Renovating old and rusty Wedges back to life

[Vapor]

I must pay homage to Mr Jones for this thread.

 

This is what I came up with after following his instruction:

 

 

Worth 6 hours of anyones time if you ask me. You're not gonna find another set like it.

[Howard_Jones]

That's the kind of feedback i love;-) Seeing other players being able to do it after a simple instruction is priceless,

By the way, those look awesome . Nice job, and cool pick of color's. Never saw that combo before.

[j-daniel]

I must pay homage to Mr Jones for this thread.

 

This is what I came up with after following his instruction:

 

 

Worth 6 hours of anyones time if you ask me. You're not gonna find another set like it.

 

 

How is it you make them black what roduct do you use and does it need to be tourched?

 

thanks i want my raw vokeys like yours!

[Vapor]

[quote name='Howard Jones' timestamp='1293198844' post='2857170']
That's the kind of feedback i love;-) Seeing other players being able to do it after a simple instruction is priceless,

By the way, those look awesome . Nice job, and cool pick of color's. Never saw that combo before.
[/quote]

Thanks. I really struggled picking my own colors as I couldn't get past the sweet looking red,silver and gold combo on the vokey you pictured. I just wanted something that would suit the white and black ferrules I had left over from another build. Came out pretty classy I think though.

Thanks for all your help, I will be making a habit of this from now on with the groove change coming into play.

[Vapor]

I must pay homage to Mr Jones for this thread.

 

This is what I came up with after following his instruction:

 

 

Worth 6 hours of anyones time if you ask me. You're not gonna find another set like it.

 

 

How is it you make them black what roduct do you use and does it need to be tourched?

 

thanks i want my raw vokeys like yours!

 

I used what Howard recommended, Birchwood Casey Gun Blue. Its really cheap and a bottle will do alot of wedges etc. I bought mine online for £5 (about 10 bucks). Its really easy to do, the paintfill is the tricky/fiddly bit. If you follow Howards instruction you should have no problem. Post pics.

[hittingitdeep]

crap that is an amazing fix on the leading edge!!!

[360_CS]

Wow. This is the best thread ever. Cannot wait to try this.

[PhilTickelson]

Any ideas on how to get an indigo finish like the limited edition vokeys?

[Howard_Jones]

[quote name='PhilTickelson' timestamp='1294989118' post='2895940']
Any ideas on how to get an indigo finish like the limited edition vokeys?
[/quote]

Sorry I don't know that, but I've found a web page for "Metal Artists" who share a lot of knowledge and methods for making colours and patinas to any metal surface.(stainless steel to)
I've been reading about a method to make a stainless steel wood head Black . I have not done it yet, but will give it a shot and tell you if it can be done that way.

Its about adding copper to the steel surface.
The stainless steel head, should be stripped for all paint
Use a torch to heat the club head to a certain temp .(got it written down somewhere) I will use a laser temp gun to follow up on surface temp
When the temp on the surface is made, it shall be scrubbed with a brush of pure copper. (No idea for how long)
This heat and brush treatment will add copper to the surface making an alloy that becomes black when heated op again.
That's the way it should go, but let's see if that's all there is to it ;-)
I guess I will have to do this operation a few time to make the finish I want, which is a mat black, no glare "stealth look"head.

If you folks like to know about special stuff like this, i suggest you take a look on this web page:
[url="http://www.metalartistforum.com/maf/index.php?/forum/5-metal-finishing/"]http://www.metalarti...etal-finishing/[/url]

Chemicals like Black oxide and Plum Browing etc.
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0/avs|Manufacturer_1=BIRCHWOOD+CASEY/Products/BIRCHWOOD_CASEY

ReproChrome :
http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/reprochrome.html

[balm426]

Those wedges look great. How are they holding up?

[Cameron proz]

This looks great, im thinking about doing a black oxide finish on my ping wedges.

[CallawayKid86]

Thank you for this post. They look great. What type of file did you use for the face and leading edge? I have some pretty good nicks in mine so I really want to do this, but make sure I don't take out too much of the face. Thanks!!

[itsjappo]

wow. amazing job =)

[Shwagin1066]

Extremely impressive work, my hat is off to you

[scifisicko]

WOW! 1 question though, after you have reamed the grooves with the groove sharpener, are they still legal?? I tried it on a newish 54* vokey and was amazed at how much metal i removed ( you could pretty quickly turn a v into a u with one of these tools) and how much effect it had on spin. After thinking about it I put the wedge to one side figuring the grooves would already have been on the limit. I asked about it on here and some people agreed. I havent played it since, any thoughts?

[Joeypole]

Great work. I'm glad someone brought this thread back up. I may be playing around with this again.


On wedge grooves and legality of them. Ever wonder why Scratch wedges and Eidolon wedges spin more than OEM offerings? They finish the grooves to the max after the face has been milled. The OEM's cut the grooves and then mill the faces. So your maximum groove depth is then cut down. This is from Eidolon Golf.

Flat head screw driver cleans up and sharpens grooves pretty nicely without going crazy with a regroove tool.

[Go Cards!]

This is inspiring, makes me want to start a club project!!! Thanks for taking the time to explain and document your process.

[Howard_Jones]

[quote name='CallawayKid86' timestamp='1310579238' post='3388423']
Thank you for this post. They look great. What type of file did you use for the face and leading edge? I have some pretty good nicks in mine so I really want to do this, but make sure I don't take out too much of the face. Thanks!!
[/quote]

Oh.. i did not know this old tread was back to life to :-)

Its nothing special about the files i'm using. At the time i made those a had a special file for gun smith jobs, but its worn out, so i just bought a few new ones in a hardware store.
They are fine grade, and the surface of it only got diagonal "grooves". I spray it with WD40 to "clean it" between use (4-6 strokes, then rinse the file with WD40, while working on the face)

A flat face is VERY important for spin, so wear and tear are no good.
If you use a re-groover and don't "over do it", there should not be any worries about it being legal or not. I measure with plastiage and i never made them to wide or to deep.
(plastiage is a syntetic line with a constant diameter, meant to be squeezed between engine bearings to measure clearance)

You can do the same thing with a chromed wedge, but you will cut trough the protective chrome, but if its worn out any way, its only the black oxide job you cant do.

[Nessism]

Fantastic write up here. Thanks so much for taking the time to put this together. I love do-it-yourself projects like this.

A couple of alternatives to using Coke (phosphoric acid) as a derusting agent include Bar Keepers Friend (oxalic acid) or vinegar (acetic acid). The oxalic acid is my preferred method, which also works great on stainless. Both of these methods are significantly more effective at removing the rust, yet they are mild enough to not damage the metal.

[mstrymxer]

bump

[ladahl]

Okay. So I decided to try my hand at this. I have a 54 and 59 Scratch 8620 wedge set in D/S. I also have a 54 and 59 in S/S on their way.... I can't decide the look I want to go for....

I "blued" the 59* (3 times blued/steelwooled). I can always remove the "blue"

The 54 still sits untouched.

These are RAW heads, and I have not yet decided if I will oil them, or let them rust.

What look do you guys like them best?

1) raw, no blue, no oil (will rust)
2) no blue, oiled
3) raw, blued, no oil (will rust)
4) blued, oiled

[com98dore]

[quote name='ladahl' timestamp='1320003928' post='3738873']
Okay. So I decided to try my hand at this. I have a 54 and 59 Scratch 8620 wedge set in D/S. I also have a 54 and 59 in S/S on their way.... I can't decide the look I want to go for....

I "blued" the 59* (3 times blued/steelwooled). I can always remove the "blue"

The 54 still sits untouched.

These are RAW heads, and I have not yet decided if I will oil them, or let them rust.

What look do you guys like them best?

1) raw, no blue, no oil (will rust)
2) no blue, oiled
3) raw, blued, no oil (will rust)
4) blued, oiled
[/quote]

I voted for option 4. Less glare and less rust. This is a great thread and has given me some ideas for some wedge projects this winter.

[ladahl]

That's what i decided on.... I played them for the first time today... The are going to look cooler and cooler the more wear in the face/sole I think.

[quote name='com98dore' timestamp='1320180942' post='3747719']
[quote name='ladahl' timestamp='1320003928' post='3738873']
Okay. So I decided to try my hand at this. I have a 54 and 59 Scratch 8620 wedge set in D/S. I also have a 54 and 59 in S/S on their way.... I can't decide the look I want to go for....

I "blued" the 59* (3 times blued/steelwooled). I can always remove the "blue"

The 54 still sits untouched.

These are RAW heads, and I have not yet decided if I will oil them, or let them rust.

What look do you guys like them best?

1) raw, no blue, no oil (will rust)
2) no blue, oiled
3) raw, blued, no oil (will rust)
4) blued, oiled
[/quote]

I voted for option 4. Less glare and less rust. This is a great thread and has given me some ideas for some wedge projects this winter.
[/quote]

[friggingruven]

I have been looking for a good thread with great advice for refinishing wedges.... Looks like I found it

 

Even the links are awesome

[Brad0731]

Definitely bookmarking this post, lots of good info.

[Muckyboy]

Inspired by this post I decided to have a go myself. Here's what happened.....

 

I started out by buying a couple of candidates off eBay - a 54* RAW and a 58* Oilcan - (excuse the pics - i was so eager to start I forgot to take the before photos!!) :-

 

 

 

After soaking in Coke - I promise I used Coke not chopped tomatoes!!:-

 

 

And the semi-finished articles:-

 

 

 

This was all I could do in my garage with a limited supply of tools but I gave these a good buffing with some metal polish and a cloth mop on my dad's grinder and it really helped them - I'll post some more pics but not until I do the gun blueing process - I had no idea you could get it so dark!!

[Brad0731]

I bought these Raw Vokeys last night, I cant wait to try out my own refinishing job. Plus, $48 shipped for two Titleist Wedges isn't bad....especially if they turn out like those I have seen here.

[Konopski2]

Awesome finish to the wedges!!

[Nessism]

[quote name='Brad0731' timestamp='1328140625' post='4193941']
I bought these Raw Vokeys last night, I cant wait to try out my own refinishing job. Plus, $48 shipped for two Titleist Wedges isn't bad....especially if they turn out like those I have seen here.
[/quote]

That 56 can be brought back nicely, but the 52 has significant wear on the face and grooves. It's one thing to sand out minor dings, but you can't replace metal on the face and grooves short of welding and then machining again.

[Muckyboy]

[quote name='ladahl' timestamp='1320003928' post='3738873']

I "blued" the 59* (3 times blued/steelwooled). I can always remove the "blue"

[/quote]

Did you use a degreaser after each steelwool use?

Steelwool normally has an amount of oil in it which would prevent the blue from taking.

Just wondered as i'm intending to try it and you've acheived a really good finish!!