Whip Rite Shafts

[golfasaurus]

Spalding Irons

Anyone familiar with what kind of shafts these are?
They come with a set of old spalding irons. Any help would be great.

[Bella Woods]

golfasaurus;

Those are early 1930s steel shafts with pyratone "sleeves". My guess is that they
are Bristol (Manufacturing Company) steel shafts, for the most part Bristol was
a major player in the fishing rod business. They finally went out of business in the
mid 1950s.

Spalding used Horton, Bristol, True Temper and hickory shafts in those days, the
most volatile time for golf shafts (steel replacing hickory).

I have a set of 1932 Spalding Robert T. Jones, Jr. Kro-Flite (Cushion-Neck) with the
exact same shafts on them. The patents on the shaft decal on the left are all from
a Scotsman named William James Hadden, and all relate to methods of attaching a
golf shaft to a head (that can be relatively easily removed). The Whip-Rite trademark
was an attempt to persuade consumers that these steel shafts were as "smooth
swinging" as the hickories they all were used to. I don't know what the "technology"
was behind it though.

Are your irons Cushion-Neck?

That was Spaldings invention of covering the portion of
the steel shaft that went into the golf club head with a layer of rubber, dampening
the vibration of steel on steel (shaft to head) that people were not used to with the
old hickory shafts. Spalding claimed they were more stable too. Supposedly, it took
1,100 lbs of force to pull a hickory shaft from its head, 1,750 lbs of force to
pull a regular steel shaft from its head, and 1,900 lbs to pull a Cushion-Neck
shaft from its head.

What is the model number of your irons?

[golfasaurus]

Wow...thanks for the information. I am actually bidding on a set of Robert Jones irons that come with this shafts. I am guessing they are the same as yours. I will post pics once I win the auction

[golfasaurus]

I have another question. How does one go about replacing the grips. I would like to put in something as close to what they have (which means leather grips).

[Bella Woods]

golfasaurus:

I would avoid replacing the grips on them if at all possible. You will see when you get them
they have a very pronounced rib on the back of the grip that would be tough to replicate.
Besides, most of the time you can restore them unless they are in really bad shape.

[u]Several methods to restore;
[/u]
1.) Just clean them up really good with Lexol cleaner & conditioner if they are not in bad shape.

2.) If not in the best of shape, rough up the leather (even lightly sand if you have to) and then
use Lexol. If you rough them up enough that you discolor the leather, you can always re-stain
the leather to its original color and then seal it. You could try a stiff brush if you don't feel
comfortable sanding them.

3.) If they are in bad shape and you are feeling industrious, you can strip the leather off the grip
underlisting (leaving the underlisting/rib on the club) and buy new leather "strips" and re-wrap the
grips. You can get the leather from several sources.

Please post pics when you get the clubs, if you include the model number I will look them up in the
Spalding catalog for the year of make, shaft type, etc.

[golfasaurus]

The grips are in pretty bad shape (btw, I won the auction). I bought it mainly cause I wanted the Calamity Jane putter. I am unsure where I can find old school leather grips. I am in Singapore and it is definitely not available here.
[attachment=563904:1932 Bobby Jones 06.jpg]
[attachment=563903:1932 Bobby Jones 05.jpg]
[attachment=563902:1932 Bobby Jones 04.jpg]
[attachment=563901:1932 Bobby Jones 03.jpg]
[attachment=563900:1932 Bobby Jones 02.jpg]
[attachment=563899:1932 Bobby Jones 01.jpg]

The seller has another auction and I got the woods below as well.
[attachment=563908:Spalding Jimmy Thomson 04.jpg]
[attachment=563907:Spalding Jimmy Thomson 03.jpg]
[attachment=563906:Spalding Jimmy Thomson 02.jpg]
[attachment=563905:Spalding Jimmy Thomson 01.jpg]

[2OnePutt]

NICE! I love winning auctions!

[golfasaurus]

Finding these in lefty just make them so much more exciting

[Bella Woods]

golfasaurus:

They had to lefty! (left handed clubs are only mentioned in the old Spalding catalogs as
being "available", for the most part they don't show pictures or describe them).

But judging from your pictures, I would say you have a set of circa 1935 irons (give or take
a year). The patent on your irons (1 551 563) is the Cushion Neck patent originally issued
9/1/1925. The USGA had not yet approved steel shafts for "official"play.

Spalding starts mentioning a new shaft "cushion effect" in their 1928 catalog, but did not call it
Cushion Neck until 1929. The CJ models appear to have started in 1932 but most of the models
had plain brown calfskin grips, I would guess your perforated grips are several years after that.

The woods look like mid to late 1930s as well, maybe a few years later than the irons.

[golfasaurus]

I would have to change the grips if I want to play them. Not sure where I could find leather grips (old school style).
Bella Woods, thanks for the info. It has been most helpful.

[johnalex444]

Golfasauras -

I also have a few sets of irons with older leather wrapping grips that I have used during play. They certainly do get slick with age.

Roughing up the leather does help somewhat, but what I found works best is just wiping the grip before each shot with a damp cloth. (provided that you do wear a golf glove during play)
You might try this prior to going to the time and expense of the 'vintage' regrip.

I have also been told that wiping down with shaving cream helps clean and restore the leather, but have not tried it.

Good luck, the clubs look like they are in phenominal shape.

[golfasaurus]

Considering they are close to 70 years old, I agree they do look good. I can't wait to get my hands on them. Some of the grips on them appears to have been damaged. Looks like I have to find some old school grips. I like the idea of what Moe Norman does. Taking out his grip at night and soaking them.

One of the key reason why I recently started buying vintage clubs is because I want my sons to have a chance to play them. To have a feel of what the greats were playing with