Help Please Wilson FG-51 irons

[JDLA]

Hello all. I need some help on the Wilson fg 51 tour blade irons and the hosel size. In my DD research, I discovered that When Wilson released these irons they came with two steel shaft options of either the fire stick or TT Dynamic. I’m pretty sure that the fire stick shafts were parallel (.370) only ; therefore, if true, making the hosel .370. However, I am not sure that if you ordered TT dynamic if they were .370 or .355. Could Wilson have had two different hosel sizes per your shaft order. Or, were the TT dynamics parallel shafts making the hosel size .370 as well. 
I swear my question was far simpler than what I typed lmao. Please, what’s the dang hosel size for the fg-51’s?

thanks. 

[Socrates]

There was only one size hosel that I know of.  .355"

[JDLA]

Thanks, Socrates. 

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

And possibly threaded?

 

[JDLA]

Oh my, I hope not threaded; whereby, that can make a very interesting reshaft. Maybe we will get some more input on this. Thanks 

[raggal62]

They shouldn't be threaded. They were introduced in the early 90's.

[Socrates]

6 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

And possibly threaded?

 

Not threaded.  That ended in the 70's after the failed aluminum shafts.

[Swingingk]

Of all the Wilson irons I've taken apart only my 59' Dyna Powered's were threaded together at the shaft/head connection.  I will admit that I've never disassembled any Wilson irons from the 60's but I have taken apart plenty from 1970 on up and I've found none that were threaded.  Personally I think the Wilson threaded hosel nightmare may be somewhat exaggerated.  I think that it's more of a "Fluid Feel" problem in that those models used a shaft with a smaller tip than the usual 0.355 taper tips we are used to.  That smaller tip extended deeper into the hosel which when the head was bent/adjusted for loft and lie would also typically bend the tip of the shaft along with it, causing it to be difficult to remove.  One needs to make sure the hosel is bent back fairly straight in relation to the through-bore before attempting shaft removal.  Also because of the deep hosel-shaft connection, heat needs to be applied from hosel to sole to break the glue bond as opposed to just the upper part of the hosel like most of todays irons.

 

Whoops - got a bit long-winded there....  Sorry bout that!  😆

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

17 hours ago, Socrates said:

Not threaded.  That ended in the 70's after the failed aluminum shafts.

I've just dismantled my FG17 s, they were threaded.

[Socrates]

5 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

I've just dismantled my FG17 s, they were threaded.

Don't confuse threaded with hosels that aren't smooth.  Many hosels are "ringed" inside.  My FG17's had concentric rings but were definitely not threaded.   If they are threaded you have to physically unscrew the shaft from the hosel.

[Swingingk]

8 hours ago, Socrates said:

Don't confuse threaded with hosels that aren't smooth.  Many hosels are "ringed" inside.  My FG17's had concentric rings but were definitely not threaded.   If they are threaded you have to physically unscrew the shaft from the hosel.

That's a very good point.  The FG17's I've taken apart do seem to have a thread-like groove inside the hosel but it's not a threaded connection between the shaft and head like the early stuff was.  I assumed the grooves were for epoxy retention.  The only actual threaded connections I've seen were on Fluid Feel heads.

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

17 hours ago, Socrates said:

Don't confuse threaded with hosels that aren't smooth.  Many hosels are "ringed" inside.  My FG17's had concentric rings but were definitely not threaded.   If they are threaded you have to physically unscrew the shaft from the hosel.

Thanks for the correction. The shafts did come out relatively easily.

[kwelifan]

On 11/27/2021 at 8:33 PM, JDLA said:

Hello all. I need some help on the Wilson fg 51 tour blade irons and the hosel size. In my DD research, I discovered that When Wilson released these irons they came with two steel shaft options of either the fire stick or TT Dynamic. I’m pretty sure that the fire stick shafts were parallel (.370) only ; therefore, if true, making the hosel .370. However, I am not sure that if you ordered TT dynamic if they were .370 or .355. Could Wilson have had two different hosel sizes per your shaft order. Or, were the TT dynamics parallel shafts making the hosel size .370 as well. 
I swear my question was far simpler than what I typed lmao. Please, what’s the dang hosel size for the fg-51’s?

thanks. 

Mine were .355 but compression fit, meaning the OD of the shaft and the ID of the hosel were practically the same and the shafts were really jammed in there to make them fit.  It was a pretty horrible experience taking them apart.  Even with the hosel cleaned, I couldn't get a standard .355T to fit all the way, so I reamed mine to make the .355 shafts fit correctly.

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, kwelifan said:

Mine were .355 but compression fit, meaning the OD of the shaft and the ID of the hosel were practically the same and the shafts were really jammed in there to make them fit.  It was a pretty horrible experience taking them apart.  Even with the hosel cleaned, I couldn't get a standard .355T to fit all the way, so I reamed mine to make the .355 shafts fit correctly.

This from back in time when epoxy still wasn’t very good.  Wilson and others jammed the shaft in to create a mechanical bond.  The little bit of epoxy that remained was almost inconsequential.  Plus they rusted easily inside and were a b**** to take apart. 
 

One reason why when you assemble clubs now, you need a couple of thousands of clearance to leave room for the epoxy.  Too tight a fit = no epoxy and club heads fly off. 

[JDLA]

Thank you for the replies.  The compression fit sounds like I’m going to have an interesting experience. Hopefully my Mitchell shaft puller is up to the task. I’m a little worried that I might have to ream the hosel somewhat for the .355 shaft. I’ve never done that and while it won’t be a full .355 to .370 ream, I certainly am open to suggestions. Kwelifan how did you modify the hosel to get the .355 to seat and fit. I really appreciate the help everyone has provided. 

[kwelifan]

3 hours ago, JDLA said:

Thank you for the replies.  The compression fit sounds like I’m going to have an interesting experience. Hopefully my Mitchell shaft puller is up to the task. I’m a little worried that I might have to ream the hosel somewhat for the .355 shaft. I’ve never done that and while it won’t be a full .355 to .370 ream, I certainly am open to suggestions. Kwelifan how did you modify the hosel to get the .355 to seat and fit. I really appreciate the help everyone has provided. 

Not sure if a shaft puller is going to help in this case.  I had to heat each hosel for quite a while, put the head on the ground and step on it, and twist the grip end of the shaft with all my might.

 

I used a reamer from golfworks.  It's really easy as you are only removing a tiny amount of material and a reamer is designed to enlarge the opening to a specific size without making the opening any deeper.  This is prevented because the reamer has a flat tip and it cant "drill" any deeper, as opposed to a drill bit which is pointy.  The directions that come with it are better than I could explain here, but this should be done without power tools and take your time.  Its a simple process that is pretty hard to screw up if you follow the directions.

 

 

[Brewski_golfs]

I would agree the shaft puller may not be enough.  Have pulled a few sets of vintage iron shafts and they required more force than my shaft puller could apply.  My current technique is similar to the one shown in the video below.  Start by placing the club in a well mounted bench vise using a shaft clamp similar to this one: https://www.golfworks.com/lock-tight-shaft-clamp/p/tsl/.  I originally fashioned something similar using wood, but eventually upgraded to the golfworks clamp.  Apply the heat and then twist off the clubhead.  I used a 2x4 to  duplicate the tool that is shown in the video below at 3:45.  That technique has worked well for me to remove several sets of compression fitted shafts.  Sometimes one good strike with a rubber mallet right after heating will help as well. 

 

 

[JDLA]

Wow. Thank you so much for the insights. If you are taking it easy Saturday and begin to hear cussing-don’t worry it will just be me in my garage pulling shafts lol. I appreciate you all so much and thanks for the video too. 

[Stephen8802]

I love Mike Rees videos. I've watched them all at least 4-5 times each.

[JDLA]

Ok. The shafts are pulled. Definitely not .370 diameter. However, a .355 tip will not insert all the way in. Goes about a 1/3 of the way then starts to bind. There was very little glue holding the shafts in. Given this, a compression fitting might hold true. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The hosels are very clean no restrictions regarding glue etc. any thoughts how to get my .355 into the heads?  Thank you all. 

[JDLA]

Just read a quote back up from K-fan discussing a reamer. This might be my best option???

[Stephen8802]

https://www.golfworks.com/spiral-fluted-reamers/p/gw0115/

 

I bought one to ream out some Bullet Backs for .355, worked like a charm. I already had a handle, but if you don't you will have to buy one. It's a hand tool, so you just take your time and twist it until you its done. I used 3 in 1 oil to lubricate the reamer because that's what I had and it was a piece of cake.

 

I have a .370 reamer on my Christmas list because I find parallel S300s at thrift stores often and I'm going to put a few sets of those in to some Staffs I have with regular shafts.

[JDLA]

Thanks, Stephen. I will certainly purchase one including the handle. Looking on there, they are rather expensive. I’ll get the .355 for now and join on to your Christmas list for the .370 lol. Thank you for the oil tip as well. What a great forum. Take care and happy holidays. 

[NRJyzr]

Back in the early golf forums days, there was discussion that *some* of the old Firestick shafts were actually tapered with a .342 tip diameter.  It sounds as though you may have a set like this.

 

I have a set of 70s Golden Ram iron clubheads that are similar to what you're seeing, I'm unable to get .355 shafts in the hosel.  I'm guessing these were also .342.

 

In tapered wood shafts, it seems they helped control the flex with the tip; regular were .277 tip while stiff were .294.  Perhaps this is something along those lines?  Purely a random guess.  <shrug>

 

[JDLA]

Thanks, NRJ. Pulled out my trusty caliper and sure enough .343” +\-. Thank you for the insight. Mystery solved. 

[JDLA]

It appears Wilson worked hard on their shafts for proprietary reasons. Think “fat shaft” as well. Just thinking out loud and that is very dangerous lol. 

[Socrates]

48 minutes ago, JDLA said:

Thanks, NRJ. Pulled out my trusty caliper and sure enough .343” +\-. Thank you for the insight. Mystery solved. 

Easy fix with a .355 tapered reamer.

[elwhippy]

Reamer has a very different meaning in the UK. 

[JDLA]

Lol. After the price I just paid to get this tool, it certainly was a ream job.  $29 bucks for a $2 bit-geesh. 

[JDLA]

Oh, I forgot the attachment tool, tax and shipping charges. Glad to do my part lmao.