~Pulling a Callaway I-mix Shaft Tip~

[Deerslayer]

I sucessfully pulled an I-mix tip from a shaft and replaced the shaft

I know that this won't be REAL useful right now, but when shaft prices drop on used I-mix shafts, here is how you can safely remove a tip and reset it on another shaft that you may have.

My son plays a Matrix Ozik Xcon 5 shaft in R flex in his FT-5 driver. I bought a FT-5 Tour 9.5 I-mix for him and of all the 70+ shafts that ARE offered, no Matrix Ozik "R" flex is offered for I-mix.

I bought the cheapest I-mix shaft that I could and wanted to re-shaft the tip with one of two Ozik R flex shafts that I have at home.
Studying the tip, it first appeared that the plastic ferrule at the top of the tip went to the etire length beneath the titanium threaded ferrule atop an aluminum triangular black swedge cut piece. I did not want to apply alot of heat the the threaded piece in fear that it would melt or deform the plastic sleeve or what I thought was plastic beneath it. Using a Hot-Rod would be the safest way to remove the tip.

First, clamp the shaft in a hydraulic shaft puller. Place the tool that comes with the I-mix head on the titanium ferrule and use the tool like the head of the club to press against.

Heat a Hot Rod that is long enough to reach from the butt end of the shaft to the tip. Heat the tip red hot and insert into the butt end of the shaft until the hot tip is in the I-mix Head tip of the shaft. Repeat this a couple of times applying pressure on the rod and also apply some heat to the swedge tip end.
Pump the press and Wol-ahh!

To my surprise, I found that the tip was NOT constructed exactly like I thought.

The ONLY plastic on the tip at all is the tiny ferrule end that is clearly visible. This plastic ferrule tip is cosmetic only too! The titanium threaded sleeve is over an aluminum sleeve!
The only thing you could damage if applying normal heat to the tip to pull it is the matt colored plastic ferrule at the top of the tip.
If you had too, you probably could just heat the aluminum swedge tip and pull the tip if you dont have a Hot Rod to use. You will just have to be carefull not to heat the top of the tip where the plastic ferrule is. It wouldnt be alot to make a replacement if you did damage the plastic ferrule too.

The tip accepts a .350 tip and I was expecting to have to use a brass shim to re-shaft, however........When I test fit the .335 shaft in the tip, I found that when the shaft seated all the way, the tip would perfectly center and hold not needing a shim. It worked perfectly.

I cleaned the epoxy residue from the inside of the tip and re-shafted with the .335 tip of the Xcon5 R flex

I drew a picture that shows my interpretation on how they are built for anyone who may ever want to pull one :good:



The attachment is what the tip will look like once you pull it from the shaft. There is no reason to ever remove the retainer ring

[heybrady]

Nice. I am not a big Cally or Imix fan, but nonetheless that is a cool experiment. Now how long until a 3rd party makes that adapter for sale, similar to the knockoff TM weights that are available.

[TheCapedAvenger]

Nice. I am not a big Cally or Imix fan, but nonetheless that is a cool experiment. Now how long until a 3rd party makes that adapter for sale, similar to the knockoff TM weights that are available.

 

I'm sure there is already a team of guys with calipers and wax casting moulds happily copying away. It seems like a pretty simple job for a nation that routinely copies complex electronics like china or korea.

[thewitt]

The hot rod down the shaft will ruin the shaft. To get enough heat inside a graphite shaft to break down the epoxy outside the shaft (graphite acts as an insulator) means you have broken down the strength in the resin holding the shaft together.

 

Most shafting epoxy breaks down at around 250 degrees.

 

Most epoxy resin used in shaft manufacturing breaks down between 350 and 450 degrees.

 

A red hot steel rod is about 1100 degrees...

 

Though you may or may not see a failure of the shaft, you have done damage to the structure by using a hot rod inside the shaft.

 

-t

[statechamps08]

golfsmith has the "copy cat" stuff already. And it cost nothing near what teh imix cost and will work with and driver you have. Makes more sence to me

[Deerslayer]

The hot rod down the shaft will ruin the shaft. To get enough heat inside a graphite shaft to break down the epoxy outside the shaft (graphite acts as an insulator) means you have broken down the strength in the resin holding the shaft together.

 

Trust me, I have pulled a few shafts in my day.........I did not ruin the shaft that I pulled. Hot rodding a shaft is used more often to pull a bore through shaft driver or a fairway metal & hybrid. My intent was NOT to save the shaft anyway, it was to save the tip to install the tip on shaft that I needed it on! I discovered AFTER pulling the tip: You probably don't even need to hot-rod the tip to get it off safely. Simply apply heat to the swedge aluminum tip and pull it from the shaft. I am sure you can calculate the exact temperature the aluminum needs to be before the epoxy fails I am not NEAR that smart, :good: I just apply heat with a heat gun until I can hydraulically pull the shaft. I must be REALLY lucky too, I havent had any of the shafts I pulled break down and fail in a single club! If you dont think a graphite shaft conducts heat well.......feel the tip of a shaft when you pull it from ANY head, I assure you it is greater than 250 degrees!

[tercoidegw]

thank you very much, very nice first post :good:

 

 

I'll try it, but I think if you take the small ferrule, and the titanium sleeve up, you can heat easily the aluminium directly and then do the pull.

[BigLeftyinAZ]

So these shafts are not tipped to compensate for these special adapters?

[blade_man]

So these shafts are not tipped to compensate for these special adapters?

 

My exact question! So do you?

[BigLeftyinAZ]

I know you have to with the other adapters out there.

[rblmp32]

golfsmith has the "copy cat" stuff already. And it cost nothing near what teh imix cost and will work with and driver you have. Makes more sence to me

 

 

That ain't copycat stuff...pretty sure it's been around as long or longer than the Imix.

[gochargers5]

Melting temperature of aluminum is 660 degree. So, mini torch is no good at all. Try heat gun...

[Gxgolfer]

I thought the tips were made of titanium?

 

Are you referring to tipping for CPM?

 

I thought I heard the connex(sp?) adapters were deemed non-conforming for play.

[Falang_Golfer]

This thread seems to be a few things merged together but if you are referring to the I-Mix the threads are titanium but the "wedge" piece is aluminum.

[Irrenarzt]

Can you buy OEM i-mix tips by themselves? Just curious...

[Gxgolfer]

Can you buy OEM i-mix tips by themselves? Just curious...

 

Nope.

[Irrenarzt]

Thanks man.

[joey3108]

The adaptor has Titaniums outer screw parts and Aluminium inner part ( the black part that hold the shaft ).

 

If the pulling process got to much heat, the screw part won't turn smootly anymore and the blue loctite will burn completely. One of the parts expanded and somehow didn't came back to original form. Still work fine!

 

MOST of the shaft was tipped 3/4" from Callaway before installation to get close to the same stiffness of non callaway I mix head. IMO they don't play the same.

 

I Mix heads (FT5 and FTi) have a 206-207 grm at 99% rate. Most of them end up with a heavy swing weight @45" due to this head weight.

 

Picture below is one of the adaptor that i took a part and save every single part of it for reuse per customers requested shaft replacement.

 

Note: Don't use a hot rod technique as much as possible, especially on a lightweight thin shaft. It will weaken the resin around the tip are and I highly never recommend to reuse that shaft anymore as It become high % of brakage IMO.

[rlheiman]

I just took apart a spare I-mix tip so I could put it on a shaft not offered by Callaway.

 

I will just share what I did. I used the i-mix tool on the sleeve and then a spacer so I didn't damage the ferrule. Sprayed the titanium sleeve and tool with heat shield. Tool the heat gun and added a little heat to the black aluminum tip. A couple seconds and pressure and pop right off. Really easy.

 

I saved the ferrule, but the new shaft is .335, any ideas on where to get a new ferrule. It doesn't look like the old ferrule will work. Too much space. The standard ones I have in my shop are not even close. Any ideas, I am headed to golfsmith and golfgalaxy later today?

 

Thanks guys for any help

[poppman2142]

I had to make a new ferrule when I reshafted my imix with a f7m2. I basically cut a ferrule in half or the size to match the old one, and sanded it down to approximate outside diameter. Just get a .335 ferrule to match the shaft. Then I put the ferrule on to the shaft part way to hold it(if you have an old .335 shaft to use use that as to not expose the new shaft to undue heat) and then I heated the tip of the imix adapter a few seconds at the top and pushed it into the ferrule to melt it so it blends into the adapter. Repeat it a few times until you get it to the desired depth on the adapter. Just don't heat up the adapter to hot or you will have to redo the locktite. Hope this helps!

[rlheiman]

Thanks, I was struggling on getting the undercut in the ferrule. I used the original ferrule and did some epoxy work to make it look OK, but next time I will try this. Anyone know of a ferrule that has such a thin wall and small outside diameter?

[zenman4711]

I know that this won't be REAL useful right now, but when shaft prices drop on used I-mix shafts, here is how you can safely remove a tip and reset it on another shaft that you may have.

 

My son plays a Matrix Ozik Xcon 5 shaft in R flex in his FT-5 driver. I bought a FT-5 Tour 9.5 I-mix for him and of all the 70+ shafts that ARE offered, no Matrix Ozik "R" flex is offered for I-mix.

 

I bought the cheapest I-mix shaft that I could and wanted to re-shaft the tip with one of two Ozik R flex shafts that I have at home.

Studying the tip, it first appeared that the plastic ferrule at the top of the tip went to the etire length beneath the titanium threaded ferrule atop an aluminum triangular black swedge cut piece. I did not want to apply alot of heat the the threaded piece in fear that it would melt or deform the plastic sleeve or what I thought was plastic beneath it. Using a Hot-Rod would be the safest way to remove the tip.

 

First, clamp the shaft in a hydraulic shaft puller. Place the tool that comes with the I-mix head on the titanium ferrule and use the tool like the head of the club to press against.

 

Heat a Hot Rod that is long enough to reach from the butt end of the shaft to the tip. Heat the tip red hot and insert into the butt end of the shaft until the hot tip is in the I-mix Head tip of the shaft. Repeat this a couple of times applying pressure on the rod and also apply some heat to the swedge tip end.

Pump the press and Wol-ahh!

 

To my surprise, I found that the tip was NOT constructed exactly like I thought.

 

The ONLY plastic on the tip at all is the tiny ferrule end that is clearly visible. This plastic ferrule tip is cosmetic only too! The titanium threaded sleeve is over an aluminum sleeve!

The only thing you could damage if applying normal heat to the tip to pull it is the matt colored plastic ferrule at the top of the tip.

If you had too, you probably could just heat the aluminum swedge tip and pull the tip if you dont have a Hot Rod to use. You will just have to be carefull not to heat the top of the tip where the plastic ferrule is. It wouldnt be alot to make a replacement if you did damage the plastic ferrule too.

 

The tip accepts a .350 tip and I was expecting to have to use a brass shim to re-shaft, however........When I test fit the .335 shaft in the tip, I found that when the shaft seated all the way, the tip would perfectly center and hold not needing a shim. It worked perfectly.

 

I cleaned the epoxy residue from the inside of the tip and re-shafted with the .335 tip of the Xcon5 R flex

 

I drew a picture that shows my interpretation on how they are built for anyone who may ever want to pull one :scare2:

 

 

The attachment is what the tip will look like once you pull it from the shaft. There is no reason to ever remove the retainer ring

 

Thanks for the explanation and diagram. I have a question if you don't mind--when you remove the tip does it come out as one piece or does it break down like in your diagrams? Like you, I have a X-con 5 I would like to use with my iMix FT9. And did you have to modify the ferrule to fit the .335 shaft?

 

Thanks.

 

Bobby

[Beung]

 

Can I ask, was the retainer clip glued to the adator or does it spin freely?

 

Reason I ask is that today I tried to unscrew the head off and the clip came out of the groove it sits in. So now when the screw part pushes against the clip, the clip just opens up and comes out of the groove really easy. So now there is nothing for the screw part to push the shaft away from the head, it stays in by the compression fit.

 

I assume it is glued in because the gap in the clip ring itself looks to be about the same as on mine and I don't imagine the clip is designed to stay closed since I can put the clip back into the groove with just a finger nail.

 

Would regular club head epoxy do to keep the clip in? I don't want to have to send the shaft away to Callaway since it is currently my only shaft.

[Beung]

 

Can I ask, was the retainer clip glued to the adator or does it spin freely?

 

Reason I ask is that today I tried to unscrew the head off and the clip came out of the groove it sits in. So now when the screw part pushes against the clip, the clip just opens up and comes out of the groove really easy. So now there is nothing for the screw part to push the shaft away from the head, it stays in by the compression fit.

 

I assume it is glued in because the gap in the clip ring itself looks to be about the same as on mine and I don't imagine the clip is designed to stay closed since I can put the clip back into the groove with just a finger nail.

 

Would regular club head epoxy do to keep the clip in? I don't want to have to send the shaft away to Callaway since it is currently my only shaft.

 

Does no one know the answer to my question or has this thread fallen too far off the beaten path to be viewed by some one who knows the answer?

[stage1350]

I would call Callaway and let them know that the retainer clip came loose and your'e worried about the shaft integrity.

 

Call them directly and let them know this is your only shaft. My warranty issues with them were usually handled immediately. They overnighted me a club after I gave them my credit card number. I packed up the defective item in the same box and shipped it back to them on their nickel. That way, you're back in business asap.

 

Call their customer service number. Their service department is probably the best in the busniess.

[daMANiack]

Hi,

 

I haven't got a Callaway i-Mix shaft to try, but I think the safest way to remove shaft without damaging ferrule or sleeve would be to:

1. Get a piece of 1/4" thick flat steel or similar
   
2. Drill a hole and tap a thread that will accept the i-Mix connector thread
   
3. Remove grip from shaft
   
4. Screw i-Mix shaft into the 1/4" steel section
   
5. Insert Callaway ferrule sleeve over butt end of shaft
   
6. Clamp into shaft extractor and apply pressure
   
7. Lightly heat the bottom of steel plate and aluminium i-Mix connector
   

Hopefully the epoxy will breakdown quickly without any damage to any of the components.

 

Cheerz :) :D ;)

[daMANiack]

[quote name='Deerslayer' post='1020144' date='Apr 14 2008, 11:13 PM'][b][i]The tip accepts a .350 tip and I was expecting to have to use a brass shim to re-shaft, however........When I test fit the .335 shaft in the tip, I found that when the shaft seated all the way, the tip would perfectly center and hold not needing a shim. It worked perfectly.
[/i][/b]
I cleaned the epoxy residue from the inside of the tip and re-shafted with the .335 tip of the Xcon5 R flex

I drew a picture that shows my interpretation on how they are built for anyone who may ever want to pull one [/quote]

Hi,

I can confirm what Deerslayer said regarding installing a .335 tip shaft into a Callaway i-Mix connector, push it all the way in and the .335" tip centres itself in the .350" connector.

Callaway must've designed the connector to accept either .335 or .350 tips, I'd noticed when installing the DVS-65R .350" that I had to very slightly taper the tip end for it to fit all the way into the i-Mix connector, now I know why. I tapered as I wanted every bit of the 1" insertion depth.

I tried, there's not enough room in the i-Mix connector to install either a brass shim or a Billy Bob's .335 to .350 ferrule sleeve.

The .335" was a real nice tight fit at the tip base with the shaft centreing itself, quite a bit tigher than a standard .335' hosel, go figure.

Cheerz

[Tarheeldwg]

I was wondering if anyone knows what the tip size of the Imix Fubuki is. 335 or 350?

[hbear]

IMix Fubuki is .350 tip, 4" PTS tipped 0.75" according to Joe.

[broochy]

With the reduction in prices of i-mix gear, surely a few more people are re-shafting i-mix tips.

Can anyone update on what they have done regarding the tipping of shafts?

Joe mentions tipping 0.75". Have people had good results with this?