Can you safely bend new ping blueprint S irons?

ivygynonc · April 19

I have a digital Mitchell loft/lie machine in my garage and routinely bend forged irons without worry. I never try to bend my iblades or s55 sets but have easily bent the original blueprint.

I ordered a set of the new blueprint S 4-pw from ping's wrx department b/c I play flatter short irons and more upright long irons. Essentially they do not fit a '1 degree flat' across the set profile.

In any event, they are not completely accurate in both loft or lie. I read they are forged and tried to bend them the other day to match my original blueprint specs.

I found them not very forgiving to bend. It was almost like trying to bend the iblades which I don't do in fear of breaking the hosel.

Does anyone know if I am just being scared or if this is a reality in that the forging process for the new blueprints S is more like cast metal or am I wrong in my 'feel' from my hands on the bending bar when I try to bend them?

Thanks in advance!

Howard_Jones · April 19

2 hours ago, ivygynonc said:

I have a digital Mitchell loft/lie machine in my garage and routinely bend forged irons without worry. I never try to bend my iblades or s55 sets but have easily bent the original blueprint.

I ordered a set of the new blueprint S 4-pw from ping's wrx department b/c I play flatter short irons and more upright long irons. Essentially they do not fit a '1 degree flat' across the set profile.

In any event, they are not completely accurate in both loft or lie. I read they are forged and tried to bend them the other day to match my original blueprint specs.

I found them not very forgiving to bend. It was almost like trying to bend the iblades which I don't do in fear of breaking the hosel.

Does anyone know if I am just being scared or if this is a reality in that the forging process for the new blueprints S is more like cast metal or am I wrong in my 'feel' from my hands on the bending bar when I try to bend them?

Thanks in advance!

I never liked bending PING irons, they are not quite like others, but do it "right" and you will make it.

Place the bending bar as low as you can on the hosel
Do NOT over tighten the clamp, just let the head twist a little (to avoid clamping marks)
Now use "pumping movements", NOT constant force.
Loosen the clamp, realign the head, measure the change

Cleveland had some "fragile" models that would break, if we used constant force during bending, while if we used the pumping method, they would bend without hosel damage, so i always used that method for ALL club heads.

AzRoger · April 19

Not sure about the blueprints but thought that Ping just builds one standard head and after the shaft is installed at the factory bends them to the required color code for the order, if so then bending them a couple degrees either way shouldn't be an issue.

jblough99 · April 20

Pings bend just like any other iron, not sure why so many people think they are so hard to work with. It just takes a little more force vs a mild steel forging. As far as breaking a hosel, I’ve never seen it with a Ping, they are designed to be bent. I have an Ie1 4 iron that I’ve bent dozens of times, 4-5 degrees loft/lie changes without issue.

One thing to consider, Ping is very precise in how they measure loft/lie, they use optical measurements instead of manual method similar to your Mitchell. Ping’s method takes out all the variables that can arise from clamping the head into a traditional bending machine. So if your going by the measurements that your Mitchell is telling you, they may not be exactly accurate due to the variability of how it’s clamped into the machine. See the video below, fast forward to the 8 minute mark for the measuring and bending process.

If you feel Ping has made an error in not bending them to your requested specs, call them and explain the situation and I’m sure they will fix the issue if one actually exists. Ping has the best customer service in the business.

Nessism · April 20

Blueprint S irons are 8620 steel, which bends easily. Those heads also have the Ping "bending notch", which makes it even easier. I suspect the biggest problem with bending those are that they will bend too easy, so you may overshoot your mark.

I would put duct tape on the contact surfaces of your bending clamp, and a hosel protector under your bending bar. Then go to work...

As an aside, I've bent dozens of sets of Ping 17-4 irons, and those are the tough ones. 17-4 is strong metal. A LONG bending bar is highly advised. Bending these is most certainly doable, though. And with regards to how Ping measures at the factory, something is off based on my experience. I've checked and adjusted a lot of brand new sets, and almost every single set had numerous irons off spec, some off by a lot.

Edited April 20 by Nessism