Reshafting

[Lefthandedhickory]

Recently snagged a full set of left handed Walter Hagen Deluxe Reg.No.201 at a flea market for $40. I feel like it was an incredible deal. They are in beautiful shape but wish they had hickory shafts. Currently they have Walter Hagen spring steel shafts in them. I’m assuming this was very new for the time. I’ve seen the same sets in all hickory. Must have had the option at the time to get hickory in them? Anyways, is it possible to get these reshafted with hickory?

[bcstones]

Pictures would help...however, you'll have to wait till admin here change your status "Validating - Unconfirmed"...

It sounds like quite a deal. I tried to search for "who made Walter Hagen golf clubs" & came across a couple of items:
 

1) Walter Hagen is a trademark of American Sports Licensing, LLC – Registration Number 2971709 – Serial Number 76483545 :: Justia Trademarks. The brand was created in 1928 by two brothers, Walter and John Hagen.

The company has been licensed to produce and market sporting goods worldwide since 1946. Products include baseball bats, footballs, tennis balls and basketballs among others. AMERICAN SPORTS LICENSING, LLC is headquartered in Lakeland, Florida with offices throughout the world.

2) In 1944, Wilson acquired Hagen Golf Products.

I have no idea if these companies were the same...much less if the "Walter"s are the same person.....

came across this searching for "Hagen Golf Products Company", a court case....kinda sorta long but interesting:
https://casetext.com/case/young-v-wallace-1
&

https://books.google.com/books?id=BH6n2m35pMsC&pg=PA145&lpg=PA145&dq="Hagen+Golf+Products+Company"&source=bl&ots=iwjxS8efwR&sig=ACfU3U3lPw16nmvGKVdIT8hKkqsizpyWjg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjLvYTip4KBAxVGmmoFHTOBB8wQ6AF6BAgLEAM#v=onepage&q="Hagen Golf Products Company"&f=false

Edited August 29, 2023 by bcstones

[st1800e]

19 hours ago, Lefthandedhickory said:

is it possible to get these reshafted with hickory?

Wouldn’t the hosel size be much larger for hickory than the hosel on a steel shafted iron? 

[bcstones]

12 minutes ago, st1800e said:

Wouldn’t the hosel size be much larger for hickory than the hosel on a steel shafted iron? 

I think I've seen that some companies made a shim like thing for the steel shaft to go thru in order to fit the wider hosel....(it came up in another posting or two)

[hollabachgt]

During the transitional period between hickory and steel some companies did create adapters that would allow hickory iron heads to be used with steel shafts. Prolonging the ability to sell hickory iron heads.  So it is possible to take those iron heads and re-shaft them with hickory shafts and play them safely.

 

Its possible the OP has a set like that, but they were not all that common. Also Hagen continued to use the same model numbering from the hickory period going forward, building the same model club with specific steel shaft hosels in later years. The model number may be the same but a hickory shaft would not fit into the hosel.

[hollabachgt]

Found a Hagen Iron Man that I thought might have been a transitional club. Hosel diameter and taper was correct. Pulled the shaft and nope, it was drilled for a steel shaft. 
 

just goes to show you how rare these transitional clubs are.

[northplatteriver]

Its possible, but those clubs would not be sanctioned for play in any SOHG events.  More importantly than this, I honestly believe it is almost a safety issue.  Even though you CAN make a hickory shaft thin enough to go into one of host thinner steel hosels, the probability for a catastrophic break increases exponentially.  I have seen heads break off regular shafts and while it is amusing, I have often thought how badly something like that could have gone.   The exception to this would be the rare clubs that already have the wide hosel that can fit a real hickory shaft of normal dimensions.  There are versions of the Hagen "Iron Man" sand wedge that converted from steel shaft to hickory since the hosel dimensions are the same.  

[bcstones]

Kroydon, in the early transition era, manufactured their own steel shafts to fit the wider hosels of the hickory heads….so another possibility, if you can find them