Refinishing MacGregor diamondbacks

stixman · January 21, 2012

Only a few weeks ago I asked for help and info. about some Paul Azinger autograph Mac. diamond backs, to which I got a great response and many thanks.

However, you started an itch and I just had to scratch.

I saw some photos of the 1961 CF4000 MT2s and didn't realise such great looking clubs existed. A week ago there were some Macs. on Ebay, pretty poor photo showing little evidence of the models involved but I bought anyway.

They turned out to be a set of the above, missing the 5 iron, 3 through to DS, in pretty good nick. Also there were 6 Recessed Weight PT2s 3 through 9 missing the 7 , with a copper face finish (1958??)

Leaving aside the issue of the missing clubs for a moment, just what was the finish on these models and how do you recreate it. Charley produced a great spec for us, and it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when a set of 'those' clubs appear from an unopened, unexpected package, His text on his spec. diagram reads ,Ceramic Face, Heavy Shot Blast, Spray Epoxy' Now recreating that might be tricky, fortunately only the 11 and DS wedges have serious loss. And what about the copper faced model, is that electroplated?

Any offers of 'the knowledge'?

Bella Woods · January 21, 2012

Stixman:

According to MacGregor - the black CF4000 irons were created by spraying powdered ceramic
material onto the face of the club at a high temp (4,000 degrees) - fusing the ceramic with the metal.

I am not sure about the earlier copper/bronze faces - MacGregor refers to it as "copper plating" -
somebody on the board will probably know though.

Nice pick up! (and pleasant surprise I am sure).

PKMillerJr · January 21, 2012

[quote name='Bella Woods' timestamp='1327156008' post='4129465']
Stixman:

According to MacGregor - the black CF4000 irons were created by spraying powdered ceramic
material onto the face of the club at a high temp (4,000 degrees) - fusing the ceramic with the metal.

I am not sure about the earlier copper/bronze faces - MacGregor refers to it as "copper plating" -
somebody on the board will probably know though.

Nice pick up! (and pleasant surprise I am sure).
[/quote]

I have a set of SS2's with the black removed. I can't tell if they chromed the face or not or if it is not plated there. Rest of the chrome is fine. I am not sure if I need to rechrome these or not. Any ideas or guesses?

Old Pro · January 21, 2012

Stixman,
One possibility for a black face finish for these is to strip the chrome and mask the face with aluminum tape. Then rechrome the head. After rechroming the head, remove the tape and black oxide the head. Any areas that weren't chromed will be black. It isn't like refinishing it to original, but if you play them the faces could be maintained rather cheaply. The aluminum tape is how Macgregor did the Colokroms and the VIP TP63s. The heads were copper plated, then the heads masked to cover the areas where the copper was to be left. Then they were chromed and the tape remove to reveal the two tone finish. This process can be duplicated for the Colokroms today. In fact, I have seen a custom set of Scratch blades with Colokrom style faces.Anyone who does the "Tour Chrome" with the copper underlayment should be able to mask the faces to get this effect.
Keith

stixman · January 22, 2012

[quote name='Old Pro' timestamp='1327168893' post='4130367']
Stixman,
One possibility for a black face finish for these is to strip the chrome and mask the face with aluminum tape. Then rechrome the head. After rechroming the head, remove the tape and black oxide the head. Any areas that weren't chromed will be black. It isn't like refinishing it to original, but if you play them the faces could be maintained rather cheaply. The aluminum tape is how Macgregor did the Colokroms and the VIP TP63s. The heads were copper plated, then the heads masked to cover the areas where the copper was to be left. Then they were chromed and the tape remove to reveal the two tone finish. This process can be duplicated for the Colokroms today. In fact, I have seen a custom set of Scratch blades with Colokrom style faces.Anyone who does the "Tour Chrome" with the copper underlayment should be able to mask the faces to get this effect.
Keith
[/quote]

Keith,
Thanks for the detail, we have platers locally near Manchester who should be able to do this. They specialise in small bits for old cars. Not much call for golfing related work, a pity but not many golfers here seem to 'get' what we're about.
Cheers, Chris

xgolfx · January 22, 2012

[quote name='stixman' timestamp='1327235184' post='4133589']
[quote name='Old Pro' timestamp='1327168893' post='4130367']
Stixman,
One possibility for a black face finish for these is to strip the chrome and mask the face with aluminum tape. Then rechrome the head. After rechroming the head, remove the tape and black oxide the head. Any areas that weren't chromed will be black. It isn't like refinishing it to original, but if you play them the faces could be maintained rather cheaply. The aluminum tape is how Macgregor did the Colokroms and the VIP TP63s. The heads were copper plated, then the heads masked to cover the areas where the copper was to be left. Then they were chromed and the tape remove to reveal the two tone finish. This process can be duplicated for the Colokroms today. In fact, I have seen a custom set of Scratch blades with Colokrom style faces.Anyone who does the "Tour Chrome" with the copper underlayment should be able to mask the faces to get this effect.
Keith
[/quote]

Keith,
Thanks for the detail, we have platers locally near Manchester who should be able to do this. They specialise in small bits for old cars. Not much call for golfing related work, a pity but not many golfers here seem to 'get' what we're about.
Cheers, Chris
[/quote]

xgolfx · January 22, 2012

Fc4000 black finish was put into the line by ToneyPenna. He came upon the process while in Chicago at Cornell Forge. At Illinois Institute Of Technology, there was a device used to coat the inside of jet airplane engines. The name supposedly came from the temperature of application. Everyone was surprised when the USGA approved the club. Unfortunately, the surface chipped easily from the irons banging against each other in the golf bag.

CHARLEY PENNA