Latest TeI3 Restore Project... Hopefully a fairly detailed DIY

[RookieBlue7]

I did a quick DIY a LOOOOONG while ago that's on here. It was a rush job, and honestly, while it looked fairly decent, I wasn't real proud of it because I did have to rush. This one, I had more time to refinish. I always tell people I'll take their projects on with these things because the putters are beautiful putters and I just can't seem to say no, even though I often find myself questioning, repeatedly and with a lot of anger at myself why I keep taking these TeI3's on. They're a pain in the butt because of all of the refined pieces that are in these things, and the time consuming nature. With that said, let's get on with it.

 

I actually forgot to snap pictures of how this putter looked when I got it. I took some after stripping the rust and elastomer out of it, and hopefully you can still tell that it was in decent shape, but there were some problems with it. The largest problem was that the topline was crushed down onto the insert. I've done some that were worse than this one, but it wasn't a cake walk. The main problem when it's crushed like this is that the insert doesn't want to come out easily like it would if it weren't crushed. I eventually coaxed it out with a few subtle tricks (I ground an automotive pick down to a very fine point and worked it at the topline while simultaneously pushing from the back with a push rod I'd made from an old pin punch I had lying around).

 

Here's how it looked after stripping, beadblasting and removing the elastomer and removing the insert (sorry, thought I took pics of it crushed down and I didn't. This is after I'd worked it just a little, not much as it's still sitting on the insert at this point):

 

 

This is with the insert out at the same point, you can hopefully see that the topline is still crushed at this point:

 

Next comes the most painstaking part of these putters when the topline is crushed, and that's straightening them out. I mark the low spots by putting the insert back into the putter dry fitted with a Sharpie. Once that's done, I use one of several straight edged automotive body work tools and a piece of flat bar stock with a piece of old leather belt sandwiched between the putter head and the anvil portion of my vice. Once I have everything ready, I gently heat with a torch by moving rapidly across the topline in increments of 25 seconds at a time, place the metal bar or body work tool in and lightly tap it into place for 10 seconds then resume heating. This allows the metal to warm up and develop just enough elasticity so it'll move and not crack while not discoloring it from the heat. Oh, and I use welding gloves on the hand I hold the putter with. This is after I'd gotten it pretty straight (almost finished straightening, I let it cool to relax the metal after I get it 75% of the way there to see where it settles before resuming. Most of the time it doesn't move, but it has at times relaxed a hair too far and isn't straight like I like to see).

 

 

From here, I finish straightening the topline. Once that's complete, I begin working the entire putter over by a combination of filing where I can and hand sanding the rest. Here's the initial filing to get dings out(yes, that insert/topline gap looks crooked, it's because when using a set of digital dial calipers, that insert was a hair out of being perfectly straight, not much, but just a little. Anyone that's disassembled one of this generation knocw the insert is about 1/16" larger than what you see as it has a lip):

 

 

 

Then, I begin polishing with differing grits of sandpaper, progressively getting finer until I get the level of polish desired (prep work is key prior to putting the finish on, the higher polish the raw metal, the higher polish the finished product will be and vice versa). Here's after some more prep work is done:

 

 

At this point, I'm about 50% done polishing. Fast forward to being finished polishing. From there, I had a choice to make. I'd told the person originally I'd do a cold black ox, as I don't have a hot black ox process due to cost, licensing, etc. But, on a whim, I contacted a few places that do black oxide dips and finally got one to answer me. Once I got a quote, I decided I was going with a hot process as it yields a much better finished product. So I box it up and ship it off to have the hot black ox applied. Fast forward a week later and I get it back like this:

 

 

From here, it's reassembly time, which is just a reverse of the disassembly(put the insert back in, secure with the allen screws that go in it, then redo the elastomer, squigee excess off and let dry to a tack and then wet wipe the smudges, then let completely dry and remove any remaining excess, paintfill, clean up and then apply eezox oil to it). Here's the finished product, ready for the shaft to be reinstalled(there's a speck of dust on one of the letters in the paintfill. I didn't retake pics because I've got another project going that I have to work on):

 

 

 

Any questions, comments, etc are appreciated. If any of you have one of these you want to do, take your time and do the prep work carefully and cleanly and you'll be surprised at how well your finished product is. As always if there are any questions, don't hesitate to ask. If I can help someone else refinish one of these and never touch another one, I won't be mad at all. LOL

[agadawg17171]

Great job and looks amazing!! How did you get the shine back in the insert?

[Breaker999]

It looked pretty bad when you pulled it apart, but the finished product is excellent!
Thanks for sharing.

[RookieBlue7]

To get the shine back on the insert I polished and rubbed like crazy lol

[agadawg17171]

[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1340896894' post='5183560']
To get the shine back on the insert I polished and rubbed like crazy lol
[/quote]

Any special material or cleaning agent?

[Lov]

beautiful. nice job. can i send you my studio style?

[Teetogreen86]

That is pretty impressive! Great work!

[RookieBlue7]

[quote name='agadawg17171' timestamp='1340897168' post='5183590']
[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1340896894' post='5183560']
To get the shine back on the insert I polished and rubbed like crazy lol
[/quote]

Any special material or cleaning agent?
[/quote]

Sandpaper that gets progressively finer and wet sanding.

[Lov]

[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1340932267' post='5186832']
[quote name='agadawg17171' timestamp='1340897168' post='5183590']
[quote name='RookieBlue7' timestamp='1340896894' post='5183560']
To get the shine back on the insert I polished and rubbed like crazy lol
[/quote]

Any special material or cleaning agent?
[/quote]

Sandpaper that gets progressively finer and wet sanding.
[/quote]


0000 steel wool works nicely.

[farmer]

How did you redo the elastomer? What product did you use?

[farmer]

Forgot to say "great job, very well done".

[ndoyle]

That really looks amazing! Where did you find the hot oxide dip supplier - in the yellow pages, under what category? I found a nice putter with a Tei3 insert that I'd like to try to restore myself, but I like the idea of the hot oxide dip, rather than cold...