Refinishing a Spalding T.P.M #12

[simple36]

So most recently I have been getting really interested in putters. I am sure a few of you have seen my thread about making putters but for a school project I decided to refinish an old T.P.M putter. The project is called the MYP Personal Project and is basically the big project in your sophomore year of high school when you go to an IB school. At first I was going to build a set of irons but that would have been a little pricey. Next I was going to build a driver which would have been a little better but still to expensive. Due to my most recent interest in putters I decided on refinishing an older putter. From my research I found the Spalding T.P.M putters are great ones to start on. I looked on Ebay and I found the #12 model which I liked the look of. I feel I got a great deal as I got it for $18. Putter arrived a few days later as expected. Today I finally decided to start some work on it. I will be updating this thread as I make progress.

 

Here are some pictures of the putter when I received it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1: Pull the shaft

 

For step one you are going to need a torch, a lighter, and some gloves.

 

 

 

I decided to do this outside as sometimes these can put off some fumes I didn't want smelling up the house. take the torch and turn it on, use the lighter to get a flame. Apply heat around the hosel area for about 20-30 seconds. If you don't have a shaft puller, just set the head on the ground, step on it, and pull/twist the shaft out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After I pulled the shaft I wanted to weigh the head to see what I was looking at. Turns out it weighs about 305 grams so it looks like I will be adding a few toungstun weights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later tonight I will be picking up some Naval Jelly to strip the finish off the putter. I will update this thread later tonight. One thing that has me worried is that the shaft looks to have a .25" or something around there tip, until l I get some calipers I won't know for sure. Anyone know where I can get a shaft with this tip size?

[hebron1427]

the shaft is called a pencil tip shaft, and they are hard to find. exactly why do you want to replace it?

[simple36]

I guess I don't NEED to replace it but I would like to. Also it would help me get my sources up to the required number of sources by using the ones I have found on replacing a shaft.

[simple36]

Alright this is after about 4 hours with 60 grit sandpaper and 15 minutes with a dremel to clean up the top line. I am guessing this is plated and if so how will I know when I am through the plating and down to the raw metal?

[attachment=1316802:IMG_7421.JPG]
[attachment=1316804:IMG_7422.JPG]
[attachment=1316806:IMG_7432.JPG]
[attachment=1316808:IMG_7434.JPG]
[attachment=1316810:IMG_7435.JPG]
[attachment=1316812:IMG_7436.JPG]
[attachment=1316814:IMG_7420.JPG]

I did some research and it looks like paint remover should take the paint out of the back I can't reach with sandpaper or a dremel. I am just going to keep going till I get to raw metal then work my way up to 2200 extremely fine grit.

[CWB]

for future reference
a few TPM have been reported to be made with lots Magnesium
heat , oxygen , magnesium = not good

[simple36]

I guess you are talking about magnesium oxide being created but that is only with extreme amounts of heat (800 degrees Celsius) so I am not particularly worried about that.

[golfluvzme]

I made a post in your naval jelly thread before seeing this one. Check it out and it might help you along.
BTW, the tip size could be a .295 Pencil shaft. TP used a bunch of different vendors for a lot of the work, so they tend to vary a little from batch to batch. Not a huge variance, but enough to cause issues if you don't measure yours, before purchasing a replacement.
If I were looking for a replacement, I'd try LeaderBoardgolf.com, first. I have ordered from them before and they have a HUGE supply of shafts.
I started this reply and got sidetracked for about an hour. After seeing your comments, I had to add a few items.
The putter head you have is cast stainless steel, not plated. None of the TPM putters were plated during that era. There were some that were cast from a bronze variant, the TPM Golds, but no plating, to the best of my knowledge.
What CWB is speaking of is not "magnesium oxide" being created, but putter heads actually having magnesium as part of the content of the structures metal. Like I said above, TP had a fair number of different foundries working with him to make the TPM's for Spalding and rules governing what you could put in the mix were much, much less stringent and monitored. I had a TPM 7 several years ago that I tried to change to a torch'd finish. I applied the heat and watched as the changes started. NOT color changes, but after a minute or so with a propane torch, the surface of the metal started to bubble and POOF! The head simply fell off of the neck. It melted at a point where no other putter I had ever worked on had done so. When I checked with a source who had known TP very well, he said that magnesium was probably a component in some of the putters done by one of the foundries and that I had been very lucky. Once magnesium starts to burn......it does not go out.
Keep working at it and enjoy the process.
Best of luck,
LaMont in AZ

[simple36]

I saw your post, I appreciate the help. I need to find my calipers down in the shop but I believe it is a pencil shaft. There are a few on ebay that were .295 and .281. I think I may just reuse this shaft as it is in great condition and already cut to 35" which is what I like I will just reuse the old one. Plus I don't have to worry about getting the right diameter.

[hebron1427]

[quote name='simple36' timestamp='1345698310' post='5520034']
Alright this is after about 4 hours with 60 grit sandpaper and 15 minutes with a dremel to clean up the top line. I am guessing this is plated and if so how will I know when I am through the plating and down to the raw metal?
[/quote]

http://thepowerfade.com/2011/12/12/club-repair-restoring-a-putter-part-1/

[CWB]

Shafts
so with pencil shafts varing
is this where the powder/sand in epoxy fills the gaps (trying to even out concentrically around shaft and head?)

[Kevin01]

[quote name='simple36' timestamp='1345700442' post='5520128']
I saw your post, I appreciate the help. I need to find my calipers down in the shop but I believe it is a pencil shaft. There are a few on ebay that were .295 and .281. I think I may just reuse this shaft as it is in great condition and already cut to 35" which is what I like I will just reuse the old one. Plus I don't have to worry about getting the right diameter.
[/quote]

What was the result? I just purchased one of these putters to refinish and was hoping to see how you made out.

[simple36]

[quote name='Kevin01' timestamp='1355333527' post='6057163']
[quote name='simple36' timestamp='1345700442' post='5520128']
I saw your post, I appreciate the help. I need to find my calipers down in the shop but I believe it is a pencil shaft. There are a few on ebay that were .295 and .281. I think I may just reuse this shaft as it is in great condition and already cut to 35" which is what I like I will just reuse the old one. Plus I don't have to worry about getting the right diameter.
[/quote]

What was the result? I just purchased one of these putters to refinish and was hoping to see how you made out.
[/quote]
Complete failure, putter head got disintegrated while trying to remove chrome plating. As a heads up, don't leave it sitting in muriatic Acid.