Putter Refinishing: Caswells 101

[GUMBINGER]

haha No worries. I think I soaked for a min or two, gave it a good scrub with the steel wool and repeated 3-4 times. PS - For some reason It doesnt turn out as nice on the older pings... It looks good, but not as clean as the Scotties or other milled putters (Ive done my Redwood and the flange on my Machine). I think it has something to do with the cast metal? Good luck!

[KarstenK]

great pics, my Caswell's order should arrive this week, cant wait!

[mr75204]

Sweet!!!

[Floratine]

I have a set of Cobra S3 Pro forged satin irons..........i haven't seen any info about guys doing the caswell treatment to irons. So, can I? Will it work or will it wear off quicky?

Thx for your input!

[GUMBINGER]

I've never done it on any irons, but if they are stainless steel, it will work. The only thing is, it will wear pretty quickly on the irons... a lot more contact with the turf/dirt.

[Floratine]

[quote name='GUMBINGER' timestamp='1316843030' post='3587164']
I've never done it on any irons, but if they are stainless steel, it will work. The only thing is, it will wear pretty quickly on the irons... a lot more contact with the turf/dirt.
[/quote]



Thanks for the response.

I'd love my irons to have the look of the TM TP Smokes................just how quickly are we talking about it wearing? I know the factoring black finish, ie, adams cb, tm burner 2.0 and so on wears quickly......


Justin

[XHILR8N]

When you redid the paintfill in the cherry dots, how did you go about that? Did you just fill the dots and wipe off with acetone or what? Hopefully acetone or the like has no effect on the finish if done this way. Plan to do this to my fastback, think it would look sick.


Jason

[GUMBINGER]

[quote name='Floratine' timestamp='1316887175' post='3587884']
[quote name='GUMBINGER' timestamp='1316843030' post='3587164']
I've never done it on any irons, but if they are stainless steel, it will work. The only thing is, it will wear pretty quickly on the irons... a lot more contact with the turf/dirt.
[/quote]



Thanks for the response.

I'd love my irons to have the look of the TM TP Smokes................just how quickly are we talking about it wearing? I know the factoring black finish, ie, adams cb, tm burner 2.0 and so on wears quickly......


Justin
[/quote]


I dont know how quickly it would wear, but Im sure it would be similar to the black finish on the Adams CB, or black Cleveland wedges. It would wear the fastest on the sole and the face....
And if the irons have any sort of plating or chrome, I dont believe it will hold. Dont quote me on that, though! Just my guess! Good luck!

[GUMBINGER]

[quote name='XHILR8N' timestamp='1317656822' post='3618893']
When you redid the paintfill in the cherry dots, how did you go about that? Did you just fill the dots and wipe off with acetone or what? Hopefully acetone or the like has no effect on the finish if done this way. Plan to do this to my fastback, think it would look sick.


Jason
[/quote]

On this particluar putter I left the original paint in the dots, Caswelled it and then removed the paint. The dots are now the color of the original steel - no paint. The acetone has no effect on the finish, so you can paint it whatever color you want. Paint your little heart out!

[gjoliver]

nice thread. very informative. thanks.

[XHILR8N]

Sounds like a plan... Was actually thinking about a bronze or dull gold color forthe dots and white lettering.

[oldhamer25]

Question for those who have done this. I have read in other threads where after you soak and do the steel wool you should rinse with water and then do that step over until you get the color you are looking for. The op makes it sound like he doesn't rinse until he has completed soaking and steel wool process. Do you need to rinse each time or just dip it back in the Caswells?

[KarstenK]

[quote name='oldhamer25' timestamp='1317764880' post='3625029']
Question for those who have done this. I have read in other threads where after you soak and do the steel wool you should rinse with water and then do that step over until you get the color you are looking for. The op makes it sound like he doesn't rinse until he has completed soaking and steel wool process. Do you need to rinse each time or just dip it back in the Caswells?
[/quote]
no need to rerinse, just dip and lightly scrub, dip again & scrub, until you get the desired color. It will begin to darken really fast. Have fun, its a great project to bring an old putter to life again or make a new putter look like a custom beauty.

[oldhamer25]

I am curious to see if anyone has had any problems with using acetone to clean up after doing the paintfill. I caswelled two putters and did the paintfill and as I was cleaning up the paint outside the lines it seemed to mess up the blackening.

[oldhamer25]

Well, I guess I am the only one who has ever had this problem with acetone discoloring the caswell finish. While I was waiting for any responses, I did a little experimenting with some ways to fix this problem and here is what I discovered. If I rubbed lightly with some 0000 steel wool it helped to remove the discoloring and get the areas to a much better appearance. I have attached some pictures to show the after of the pictures in my above post.

[GUMBINGER]

[quote name='oldhamer25' timestamp='1320382355' post='3757747']
Well, I guess I am the only one who has ever had this problem with acetone discoloring the caswell finish. While I was waiting for any responses, I did a little experimenting with some ways to fix this problem and here is what I discovered. If I rubbed lightly with some 0000 steel wool it helped to remove the discoloring and get the areas to a much better appearance. I have attached some pictures to show the after of the pictures in my above post.
[/quote]



I've had similar issues as well, but I don't think they are from the acetone (I could be wrong). My theory is that it is just oil from your skin... The steel wool trick works great to get rid of it - or to make it nice and even, just rub the whole thing down with your greasy fingers!

PS- Nice work!

[Scuderia]

That looks great! Thanks for the info. I wont try on my epon, but will give it a shot on one of my scotty's.

[ben w]

you guys lightly scrub with the steel wool (wearing gloves) while it's still wet in the caswell solution between dippings though, right? you don't dry it off while you do it?

[oldhamer25]

[quote name='ben w' timestamp='1320419711' post='3758823']
you guys lightly scrub with the steel wool (wearing gloves) while it's still wet in the caswell solution between dippings though, right? you don't dry it off while you do it?
[/quote]


Yes, you dip the steel wool in the solution and rub over the putter to get everything to look even. After using the steel wool, I just put the head back into the solution for another soak. I think I did this about 4-5 times.

[ben w]

oh OK. I'm probably going to do my studio stainless this winter, go fully dark with it.

[Custom]

I have aquestion on the seeler. How long does it need to sit on the putter if i use a foam brush to paint it on. Or what is the best method to using it? Thanks.

[Runt1122]

[b]How durable is the Caswell's finish? Does it eventually rub off?[/b]

[mdgboxx]

How durable is the Caswell's finish? Does it eventually rub off?

 

I know.....BUMP!

 

 

Did you ever get an answer to this question?

 

By PM, maybe?

[finchi5]

 

 

Do you think the gel or liquid is best. I believe this one was done using the gel.

 

For those who use the acid first, do you wash it off or dunk it with the acid still on it?

[finchi5]

Omg I used the liquid tonight on a project and its absolutely lethal. The vapours are terrible even through a respirator.

 

I can only seem to produce a dark grey as opposed to black for some reason? Anyone have any ideas why?

[Tigerslsu985]

I'd like to know how durable this is as well

[Scottyguy68]

this may already be answered, but does this product work on Carbon?

[Scotty1140]

this may already be answered, but does this product work on Carbon?

Caswells makes a black oxide specifically for carbon.

[choppstixxx]

Here's a few pics of my Laguna 1.5 Caswell'd:

 

It's not perfect, but neither is the putter head. I love the look with the big white Scotty lettering!

[richie24]

Here is some pics of my Studio Stainless using Caswells Stainless steel blackener gel