Wilson K-28 set

[n7kme]

Hi all, brand new to this forum. Just picked up a full set of older Wilson K-28 forged irons (dynamic feel on the back and glide thru sole on the sole). Small round plastic insert on the back. The woods (1, 3, ,4 and 5) are K-28 4300, aqua tite strata block on black paint. The irons are in good condition with just a few nicks and dings, chrome is in pretty good shape but a few of the ferrules are separating from the iron heads. The woods are in fair to good condition with the worst issue being two part ferrules separating from each other. The irons have all matching serial numbers as do the woods but the serial numbers are on the ferrules. Is there a way to save the ferrules? Or should I not worry myself about such details? The clubs play very nice and I have gotten my swing to a point where I can actually hit the old forged irons well most of the time. Any ideas on age of these clubs? Something I should refinish, or just regrip them and play them? Thanks for any ideas and or input.

 

Craig

Beautiful Bullhead City AZ

[Tuba]

K-28's were available in department stores, where I got mine, and off course sporting goods stores. Wilson Staff was for the green grass pro shops. I would suggest just do the least amount of repair possible, play them and enjoy them.

[rex235]

+1

[dalehead]

+2

Just get them in shape to play and enjoy them. No collector value here. Although you never know, there may be a small cadre of K28 collectors out there. But I doubt it.

[Shallowface]

[quote name='n7kme' timestamp='1345337958' post='5496250']
Hi all, brand new to this forum. Just picked up a full set of older Wilson K-28 forged irons (dynamic feel on the back and glide thru sole on the sole). Small round plastic insert on the back. The woods (1, 3, ,4 and 5) are K-28 4300, aqua tite strata block on black paint. The irons are in good condition with just a few nicks and dings, chrome is in pretty good shape but a few of the ferrules are separating from the iron heads. The woods are in fair to good condition with the worst issue being two part ferrules separating from each other. The irons have all matching serial numbers as do the woods but the serial numbers are on the ferrules. Is there a way to save the ferrules? Or should I not worry myself about such details? The clubs play very nice and I have gotten my swing to a point where I can actually hit the old forged irons well most of the time. Any ideas on age of these clubs? Something I should refinish, or just regrip them and play them? Thanks for any ideas and or input.

Craig
Beautiful Bullhead City AZ
[/quote]

Regarding the age of these, plastic inserts on the back of irons were in style in the early 70s, so I'd guess that's when these were made.

If I understand correctly that a few of the ferrules have slid up the shafts and away from the hosel, all you need to do is warm them with a hair dryer and they should slide back down for you.

K-28s were the best of the "store line" clubs from Wilson, and were of very good quality. I agree with the others that there's really no collector value, so play them and enjoy them!

[n7kme]

With new Black Widow Tour Silk grips on sale at GolfWorks for .99 cent per grip, I am only into this set for about $2.30 per club. I love the way they hit as long as I can keep my swing consistent. I know I probably paid too much but they do hit the ball nicely. I will try the hair dryer to reseat the ferrules. Thanks for the input.

[SnowbirdTom]

Necro-resurrection!  On the way to the range today, these came to me for lunch money.  Actually, lunch cost more!
 

Guesstimating mid-60s vintage and decent playable condition with new grips.  A true first for me!  Matching serial numbers for what that’s worth.  Some scuffs, nicks and scrapes from 50+ years of use, but no rust.

 

I’ll toss them in with some stratoblock lams and play.

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by SnowbirdTom

[st1800e]

K-28’s!   Some said earlier they were department store brands. Yes and no. Several, in fact most manufacturers would recycle their model names later for the second tier clubs after they brought out new models in subsequent years.   But the originals were first line/pro clubs.  Yours look older than my first set. So yes.  I got mine from my dad, who played them in many tourneys in the early and mid ‘60s. 
 

I have no knowledge of what the origin of “ K28” is, but I’m sure there’s a story.  
 

I also had a hand me down set of Macgregor DX tourneys after that, also a pro line model. 
 

And then a set of Powerbilt Citations, then Scotch blades….

 

I’ll stop there 😉

[bcstones]

On 1/14/2023 at 4:48 PM, SnowbirdTom said:

Necro-resurrection!  On the way to the range today, these came to me for lunch money.  Actually, lunch cost more!
 

Guesstimating mid-60s vintage and decent playable condition with new grips.  A true first for me!  Matching serial numbers for what that’s worth.  Some scuffs, nicks and scrapes from 50+ years of use, but no rust.

 

I’ll toss them in with some stratoblock lams and play.

 

just checked the Kaplan's...1st mention is 1962 in the portion called "Gatewat to Golf"...same page as Sam Snead Signature, Dr. Cary Middlecoff Signature, and Sam Snead Championship (in the same section, different pages - Arnold Palmer Shotmaker, Sam Snead Blue Ridge, Patty Berg Cup Defender)..
Shows that a matched torn set (2 thru 9) cost $168....the K28s & the Middlecoff clubs were the most expensive, the rest were in the $75 to $110 range.

Oh, that is the only time they're mentioned in Kaplan's (that doesn't mean much, tho)....in 1963 the X-31 show up in the Professional pages.

Edited January 17, 2023 by bcstones

[SnowbirdTom]

I halfheartedly looked for a Kaplan’s book, but couldn’t find squat.  Did grab a Golfworks 2nd Edition ID and Price guide strictly to identify stuff.

[bcstones]

4 hours ago, SnowbirdTom said:

I halfheartedly looked for a Kaplan’s book, but couldn’t find squat. 

Me also...tho, was sure I'd seen them someplace. So I double checked from mid 50s on to the late 70s, page by page. & found that one page where the K-28 had part of the page. Seems like the "Gateway to Golf" was Wilsonism for General/Retail section, makes sense in a way...like Spalding, Wilson was the purveyor of all kinds of sports equipment, so they'd make sure some kind of clubs were available in those stores.

Sure would like to know the actual differences between retail vs pro shop back in the 60s & earlier...regarding head formation, shafts & grips...just seems silly that some seem to look down their noses at anything that doesn't come from a pro shop. I'm sure there are differences, but to the non-pro or top-am, would it really matter?

[SnowbirdTom]

And us regular players can’t discern that much of a difference at all.  I could take a state of the art set or a real vintage frankenbag and play them all to have fun.  My challenge is getting my best out of them. Exactly why I like playing this game.

[bcstones]

4 hours ago, SnowbirdTom said:

And us regular players can’t discern that much of a difference at all.  I could take a state of the art set or a real vintage frankenbag and play them all to have fun.  My challenge is getting my best out of them. Exactly why I like playing this game.

might I agree w/the idea of loving the GAME, not necessarily the "business" ?

[SnowbirdTom]

Got my answer!  1960! I love old ads.  

 

 

Not the exact year, but I’m betting less than 2 years difference .

Edited January 18, 2023 by SnowbirdTom

[bcstones]

4 hours ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Got my answer!  1960! I love old ads.  

 

 

Not the exact year, but I’m betting less than 2 years difference .

interesting that the Kaplan page for the K-28 also contained the Cary Middlecoff signature clubs, different head tho....guess Wilson wasn't taking any chances...both sets were the same price $168 for the irons & $104 for the woods...

[SnowbirdTom]

And just because I could, matching Wilson K-28 lams.  
 

Range session after it reopens due to severe storm that rolled thru. Play them on Monday for the super senior league.
 

Edited January 24, 2023 by SnowbirdTom

[bcstones]

Resurrecting a year old thread....was thinking of marrying up the Wilson K-28 starter set (3,5,7,9) aluminum shaft (all shaft bands unreadable) w/Wilson grips in good shape...with the Shakespeare Gary Player Black Knight II woods, also w/aluminum shafts (True Temper Rocket Rflex) mentioned in another thread (Thrift Store Jackpot). Oh, the sole just has the number & Wilson on it.

So was wondering when Wilson put this particular iron club head into production - as I commented above, Kaplan's only mentions the K-28 once....it is one of their "Gateway to Golf", ie retail, set.

 

However, the style of the back reminds me of the H&B PowerBilt irons of the late '50s into the late '60s.

 

Also, the side line markers look like a "cup" (...Ryder cup???) & Kaplan's Wilson guide shows very few faces, but the "cup" shows up in the '60s also....
 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19 by bcstones

[Maine Golfer]

They look nice. This thread points it out, if you are lucky you can find full sets of Wilson blades for under the price of lunch. 

[SnowbirdTom]

SWAG on my part - Late 50s, early 60s on those Glide Thru Soles.  I did a quick thumb through on my GolfWorks guide and nothing jumped out at me on similar back style.  Figured maybe it was a retail release of an earlier upscale model.  Mine pictured earlier ended up as 1962 models.  I did find some much earlier releases on eBay.  Similar in style to the early '50s Top Flites!

 

I could easily be wrong as it kinda resembles my mid-60s Louisville Grand Slams.

Edited January 19 by SnowbirdTom

[Joe S]

I found some K28’s today for $2.59 a club. This thread seems like the best place to let the world know. They are in great shape. It’s always exciting to find these things, even when they aren’t one of the “pro line” models. 

 

[SnowbirdTom]

Good stuff there!  Nice find, they play real well.