New Tip Weights for Small ID Graphite Shafts

[dlow206]

As a club builder and graphite player myself, I've always felt there should be better tip weight options for small inner diameter graphite shafts. I came across something new, tungsten tip weights (not the rubber tungsten) with a small diameter, even smaller than the smallest diameter brass ones that I have found.

 

6 gram tungsten, 8 gram tungsten, 10 gram brass (for size reference)

 

The brass is slightly over 0.150 and the tungsten is under that

 

 

[Valtiel]

Interesting, although a couple things would make me nervous about that.

The length of that long boy there easily gets into a part of the shaft that will flex, and brass ain't flexing. I'd be concerned about shaft wear/breakage if it were to flex against that weight at all, especially since in order for that weight to fit snuggly and NOT buzz (@g_nw know's what i'm talking about here 😅) it would need to be tight. You'd need the diameter of the weight to be small enough to allow for shaft flex, but also have something soft AND firm enough to put around it to keep it in place. Seems like a lot of work when you can use the rubber tungsten weights which can be shaped to fit as necessary.

[Bad9]

Wishon offered 9g tungsten weights for years, not sure if they still do.

Edited June 11 by Bad9

[Socrates]

1 hour ago, Valtiel said:

Interesting, although a couple things would make me nervous about that.

The length of that long boy there easily gets into a part of the shaft that will flex, and brass ain't flexing. I'd be concerned about shaft wear/breakage if it were to flex against that weight at all, especially since in order for that weight to fit snuggly and NOT buzz (@g_nw know's what i'm talking about here 😅) it would need to be tight. You'd need the diameter of the weight to be small enough to allow for shaft flex, but also have something soft AND firm enough to put around it to keep it in place. Seems like a lot of work when you can use the rubber tungsten weights which can be shaped to fit as necessary.

There is nothing to be worried about when it comes to the length.  Shaft breakage from epoxy or whatever extending beyond the top of the hosel is an "old wives tale."  I'm sure you can remember the Harrison Shotmaker shaft insert.  Same goes with any internal shaft dampening device.  Never an issue with breakage.

 

The buzz on the other hand, can be a problem.  I have seen the longer ones buzz and you need to make sure it is snug in the shaft. Usually with masking tape on the top end to make a tight fit.  Not my ideal way of setting something up.  Much better to use the rubber tungsten weights.  I buy the biggest ones and trim off the fat end first.  

[Valtiel]

21 minutes ago, Socrates said:

There is nothing to be worried about when it comes to the length.  Shaft breakage from epoxy or whatever extending beyond the top of the hosel is an "old wives tale."  I'm sure you can remember the Harrison Shotmaker shaft insert.  Same goes with any internal shaft dampening device.  Never an issue with breakage.

 

The buzz on the other hand, can be a problem.  I have seen the longer ones buzz and you need to make sure it is snug in the shaft. Usually with masking tape on the top end to make a tight fit.  Not my ideal way of setting something up.  Much better to use the rubber tungsten weights.  I buy the biggest ones and trim off the fat end first.  

The Harrison shotmaker was graphite though, yeah? And super light, i'd assume it could flex where brass wouldn't. That is just an intuitive feeling though, I never did believe the "epoxy above the hosel" one anyway because the little tube of epoxy that we've all removed or drilled out of a club is usually very light and often a little flexible. Never made sense that could break a shaft, but if it were something as inflexible as metal I might have.

Agreed with everything in the second part though, that's exactly how I do it.

[dlow206]

1 hour ago, Socrates said:

There is nothing to be worried about when it comes to the length.  Shaft breakage from epoxy or whatever extending beyond the top of the hosel is an "old wives tale."  I'm sure you can remember the Harrison Shotmaker shaft insert.  Same goes with any internal shaft dampening device.  Never an issue with breakage.

 

The buzz on the other hand, can be a problem.  I have seen the longer ones buzz and you need to make sure it is snug in the shaft. Usually with masking tape on the top end to make a tight fit.  Not my ideal way of setting something up.  Much better to use the rubber tungsten weights.  I buy the biggest ones and trim off the fat end first.  

I’ve always done the masking tape approach and it generally works well

[Stuart_G]

8 hours ago, Valtiel said:

The length of that long boy there easily gets into a part of the shaft that will flex, and brass ain't flexing.

 

The shaft immediately above the hosel really doesn't flex enough for that to be a problem.   It's still part of the reinforced tip section designed into the shaft to handle the high stresses there near the top of the hosel.  As long as you bevel the edges when cutting down to a smaller amount (don't leave any sharp edges or burrs), there wont be any problems.

 

The buzzing certainly is a potential issue.

 

And another thing is that it's easy for the tip weight to get glued into the shaft and become a PITA to remove if you want to reuse the shaft in a different head that needs a different amount of tip weight.   They can't be simply drilled out like lead or the tungsten rubber weights.

 

Despite that I still use the long brass tip weights  for graphite (if I need more than 4 gm) as they are the lesser of all the graphite tip weight evils compared with the heavier tungsten rubber weight that takes up a large portion of the hosel depth (IMO).

 

But I just don't bother with the smaller diameter versions (brass or tungsten).  I still have plenty of the larger diameter ones on hand and I don't have any problems or concerns drilling out the ID to fit the ~0.170" diameter weights from Billy Bob's.

Edited June 11 by Stuart_G

[dlow206]

4 hours ago, Stuart_G said:

 

The shaft immediately above the hosel really doesn't flex enough for that to be a problem.   It's still part of the reinforced tip section designed into the shaft to handle the high stresses there near the top of the hosel.  As long as you bevel the edges when cutting down to a smaller amount (don't leave any sharp edges or burrs), there wont be any problems.

 

The buzzing certainly is a potential issue.

 

And another thing is that it's easy for the tip weight to get glued into the shaft and become a PITA to remove if you want to reuse the shaft in a different head that needs a different amount of tip weight.   They can't be simply drilled out like lead or the tungsten rubber weights.

 

Despite that I still use the long brass tip weights  for graphite (if I need more than 4 gm) as they are the lesser of all the graphite tip weight evils compared with the heavier tungsten rubber weight that takes up a large portion of the hosel depth (IMO).

 

But I just don't bother with the smaller diameter versions (brass or tungsten).  I still have plenty of the larger diameter ones on hand and I don't have any problems or concerns drilling out the ID to fit the ~0.170" diameter weights from Billy Bob's.

 

For the tip weight getting stuck in the shaft, i have been pretty successful avoiding that. I don't epoxy put epoxy on the tip weight stem (i don't think most people do anyway). But then I put a dab of epoxy on the head of the tip weight. When I pull the shaft at a later point in time, the head of the weight tends to get stuck to the bottom of the club head hosel and pull clean out of the shaft. Then its an easy job to pull the weight out of the head. 

[Stuart_G]

5 hours ago, dlow206 said:

(i don't think most people do anyway)

 

I agree - but it's still difficult keeping the epoxy from flowing through the channels used to let the air escape - at least it is for some models.  The ones I used have that channel on the side of the stem - instead of a hole through the middle.   How the weight is designed to allowed the air to escape could certainly make a big difference in how often they might get stuck.

[gdb99]

On 6/10/2024 at 8:51 PM, dlow206 said:

As a club builder and graphite player myself, I've always felt there should be better tip weight options for small inner diameter graphite shafts. I came across something new, tungsten tip weights (not the rubber tungsten) with a small diameter, even smaller than the smallest diameter brass ones that I have found.

 

6 gram tungsten, 8 gram tungsten, 10 gram brass (for size reference)

 

The brass is slightly over 0.150 and the tungsten is under that

 

 

Where did you find these?

[dlow206]

1 hour ago, gdb99 said:

Where did you find these?

Billy Bob's. they are relatively new. 

[ChristopherMcDonald]

 

13 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

Billy Bob's. they are relatively new. 

Those look awesome. I resorted to drilling out the ID but this seems like a good fix. 
 

edit: Billy Bob’s really is for the people. Always coming out with the stuff needed for us amateur builders to swingweight effectively. I have a crazy heavy back weight in my sim2, only way to get to d2.5. From none other than Billy bobs 

Edited June 12 by ChristopherMcDonald