~1992 Hogan Apex Bore-Thru Wood reshaft help (Steel shaft, 0.320" tip?)

[RPMzz]

Hey WRX crew -

 

I have a set of the '92 Ben Hogan Apex (?) metalwoods ('Driver/Spoon/Baffy') in lefty and am needing to reshaft the driver. All 3 have the original Apex 4 steel shafts. I assumed the bore-thru was faux, but surprised myself when the plug melted/came out with the driver shaft pull. 

 

I have a spare 0.335" tipped graphite shaft I was planning to install, but my calipers have the Apex 4 steel shaft tip at 0.320". 

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction to fitting a new shaft to this hosel/bore-thru? Golfworks/the rest of the internet don't seem to have .320" tip sizes available, so I think I have something wrong. One wouldn't 'sand' down 0.015" for ~2.5" of a .335" tipped graphite shaft to fit a bore-thru .320" head, right? What about finding a replacement shaft in steel?

 

What am I missing here? 😵 Thanks all!

[Socrates]

You are pretty much screwed.  Hogan was one of the last to use a tapered tip steel shaft that is indeed .320".  Your odds of finding a new one is nearly zero and it's not really viable to drill out the heads.   About all I can suggest is to take a .335 tip shaft (even those are really hard to get) and cut some slots in the tip of the shaft to allow you to insert it into the head.  Much like Callaway did for their older irons that were bore-thru.  That may or may not work.

[RPMzz]

43 minutes ago, Socrates said:

You are pretty much screwed.  Hogan was one of the last to use a tapered tip steel shaft that is indeed .320".  Your odds of finding a new one is nearly zero and it's not really viable to drill out the heads.   About all I can suggest is to take a .335 tip shaft (even those are really hard to get) and cut some slots in the tip of the shaft to allow you to insert it into the head.  Much like Callaway did for their older irons that were bore-thru.  That may or may not work.

 

Well shoot, thanks for the info! Sounds like a trip to Goodwill for a donor shaft with the calipers may be in store. 

 

Alternatively, if sourcing a shaft will forever be a PITA for these - perhaps I could ream the .320 up to .335 with an 8.5mm bit? Will continue to look into options.

Edited April 23 by RPMzz

[AdamMH]

19 minutes ago, RPMzz said:

One wouldn't 'sand' down 0.015" for ~2.5" of a .335" tipped graphite shaft to fit a bore-thru .320" head, right?

 

One would, in fact, have to sand it down to fit. So long as you don't plan on reusing the shaft it's fine.

How far in can you insert a prepped .335 shaft? Just because it's a through-bore doesn't mean you have to fully insert, nor should you with newer graphite shafts that only (for the most part) have 3" tip sections.

[denkea]

If there is enough wall thickness in the hosel and head you could ream it out with a .335 reamer.

 

[Stuart_G]

18 minutes ago, Socrates said:

and it's not really viable to drill out the heads.

 

Just curious, why do you say that?   Do think the hosel wall isn't thick enough to remove .0075" - or just the general difficulty of drilling steel?

 

I can't say that I know any better but I'd be very surprised if it's the first case and the second could be managed by a local machine shop (if one had enough of a desire to pay for the work).

[Cwebb]

Best option is to make them blind bores, by not inserting the shaft all the way to the bottom

[RPMzz]

23 minutes ago, AdamMH said:

 

One would, in fact, have to sand it down to fit. So long as you don't plan on reusing the shaft it's fine.

How far in can you insert a prepped .335 shaft? Just because it's a through-bore doesn't mean you have to fully insert, nor should you with newer graphite shafts that only (for the most part) have 3" tip sections.

 

Copy that. I have yet to attempt to prep a .335 shaft to fit, but have an old pull I'll experiment with first. Good to know the full ~2.6"+ isn't needed, I'll see what I can manage.

 

15 minutes ago, denkea said:

If there is enough wall thickness in the hosel and head you could ream it out with a .335 reamer.

 

 

14 minutes ago, Stuart_G said:

 

Just curious, why do you say that?   Do think the hosel wall isn't thick enough to remove .0075" - or just the general difficulty of drilling steel?

 

I can't say that I know any better but I'd be very surprised if it's the first case and the second could be managed by a local machine shop (if one had enough of a desire to pay for the work).

 

Minimum wall thickness I'm measuring in the hosel is 1.35mm - reaming from .320 to .335 = 0.015" = 0.381mm --> taking .1905mm from the hosel, bringing min hosel wall thickness to ~1.15mm. I think reaming could be a reasonable option here. 

[Cwebb]

12 minutes ago, RPMzz said:

 

Copy that. I have yet to attempt to prep a .335 shaft to fit, but have an old pull I'll experiment with first. Good to know the full ~2.6"+ isn't needed, I'll see what I can manage.

 

 

 

Minimum wall thickness I'm measuring in the hosel is 1.35mm - reaming from .320 to .335 = 0.015" = 0.381mm --> taking .1905mm from the hosel, bringing min hosel wall thickness to ~1.15mm. I think reaming could be a reasonable option here. 

 

I'd still rather make them blind bores, which will make the shafts play more normal to flex

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, Stuart_G said:

 

Just curious, why do you say that?   Do think the hosel wall isn't thick enough to remove .0075" - or just the general difficulty of drilling steel?

 

I can't say that I know any better but I'd be very surprised if it's the first case and the second could be managed by a local machine shop (if one had enough of a desire to pay for the work).

Without knowing the thickness of the hosel wall, it would be a risky thing to do, IMO.  Best case scenario, nothing bad happens.  Worst case, you destroy the head.  For a club that is 32+ years old, I'm not sure if it is even worth the effort.

 

I think the best thing to do is to cut some slots into a .335" shaft and hope that works.  That would be my first thing to try.

Edited April 23 by Socrates

[Stuart_G]

15 hours ago, RPMzz said:

Minimum wall thickness I'm measuring in the hosel is 1.35mm - reaming from .320 to .335 = 0.015"

 

Yes, but that's the reduction in diameter - so only half of that will be taken off (each side) of the hosel wall thickness = 0.0075" =  0.19mm.

 

For that little, it wouldn't even bother me for someone to sand the tip down to fit as an alternative.

 

15 hours ago, Socrates said:

Without knowing the thickness of the hosel wall, it would be a risky thing to do, IMO. 

 

Thanks for the answer.   I'm not sure I agree it really is all that risky for such a small amount - but yes it is an unknown so each person has to make their own judgement on the risks.

 

Edited April 24 by Stuart_G

[Ri_Redneck]

First, see how far the .335 prepped shaft inserts. If it's 1.5", then you're good to go with the faux thru-bore. If not, take the reamer and use it to get the shafting depth to at least 1.5", then do the faux thru-bore.

 

To do the faux, seal the bottom of the bore with a good tape (applied to the bottom of the club). Mix up some black epoxy and pour it in the hosel to the proper depth and place the head sole-down until it has cured. Remove the tape and buff the sole to clean things up. Use an R size drill with a drill stop to clear the hosel to the proper depth and shaft just like a blind bore.

 

BT

Edited April 23 by Ri_Redneck

[RPMzz]

Following up for visibility to any future internet travelers - 

 

RE: cutting slots in a .335" shaft to fit the .320" hosel - I ended up feeling that I could not accurately enough cut said slots while maintaining the structural integrity of the shaft. 

 

I ended up reaming the .320" hosel up to .335" (8.5mm) by hand, used a high quality tapping/cutting oil. This worked great! I can now insert a properly tipped modern .335" shaft around 1.3-1.5" into the hosel. Using as blind bore moving forward.

 

On 4/23/2024 at 1:13 PM, Ri_Redneck said:

To do the faux, seal the bottom of the bore with a good tape (applied to the bottom of the club). Mix up some black epoxy and pour it in the hosel to the proper depth and place the head sole-down until it has cured. Remove the tape and buff the sole to clean things up. Use an R size drill with a drill stop to clear the hosel to the proper depth and shaft just like a blind bore.

 

Really appreciate this tip for the faux bore-thru - it worked brilliantly! I mixed up some clear epoxy with a drop of black alcohol ink & taped off the sole with duct tape (painter's/masking tapes both failed). The "plug" looks as good as new!

Edited April 25 by RPMzz