Scotty Cameron Rust Bucket - DIY Step by Step Restoration

[scottiws]

First time poster. I did a ton of research on the forums before restoring my Scotty and figured my experiences might be able to help someone else fix theirs.

 

Let me start by saying that the condition this putter started in is an absolute embarassment. Calling it a rustbucket, is someone being nice, it was to the point where I didn't want to take it out of my bag on the golf course... and from reading these forums I know that there are plenty of people out there who say "I don't know how anyone can let a Scotty get like that"... etc, etc., I get it, I neglected it for far far far too long, guilty as charged, I won't let it happen again.

 

The quick backstory on this putter is that I bought it new, when I was in high school and its been my gamer ever since. At this point its almost 15 years old, and to say it wasn't cared for correctly when I first got it (or anytime for that matter) was an extreme understatement and also probably a pretty good argument for why a 16yr old should not get a brand new Scotty Cameron. Either way, it has more sentimental value to me than anything else, and I like DIY projects so I decided to give this a shot with my backup plan being to send it out to SC for a full on restore and a hefty price tag.

 

Step 1: Assessing the Damage and Removing Rust and Previous (oil can) finish: It was bad, rust everywhere, couldn't tell from the surface if there was pitting from the rust, and there were dings all over the topline and heel/toe of the putter. The first step I needed to do was to remove the rust and the previous finish (there basically wasn't any previous finish still left). I gave it a bath in coke, which didn't do much, then CLR, which worked better to remove the rust.

 

 

 

Step 2: Clean it up: Once I had the majority of the rust removed using the CLR I then went to town on it using a combination of steel wool, and a dremel with buffing bits (I didn't want to use dremel sanding bits because i was concerned about removing too much metal). This was only to clean up the metal, not to fix any dings at this point. Also, I didn't want to remove any of the mill marks because they were still in remarkably good shape compared to the rest of the putter (I have no idea why they survived so well). On the face of the putter the only thing I did was very lightly steel wool over it just to clean the rust out of the mill marks. As you can see in the pictures, there are still a ton of dings on the putter at this point.

 

 

 

Step 3: Remove the Dings: This step was hard for me, I'm pretty handy when it come to DIY stuff, but I've never worked with metal, files, sanding or removing any kind of dings/dents at all. And of top of everything else, I was concerned about not removing too much metal while trying to straighten out and smooth/polish the metal. Basically I just took it real real slow, starting out by tapping any dings that were real bad (basically on the top line for the most part) then slowly and finger numbingly sanding it back out to a smooth finish. Considering how bad it started, I wasn't totally concerned about getting it perfect, I was more concerned about fixing the Major spots and smoothing out the minor ones the best I could with the sandpaper. After tapping out as many dings as i could I started with 220 grit sandpaper and worked my way up to 800 grit for the final metal finish. Not really knowing what I was doing, I just went real slow with the sandpaper and took my time. I put some before and afters below, definitley made a pretty big difference even if it still wasn't 100% perfect.

 

 

 

Step 4: Apply the New Finish: After reading alot of reviews all over the internet on finishing carbon steel I decided to go with the Caswell Black Oxide Gel Kit (I was between using this one and the Shooters Solution one). The basic idea of the Caswells kit was to coat the head of the putter in the gel, let it sit for anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 mins. Then rinse it off, polish it up with 0000 Steel wool and repeat coats until you get the darkness on the head that you desire. A few things that I found when using this kit were, 1) for me it seemed to work best to apply the gel by finger (with a rubber glove) and rub like hell to get a smoother finish, I also tried applying with a q-tip but it was very streaky like that. Also, don't be bashful about caking this stuff on there, I found that the more you used the better it came out. 2) if you use the steel wool on the head immediatly after you rinse it and its still wet you will remove nearly all the finish you just applied. I found it best to apply the gel and let it sit for 4 mins, then rinse the gel off without touching the putter with your hand (just using water pressure from my sink faucet) then dried it off using a hair dryer on medium heat, once it was compleley dry, I took both 0000 steel wool and clean rags to buff it up between coats (some black comes off when you do this, but the finish seemed to stay on far better). 3) I ended up doing 6 coats of the caswells gel, but my first 2 coats were nearly totally removed because I used the steel wool on it while it was still wet. 4) the finish is going to look blotchy for the first coat or 2, don't sweat it, just buff it up and even out the finish the best you can between coats with the steel wool and rags and keep going, it will smooth out nicely in the end. NOTE: I don't have pictures between coats, and I'm not sure what coats these pictures are from, the sealer also makes it darken up at the end (I sealed it after paintfill)

 

 

 

Step 5: Paintfill: There are tons of tutorials on here about doing the paintfill, I basically followed one of them, theres no rocket science to this part, just take your time and get it right. Its definitley tedious. I used a needle to apply the paint, then an acitone wash over the top to clean it up (while it was still wet). It took me a few tries to get it right but it happened eventually. I used Testors enamel paint, not sure that I'm in love with the color scheme yet but thats easily redone at any point.

 

 

Step 6: Apply the Sealer: There are a bunch of oil sealers that you can use. The Caswell Black Oxide kit comes with its own sealer, which is what I used, seems to have worked pretty well. It seemed to me that when I applied the Caswell sealer it gave it an even deeper black look then it had before it was applied.

 

 

 

 

If anyone has any questions, please let me know. This forum has been a wealth of information for me, and I'm glad to help someone else out if I can.

[Matt_love_lamp]

Great job, IMHO! You ought to be proud to unleash that flatstick from now on!

[dbdors]

Thanks for the inspiration to try the Caswell gel a second time. Didnt know what I was doing the first time when I was testing. Not a lot of detail info on applying the gel. I did as you suggest and applied, washed dryed and buffed. Only three coats, but like what I got. The sealer didnt make a lot darker, but I wanted a lighter finish. Left the weights as is and will add some paint fill later.

[Hstead]

Wow, nice work. Saved some money, and it is always more rewarding when you did it your self.

[scottiws]

[quote name='dbdors' timestamp='1376971670' post='7710296']
Thanks for the inspiration to try the Caswell gel a second time. Didnt know what I was doing the first time when I was testing. Not a lot of detail info on applying the gel. I did as you suggest and applied, washed dryed and buffed. Only three coats, but like what I got. The sealer didnt make a lot darker, but I wanted a lighter finish. Left the weights as is and will add some paint fill later.

[attachment=1842734:image.jpg]
[/quote]

Nice! That came out good! Glad you were able to use some stuff that worked for me. I agree the directions that come with the Caswells kit are beyond vague. The only reason that I tried the hair dryer on it was because I saw other cold blue / black ox solutions do it. I really didn't get any decent results until I started just rinsing it off with wayer, then drying it with a hair dryer before even touching it by hand.

[Hi Im Joe]

Dude you kicked a**! good job.

[KBNYY]

Nice write up and great job on that putter! One heck of an introductory post! Look forward to your future additions!

[bwrichmond]

That's one helluva DIY restoration there. You should be proud of yourself. Definitely keep and use that one forever.

[cleanfreak]

Awesome job mate. One of the best DIY I've seen

[studatnu]

great job but its still broken......its a lefty!

[dunksb757]

good job on the dings

[tcgc]

great thread! Its crazy to think of what that putter looked like before you started

[illest_golfer]

That looks awesome..good job.

[BKKALLDAY]

I hate to dig up an old topic, but I would be remissced if I didn't say I'm damn impressed what you did with that Scotty. You took it from...

 

"WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO TO THAT SCOTTY!? :angry22: "

 

to

 

"WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO TO THAT SCOTTY!? "

[Glaze22]

Awesome job, I need to find an old beat up scotty to try this on.

[lb_five]

Nice work. I'm surprised at the oil sealed look of it. Great looking for a DIY project.

 

Did you happen to weigh it pre and post?

[RaiderNation75]

Looks awesome!

[SUITS]

Incredible transformation , and a lefty!?!?! I would be very proud of that work, looks amazing.

[ggober]

Nice work. Keep a coat of oil on that thing. I did this one 4 years ago went through the process 3 times, it got a little darker with every treatment but it's starting to lighten on the edges.

[MTgolf]

I have the exact same putter and am attempting to do a very similar restoration. When using the CLR, how long did you let the putter soak and what did you use to get all the rust off? I cleaned mine up tonight with the CLR but it does not look nearly that clean.

 

Also, do you have a link for the Caswell kit you purchased?

[bldev11]

Huge thank you. I dug out my ~20 year old rusted Newport and followed your instructions exactly. I love the result.

[Bowmangolf12]

Digging this up on the search for a project. Still relevant! Thanks for sharing.