will be affected as well. Is the .5mm offset per 1* loft change a good thumb rule? I need to make some changes to the initial list. The PING i210 at 4 iron and Wilson Staff CB at GW will stay. Those two have the most and least offset by far. I'm also looking at the Mizuno MP20 MMC instead of the JPX tour irons. The Mizuno and ZX7s are a couple degrees stronger than the others so I'll have to find the right place to fit them in. Fortunately many of these are readily available on eBay. I'll post updates to this thread as parts start coming in.

 

[Howard_Jones]

9 hours ago, CUBuffaloes said:

 

Thanks. Always appreciate your insight and knowledge. I did think about this but it might start getting expensive for me. I do plan to start off with 4* gapping in loft and hopefully that gets me close (also part of the reason I'm trying to use similar types of heads).

 

I also realized that for some of the irons I'm bending the offset will be affected as well. Is the .5mm offset per 1* loft change a good thumb rule? I need to make some changes to the initial list. The PING i210 at 4 iron and Wilson Staff CB at GW will stay. Those two have the most and least offset by far. I'm also looking at the Mizuno MP20 MMC instead of the JPX tour irons. The Mizuno and ZX7s are a couple degrees stronger than the others so I'll have to find the right place to fit them in. Fortunately many of these are readily available on eBay. I'll post updates to this thread as parts start coming in.

 

i never had the equipment needed to measure how offset change, and never really cared.
I always just bend to get carry gaps right (not loft gaps), so even normal sets will ends up a bit different on offset and bounce vs the original designed slope. As long as what you look down on from address dont bother you, its good, no matter "specs".

But yes, i had those PGA and LPGA players who had "issues" when loft alone was changed by 1.0*, it no longer looked right from address for that club, but what can you do about that, when carry gaps is what matters?

Just go by whats important for YOU, in the end that what matters

[CUBuffaloes]

Okay - I think I've finalized my iron heads. As much as possible I wanted the offset to be progressive through the set. I also took a look and tried to put (what I consider) more forgiving clubs in the longer irons and less forgiving clubs in the shorter irons. I was able to get MOI data from the Maltby Playability website. One notable thing was that I have a rather shallow delivery and don't really get along well with the sole design of the Srixon clubs. I purposely put the ZX7 in the PW spot because I am steeper on my wedges and the offset worked out.

 

P.S. The "*" indicates that the club will be bent to that loft and the corresponding offset is a best guess calculation on what it will be at that loft (I used a .5mm per 1* thumb rule).

Also clubheads highlighted in green have already been purchased off eBay and are on their way 🙂 

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by CUBuffaloes

[Circaflex]

This type of setup has always been somewhat of a dream of mine, a mix of various oems, even on the irons, of clubs that just "work." My dad has kept a lot of random irons and I began keeping various irons from previous sets of mine that I always liked, or hit well. I really liked Langers setup before he was sponsored again, talk about a Frankenstein bag.

[NPSpar4]

On 11/26/2021 at 2:46 PM, CUBuffaloes said:

Okay - I think I've finalized my iron heads. As much as possible I wanted the offset to be progressive through the set. I also took a look and tried to put (what I consider) more forgiving clubs in the longer irons and less forgiving clubs in the shorter irons. I was able to get MOI data from the Maltby Playability website. One notable thing was that I have a rather shallow delivery and don't really get along well with the sole design of the Srixon clubs. I purposely put the ZX7 in the PW spot because I am steeper on my wedges and the offset worked out.

 

P.S. The "*" indicates that the club will be bent to that loft and the corresponding offset is a best guess calculation on what it will be at that loft (I used a .5mm per 1* thumb rule).

Also clubheads highlighted in green have already been purchased off eBay and are on their way 🙂 

 

 

this Frankenstein bag is pretty damn cool...quick question, what do you think of the MIM's ???  they always intrigue me but have never hit them.    and im with you on the Srixons..  i had the ZX7s in 7, 6, 5 irons and just could not get comfortable with the turf interaction.  I am a more shallow player and never got along with them.    

[CUBuffaloes]

15 minutes ago, NPSpar4 said:

 

this Frankenstein bag is pretty damn cool...quick question, what do you think of the MIM's ???  they always intrigue me but have never hit them.    and im with you on the Srixons..  i had the ZX7s in 7, 6, 5 irons and just could not get comfortable with the turf interaction.  I am a more shallow player and never got along with them.    

I have no experience with the MIM so we will see... I actually wanted the King Forged Tour irons from a couple years back but those are hard to find in good condition. I experimented with a blended set of those clubs putting the one length version in the mid/long irons and standard clubs in the short irons.

[NPSpar4]

1 hour ago, CUBuffaloes said:

I have no experience with the MIM so we will see... I actually wanted the King Forged Tour irons from a couple years back but those are hard to find in good condition. I experimented with a blended set of those clubs putting the one length version in the mid/long irons and standard clubs in the short irons.

yes, i was actually looking for those same irons, the King Forged Tours, on ebay the other day.   they are nice looking and was searching for a good shaped 7 iron to try out.   nothing caught my eye.        even the Wilson Staffs that you have on there always interested me as well.  i need to try those out.  good looking club  

[CUBuffaloes]

Update: 4 iron (Ping), 7 iron (Mizuno) and 8 iron (Callaway) are in hand. I'll posts individual head weights later but its looking good. The Titleist, Cobra, Taylormade and Wilson heads are all in route and should be here before next weekend. Still looking for a good Srixon ZX7 PW. 

[CUBuffaloes]

All club heads are here except for the Srixon ZX7 PW. I couldn't find one in good condition so I just ordered a new single club and they are back ordered a couple months. I intend to build the 4-9 iron and the PW and GW will be last since the shaft in the PW will be used in the GW (I'm soft stepping KBS Tour 90 Stiff).

 

[CUBuffaloes]

Head weights are as follows:

 

4 iron (Ping i210) 247g

5 iron (Cobra Tour MIM) 257g

6 iron (Titleist T100) 256g

7 iron (Mizuno MP20 MMC) 267g

8 iron (Callaway X Forged) 276g

9 iron (TaylorMade P7MC) 291g

GW (Wilson Staff CB) 295g

 

based on these weights the TM P7MC will dictate the weights of the other heads. I'll be using tip weights to get a 7g increment between heads. My only concern is the Titleist head is very light and I'll need 14g. Has anyone used that much tip weight before? I usually see 10g as the most. Adjustments will be as follows:

 

4 iron add 9g = 256g

5 iron add 6g = 263g

6 iron add 14g = 270g

7 iron add 10g = 277g

8 iron add 8g = 284g

9 iron no weight added = 291g

PW - we'll see final weight target = 298g

GW add 10g = 305g

 

Any comments, questions, suggestions are appreciated.

[CUBuffaloes]

Surprisingly the Srixon PW made it here only 10 days after ordering. I was initially told that it was on back order 6-8 weeks. So now I have all the heads. The Srixon weighed in at 294g.

 

My current dilemma is that the adjusted weights of all of these are pretty heavy. I'm now considering dropping all the finished weights by 4g which means I add nothing to the PW and would have to take 4g out of the Taylormade P7MC 9 iron.

 

I've searched and read through past posts on drilling out the hosel to remove weight. Doesn't seem too difficult. Any final advise or suggestions would be appreciated before I take a drill to this 9 iron later this week. Thanks. 

[CUBuffaloes]

Picture of all 8 of them. I pulled some weight out of the 9, PW to match the GW. Since I only have 1/4" between the GW > PW > 9 iron the target weights were adjusted to suit. I was able to put the shaft in the GW and do a prelim check of swing weight. Looks like about D2.5 which is perfect. I need to get the lie adjusted on this GW and then I can cut it to final length. I'll be posting the final set in the "Equipment" section when I'm done (hopefully) in a couple weeks. The shafts are backordered from Golfworks but should be here by the end of December/1st week of January. I'm also going to change the paint fill on the sole of the Mizuno. The club number is in white so I'm gonna change it to black to match the others.

 

[5hort5tuff]

Thinking of this gives me anxiety.

[Tupperwolf]

This is awesome. I love how much thought has gone into a set with the right lofts, weights and moi. I dream about doing this, but I usually imagine doing it with blades of various models. 

[CUBuffaloes]

22 hours ago, Tupperwolf said:

This is awesome. I love how much thought has gone into a set with the right lofts, weights and moi. I dream about doing this, but I usually imagine doing it with blades of various models. 

 

A set with blades would be awesome. Unfortunately I don't have enough game to make such a set playable 😬.

[joostin]

Love seeing crazy mixed sets (Lehman, Langer...).

Let's hear your future Driver, FW/Hy/DI, Wedges, Putter

[CUBuffaloes]

On 12/21/2021 at 1:59 AM, joostin said:

Love seeing crazy mixed sets (Lehman, Langer...).

Let's hear your future Driver, FW/Hy/DI, Wedges, Putter

Future plans to complete the set would be a lot of DTC stuff. Sub70, Hogan, PXG, New Level plus Tour Edge and maybe a Tommy Armour putter.

Edited January 8, 2022 by CUBuffaloes

[CUBuffaloes]

Assembly begins. The GW is put together and complete. I'm tracking the delivery of shafts and they should all be here by Monday. I plan to take some time off to get these all glued up. I don't have the ability to bend loft and lie so there's a guy that does them for me. Hopefully he isn't too busy this week. 

 

I found some neat little holographic Frankenstein stickers on Etsy. 

 

[joostin]

On 12/21/2021 at 9:15 AM, CUBuffaloes said:

Future plans to complete the set would be a lot of DTC stuff. Sub70, Hogan, PXG, New Level plus Tour Edge and maybe a Tommy Armour putter.

Bridgestone!

[CUBuffaloes]

I've put more thought into the rest of the set and my problem spot is the 5W/3H. In the past I've struggled with this club because I like having a 3H but need something flat in order to avoid the hooks. The only clubs that I've been successful with are the PING and Titleist ones because they can be adjusted pretty flat. Right now I'm considering the following for the balance of the set. This might take awhile because all of these will probably completely new clubs and will cost a bit more.

 

Driver - PXG

3W - ???

5W - Sub70 (they have the flattest lie angle)

SW- ???

LW- Honma

Putter- Hogan

 

One of these will be a Tour Edge (3W or SW)

Other brands being considered - Bridgestone, NewLevel, Tommy Armour

 

Any other recommendations appreciated. Thanks everyone. Priority is getting these irons in play for now.