Adding weight to putter shaft with copper rod 8mm

pmcuk · November 24, 2022

I've been buying cheap putters on ebay and re-weighting them with copper rod at the bottom of the shaft, removing and re-gluing the shaft.

Using 8mm copper rod, 50mm weighs 22g, 55mm weighs 24g, 60mm weighs 27g and so forth. I usually use 60mm.

The result is excellent, and is like using a modern putter with a 345g head. Most older putters are 320-330g. Some lighter still.

With a midsize grip of 60g to 75g this creates a very nice putter of 510g to 525g total weight with a swing weight of around D1 to D5

Does anyone else use copper rod as an alternative to tungsten powder and a cork?

MattM97 · November 24, 2022

Most just use lead tape, cheaper, easier and doesn't put a ton of weight in the heel.

golftech · November 24, 2022

Take into account how that weight might shift the sweet spot.

pmcuk · November 26, 2022

On 11/24/2022 at 11:53 PM, golftech said:

Take into account how that weight might shift the sweet spot.

How do you mean? Which sweet spot are you referring to? Thanks.

MattM97 · November 26, 2022

17 minutes ago, pmcuk said:

How do you mean? Which sweet spot are you referring to? Thanks.

The sweet spot is the center of gravity ideally this would be in the center of the putter but in a lot of cases it's not, especially in a lot of older putters. The symmetrical design and added weight of the neck will have the center of gravity more heel side and when adding weight in the shaft towards the neck will move that over even more.

Basically to have a solid feel strike you would have to hit it near the heel.

5hort5tuff · November 26, 2022

I'm pretty sure that adding 20 or 25g to the shaft will move the "sweet spot" less than a couple mm or so. I'm not even sure if it really matters with headweights upwards of 350g. You are basically adding 1/19th of the entire putter weight.

This is one of those scientific things that people get really serious about but really doesn't matter. So many putter makers don't balance their putters. People lop off necks, change shafts etc etc without even considering it.

I would guess most putters on Tour who have their slant necks built by "Scotty Himself" don't have a balanced putter or know where the COG is

Edited November 26, 2022 by 5hort5tuff

finchi5 · November 28, 2022

I make my own tip weights on the lathe from brass or copper so yes I do it all the time.

With regards to the centre of mass issue, yes more weight will slightly shift the sweet spot but it’s so minimal 99% of people will never notice. Also, I have seen many putters especially flow necks where the neck stub portion was pretty long (upto 3-4 inches sometimes) to increase the overall headweight….these were circle t’s if anyone wants to know with 360g heads. So as long as it feels ok and the shaft can cope then it’s fine. Just don’t add too much weight as it causes the shaft to kick in a strange way.