High gloss factory shine on ferrules

[Bunker33]

I use the kimtech wipes. Fold one up into a one inch square n then douse it with acetone. Then let the excess drip off n then wipe the ferrule going in a downward motion following the shaft. Dont spin the club otherwise you will get those lines. And there you got some shiny "factory" looking ferrules

[Chip Out Sideways]

[quote name='Golfrnut' timestamp='1377130672' post='7722248']
Yes, pure acetone works much better.

IIRC, this topic on the legality of acetone in Europe has come up before. One person said it was illegal, but then someone else chimed in and said it was not and they could get it without issue. I have never lived in Europe, so I don't have any imput worth a crap.
[/quote]

I live in the UK and acetone (pure - not in nail varnish remover) is perfectly legal and available over the counter at pharmacies etc. that stock it. I buy it regularly. There are plenty of solvents that are banned but as someone who used to be a research chemist I can say that acetone is one of the safest solvents about (although I would not drink it!)

[Russ757]

[quote name='kwooten31' timestamp='1377087844' post='7718020']
After I turn mine down I will pour a little acetone on the ferrule and let it sit, always comes out a high gloss finish better looking than original in my opinion.
[/quote]

this

clean excess, wipe vertically, pour over and let air dry

[Manz60]

[quote name='VA_Astra' timestamp='1377086747' post='7717954']
[quote name='Manz60' timestamp='1377051074' post='7716562']
I think acetone is kind of a health hazard for a 10 cent ferrule...
M60
[/quote]

No way, Acetone is great for removal of extra epoxy that ends up on your hands
[/quote]

yes very good for epoxy removal but its still a powerful solvent. When you use it to remove epoxy from on your hands, it will drive the chemical into your system...better to use soap and water.
[url="http://skibuilders.com/articles/epoxy.shtml"]http://skibuilders.com/articles/epoxy.shtml[/url] Q23

[url="http://sterndrives.com/supplies/epoxyresin03.html"]http://sterndrives.com/supplies/epoxyresin03.html[/url]

Hope this helps
M60

[Trap Junior]

[quote name='Chip Out Sideways' timestamp='1377352534' post='7736685']
[quote name='Golfrnut' timestamp='1377130672' post='7722248']
Yes, pure acetone works much better.

IIRC, this topic on the legality of acetone in Europe has come up before. One person said it was illegal, but then someone else chimed in and said it was not and they could get it without issue. I have never lived in Europe, so I don't have any imput worth a crap.
[/quote]

I live in the UK and acetone (pure - not in nail varnish remover) is perfectly legal and available over the counter at pharmacies etc. that stock it. I buy it regularly. There are plenty of solvents that are banned but as someone who used to be a research chemist I can say that acetone is one of the safest solvents about (although I would not drink it!)
[/quote]

Why do pharmacies have it?? Seems a bit strange but I went in yesterday and asked about it and she said she could probably order some but it's really expensive.

Does pure Acetone actually give you the factory finish though? That glossy look that lasts at least a year or two?

[Club junkie]

Acetone works fine. When you get the ferrule to the size you want use some fine grit sandpaper to make it extra smooth. Then dip a q-tip in acetone, quickly wipe the ferrule in one direction (towards shaft) all the way around the ferrule. After that just as quickly grab a soft cotton cloth with the cloth in your hand place the ferrule between your thumb and forefinger and turn the club head at a good rpm. Basically buffing the ferrule. The cloth weave matters to the finish. Old t-shirts? You might have to try different rags till you find the right one. Good luck.

[PeanutsDaddy]

Thank you ladies and gents for all of the useful information. Will be turning my first ferrules tomorrow. Blue 'novice' belt is in the belt sander ready to go. Cotton rags, eye dropper, acetone and windex are also at the ready. Factory shine, here I come.

[ws6]

After you do that, break out some car wax if you want an even glossier ferrlue.

[Langlands]

Some useful info here guys, but thank god for Ping irons without ferrules!

[ronsc1985]

You can avoid the streaks by using a solvent that doesn't evaporate so fast. High temperature lacquer thinner is much better then acetone since it is formulated to evaporate at a much lower rate. That and a smooth paper towel does the trick if you don't have large scratches in the ferule to begin with.

If you want a really high shine after the lacquer thinner just use some liquid glass on the ferrule. One or two coats should suffice even for the most picky shiney ferrule fan.

[PeanutsDaddy]

In print and videos this task looks pretty simple. After a half-hour of frustration, I have decided to reshaft at least one iron after the ferrule was 'eaten' by my belt sander. Turned two by hand and they also look like poop. Luckily I purchased four extra ferrules from Cell-Parts. l've decided to leave the rest of the ferrules in their current condition. My heart can't take the stress.

[ws6]

Do you have the 42 inch belt sander? This is a nice one, and the arm makes turning easy: [url="http://www.golfsmith.com/product/30029111/golfsmith-42-multi-deluxe-belt-sander"]http://www.golfsmith...uxe-belt-sander[/url]

Also, start on the grip end of the shaft and turn towards the head.

[Socrates]

[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1382484521' post='8042443']
In print and videos this task looks pretty simple. After a half-hour of frustration, I have decided to reshaft at least one iron after the ferrule was 'eaten' by my belt sander. Turned two by hand and they also look like poop. Luckily I purchased four extra ferrules from Cell-Parts. l've decided to leave the rest of the ferrules in their current condition. My heart can't take the stress.
[/quote]
Oh I feel for you. Turning a ferrule takes a bit of a knack. I'll bet you have one that makes you turn the head with your right hand. My machine is old school and I use my left. I don't think I could do it right handed without screwing up a bunch of them first.

The biggest mistake rookies make is being too tentative. You really can put a lot of pressure on the belt as long as you never stop turning the head and are turning it counter to the rotation of the belt. Another thing that can hinder good turning is if the grip is on the shaft and the grip binds against the arm that supports the club. No support arm and doing it free-hand is also very hard. Definitely get some old clubs and turn away until you get good at it, then try your clubs again.

[TomWishon]

[quote name='Trap Junior' timestamp='1377042573' post='7715658']
What do they do in the factory to get that mirror smooth shine? Is it possible to get this?

[/quote]

I can answer this based on many yrs in the golf industry.

Always having your ferrules custom designed so their bottom OD is within 0.1mm of the top OD of the hosels of the clubheads that the ferrules are intended to be used with. None of the big companies buy stock ferrules, they always have their own ferrules made to a spec that is within 0.1mm of the top OD of the hosels of the clubheads. This way when the hosel OD is +/-0.1mm which is std with any good clubhead factory, the ferrule (which has virtually no +/- tolerance since it is injection molded) will either match perfectly or be so close that no touch up is required and the ferrule then keeps its factory made shine.

As an example, I design all of my Drivers to have a top hosel OD of 13.0mm, all my fwy woods to be 12.3mm, all my inv cast irons to be 13.2mm and all my forged irons to be 13.5mm. My head production factories operate on a +/-0.1mm tolerance for the hosel OD. Ferrules for each are all designed to be the same for their bottom OD so 99 times out of 100, no work is required to turn down the ferrules so less chance of messing them up exists.

When using ferrules that don;t match to the hosel OD, the linen cloth or blue cloth belts are the manner of choice for turning down the base of the ferrule to be flush with the top of the hosel. But all such prep work is focused ONLY on the bottom of the ferrule, never on the top so the chances of messing one up are greatly reduced.

After the ferrule is flush to the hosel, a soft cloth with no grain is soaked in acetone and in one quick, continuous motion, you SPIN the ferrule against the acetone cloth. Spin 360* and quickly get the ferrule off the cloth so no "start/stop" area is seen to affect the shine.

Then if desired, finish by buffing the ferrule on an UNSTITCHED buffing wheel using Glanz Wach buffing compound. This most definitely will get the ferrule looking perfect in its shine.

TOM

[bigred90gt]

[quote name='HighSpeedScene' timestamp='1377094459' post='7718638']
Ferrules shiny but not shiny enough? Cripes...my advice is to go hit some balls.
[/quote]

This.

[PeanutsDaddy]

Here's a message that I sent to a member last night after the ferrule disaster . . .

"Ferrules and belt sanders are the devil. I have to reshaft my nine iron after a disaster in the garage. The ferrule was 'eaten' by the sander. Here's how it all went down. I went in the wrong direction and the 'novice' belt left blue chunks in the white ferrule. I changed to a linen belt and the sander ate the linen belt (literally began to rip threads off the side). I switch to a micro belt and it ate the ferrule and a little of the shaft. The whole time my son was tugging at the back of my leg asking to go in the house. I should have recorded the entire episode because members on this site would have had a good laugh. I turned two others by hand with a piece of cotton and some acetone. They all look like white poop. Thankfully, I bought four extra ferrules. I will get a chance to practice applying less epoxy to a shaft quicker than I thought. Next time I am not turning a single one - so what if they overhang by a smidge."

After a day of reflection I have decided to practice on the three rejects, reshaft them after putting them in play this weekend and leave them alone until I can practice with my many back-ups.

ws6,

thank you for the suggestion. I purchased the Golfworks 1 x 30" belt sander and turning arm. This is an issue of operator error. The post Socrates made described my struggles to a tee.

[Socrates]

Don't loose faith. Get a bunch of old clubs and practice. In all the people that I have taught to spin ferrules, most would ruin the first 6-12 before they figured it out so don't sweat it. Ferrules are cheap and you'll need to get more. Try turning the ferrule arm around so that you do it with the other hand and see if that helps.

Just looking at the turning arm that you have, I want to make sure that the butt end is going into the U shaped slot and that the ferrule end is the flat area. The other way won't work well at all.

Absolutely key that you must to keep the club rotating and opposite to the direction of the belt. I have found that linen belts are my favourite. They do fray a bit so there often is some early trimming of the belt to keep it from whipping you (just stop the belt and remove as needed).

Practice rotating the head when the machine is off. For me, there are several keys to doing this right. I first establish how much of the ferrule I want to be affected and by how much. Like Tom W. said, you quite often only need to take a small amount off the base. This requires a lighter touch and more often than not, only one or two rotations against the belt. Taking off more may require several rotations and you can use more pressure.

I hold the shaft in my right hand between the thumb and fore finger and while it looks tight, you can freely rotate the shaft because I have "locked" the fingers into a position that won't change. My left hand spins the head and I usually only use a couple of fingers to spin the head - loose contact but in control of the spin at all times.

My arms are literally locked in position. It really helps if your forearms are parallel to the ground but not absolutely critical. I use my body to push my arms as a unit into the spinning belt rather than pushing my arms into the belt. That way my right hand (and arm) moves horizontally at the same speed as my left. Just before the ferrule makes contact with the belt, I will start turning the head with my left hand. As long the ferrule is in contact with the belt, the head has to be turning or you will burn the ferrule. When done, I just move backwards a little to stop the action. Practice moving back and forth with the machine off to get the hang of it. Depending on the belt tension you likely will push it 1/4" to 1/2" into the belt

If you are doing irons and the hosel doesn't have a special finish (black oxide or paint or something else that might abrade off) you can use the hosel to take a lot of the pressure of the belt and put less on the ferrule. Being tentative is a recipe for failure. Be sure of what you want to do and then do it. You've already done it the other way so you know how that goes.

[attachment=1923311:photo.JPG]

[PeanutsDaddy]

Socrates,

Thank you for the thorough description and accompanying image (truly worthy of your name). I have a much clearer picture of what I wish to accomplish. Here's the good thing. I am too stubborn to give up and humble enough to recognize that I am no damb good. Golf has beaten the ego out of me. I am going to play a round tomorrow with the clubs as they currently appear and then I am going to practice turning with them in their current state before I pull the heads and start all over. I've got 4 extra ferrules in the same colour so I want to make sure that I gain some skill before I 'take the plunge' again. As per your suggestion I will practice with the machine turned off. I will report back with results (good, bad or otherwise) when I have a chance to finish the task.

I truly appreciate your care and concern.

[xoxo_tw]

never had any luck with an aceton touch up, always come out dull for me... I went into black shiny shoe polish, use a blow hair dryer to give the ferrule some initial heat, then add a drop of polish and spin it in a cloth piece as you would do with the acetone method.. comes out great!!

 

an untried method I thought of but not tried yet is using the polish Autosol thats most notable used to polish metals but states it also works for plastic, if somebody want to experiment with it now... I will try it on an older club later maybe,,,, good luck !!