Grooves Under a Microscope

[blangdale]

I bought one of those groove sharpening tools a few years ago. I went to town on a couple of old wedges, but I can’t say I noticed a huge difference before and after.

 

I put it down to user error, but then I thought I should be more scientific about it, so I grabbed a dissecting microscope and took a look at the difference. Here’s a video showing the results of that and a few other small comparisons.

 

 

The long and the short of it is I still didn’t see much of a difference. There is a huge difference between clean and dirty grooves, though, which was pretty cool to see.

[aenemated]

Quote

I don't have any brand new golf clubs.

 

I'm sorry sir, you're aware this is GolfWRX, right? 😉

 

Cool stuff! 

Edited January 18, 2022 by aenemated

[blangdale]

I know! I felt like such an impostor! I promise I will buy some

new clubs soon!

[Socrates]

The problem with this is that you are trying to use the sharpener on cast clubs.  Pretty much useless on cast.  Using it on raw forged - big difference.  I had a few Callaway X-Forged wedges ~2009 and it made a big difference.  Also fairly useless on Vokey wedges which are cast.

[Billfitz]

2 hours ago, blangdale said:

There is a huge difference between clean and dirty grooves, though, which was pretty cool to see.

Keeping the grooves clean is more important by far than sharpening them, but there's no better tool to clean them than a sharpener. The grooves act like tire treads, channeling away water and grass to allow better contact with the ball. They can't channel away as much water and grass if they're full of crud.

[drumdude96]

1 hour ago, Socrates said:

The problem with this is that you are trying to use the sharpener on cast clubs.  Pretty much useless on cast.  Using it on raw forged - big difference.  I had a few Callaway X-Forged wedges ~2009 and it made a big difference.  Also fairly useless on Vokey wedges which are cast.

If you get a sharpener with a carbide blade it will work just fine on cast.

[Socrates]

7 minutes ago, drumdude96 said:

If you get a sharpener with a carbide blade it will work just fine on cast.

I found it pointless.  Cast retain their shape for a long time.  By the time they get worn, most have moved on to another wedge.   Plus it would take much more time and pressure than the OP was showing.  
 

One reason I rarely bring out my cutter anymore is that one slip and you can permanently mar the face (aesthetically).

 

[drumdude96]

18 minutes ago, Socrates said:

I found it pointless.  Cast retain their shape for a long time.  By the time they get worn, most have moved on to another wedge.   Plus it would take much more time and pressure than the OP was showing.  
 

One reason I rarely bring out my cutter anymore is that one slip and you can permanently mar the face (aesthetically).

 

Yep, I have definitely scratched a wedge face or two on accident.

[blangdale]

31 minutes ago, Socrates said:

I found it pointless.  Cast retain their shape for a long time.  By the time they get worn, most have moved on to another wedge.   Plus it would take much more time and pressure than the OP was showing.  
 

One reason I rarely bring out my cutter anymore is that one slip and you can permanently mar the face (aesthetically).

 

The cast observation is a really good one. I did lean into it pretty hard off camera, but it still wasn’t too visible. I should try it again with a forged wedge.

 

 

[Stuart_G]

13 hours ago, blangdale said:

I bought one of those groove sharpening tools a few years ago. I went to town on a couple of old wedges, but I can’t say I noticed a huge difference before and after.

 

If you want to refresh an old wedge - forget about the grooves, instead sandblast the face.   Grooves are to channel away moisture. For most shots that's not going to be an issue unless you only play in the morning dew.  For most clean shots, the surface of the face is where the vast majority of the friction comes from and therefore the spin.   New wedges have a certain amount of surface roughness to the face - this smooths out over time and that's what causes the spin to drop.  A sandblasting will get that back.

 

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Stuart_G

[denkea]

9 hours ago, Socrates said:

I found it pointless.  Cast retain their shape for a long time.  By the time they get worn, most have moved on to another wedge.   Plus it would take much more time and pressure than the OP was showing.  
 

One reason I rarely bring out my cutter anymore is that one slip and you can permanently mar the face (aesthetically).

 

Cast cuts easily.  When you try to sharpen grooves on forged irons you are actually removing the plating.  Easy to rust then on.  

Cast is not a problem.  If you are putting so much force into cutting the grooves that you run the risk of running out of a groove and marring the face then you are using way to much force.  

 

[Socrates]

7 hours ago, denkea said:

Cast cuts easily.  When you try to sharpen grooves on forged irons you are actually removing the plating.  Easy to rust then on.  

Cast is not a problem.  If you are putting so much force into cutting the grooves that you run the risk of running out of a groove and marring the face then you are using way to much force.  

 

Didn't find that same experience.  Tried to do it on a couple of Vokey's and didn't go well.  I would only do it on a non-plated forged head (which the Callaway X-Forged were).  Cutting through the plating would be a bad thing.

 

I just don't do it anymore.  Not worth my time and effort.

[Yuck]

Is there any danger of making a club non-conforming when you use a groove sharpener?

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, Yuck said:

Is there any danger of making a club non-conforming when you use a groove sharpener?

Absolutely.  Technically, as soon as you do use one, the club is no longer conforming.  You have altered the club.  Not saying the club is no longer conforming, but that you have altered the playing characteristics and the club needs to be re-certified.

[bladehunter]

On 1/18/2022 at 6:53 AM, Stuart_G said:

 

If you want to refresh an old wedge - forget about the grooves, instead sandblast the face.   Grooves are to channel away moisture. For most shots that's not going to be an issue unless you only play in the morning dew.  For most clean shots, the surface of the face is where the vast majority of the friction comes from and therefore the spin.   New wedges have a certain amount of surface roughness to the face - this smooths out over time and that's what causes the spin to drop.  A sandblasting will get that back.

 

 

Yep.  Mike Taylor at artisan offers face blasting on all the wedges they build as a refresh later , for a pretty cheap price ( I forget ) and says that they’re literally as good as brand new after the blasting  for quite a while.  
 

i blast my own.  And agree.  But I am a higher spin player.  So I Truly don’t do it very often.  Maybe if I’m going to play on some concrete  greens  where big hops happen and stopping is hard.  

[drumdude96]

On 1/18/2022 at 5:53 AM, Stuart_G said:

 

If you want to refresh an old wedge - forget about the grooves, instead sandblast the face.   Grooves are to channel away moisture. For most shots that's not going to be an issue unless you only play in the morning dew.  For most clean shots, the surface of the face is where the vast majority of the friction comes from and therefore the spin.   New wedges have a certain amount of surface roughness to the face - this smooths out over time and that's what causes the spin to drop.  A sandblasting will get that back.

 

 

Time to buy the bench top sandblasting cabinet from Harbor Freight.