21 replies to this topic

[sung1018]

Recently I had 5 clubs worked on. I had replaced shaft for my fw and hybrids. However, some of the work was terrible quality of work and had to get redone several times till it was done right. In fact, golfsmith had to replace one of my new club they had messed. After numerous trip, I had it with these terrible club builders. I done grips before. But extracting shaft seems the only problem I be facing. I guess you will need the right tools for it. I just had it with these incompetent idiots messing up my clubs.

[33 Handicap]

I had an issue at the Golfsmith in KS earlier this year. I had a new shaft placed in but the ferrule continue crack or come off. After having it replaced twice I got tired of driving all the way over there,now I cannot find the receipt.  Now that I read this post I am going to find it and have them fix it again.

[cereall]

Find an independent shop.

Golf Smith.... sucks with work, some are ok but must are incompetent.

My dealing with independent shops have been great.
Always good to do on your own however, I work on my own and once you buy the tools, you are set and can learn

[highergr0und]

I don't have a shaft extractor or loft/lie machine, but I do any new builds with graphite, everything with steel (torch and thick glove) and all grip work.  Once my house is finished, I plan on getting the stuff I'm missing to go totally full service.  You have to bend a lot of clubs to recoup the cost of the loft/lie machine, but I think it'll be worth it to have one on hand.

I still must be about the luckiest Golfsmith customer around.  In the 3 states I've used their services I've never had a bad experience.  I had a steel shaft thrown in my 510 TP here in Franklin not too long back and they did a perfect job.

[jdhallissey]

Club work is not hard. It is also very easy to screw up some pricey shafts. Steel iron shafts blow torch a rag (wet) and you can do anything with them. If you want to pull graphite shafts out of woods then a shaft puller and a heat gun ONLY.

[nitram]

Just find some old POS to practice on before you try working on what you want to game.

I guess if you do honk it up you can tell everyone you took it to GS.

Edited by nitram, 03 December 2012 - 08:07 PM.

[Dr. Shankenstein]

jdhallissey, on 30 November 2012 - 08:17 PM, said:

Club work is not hard. It is also very easy to screw up some pricey shafts. Steel iron shafts blow torch a rag (wet) and you can do anything with them. If you want to pull graphite shafts out of woods then a shaft puller and a heat gun ONLY.

I have ruined my fair share of pricey shafts. For sure get a good extractor. I got a hydraulic puller of the 'bay for about $125. For the amount of tinkering I like to do, I paid for that puller several times over. I use a heat gun on graphite and butane on steel.

[joec65]

Been doing all of my own work for quite a few years.  My area had a very limited amount of golf shops so there was no other option to get quality work.  The local on-course pro shop were good at times, depending on who the assistant/apprentice was at the time, but always had a high turnover of the younger pros.

Over the years, I've learned to do most of the repair procedures and purchased the required equipment.  First, things like grips and re-whipping (yes, this was in the 80's), then steel shaft reshafting and swingweighting.  Learned a little at a time until I've learned and had the equipment to do just about everything.

Now some of the local pros send me their personal clubs to work on or call for help when they get something that they are not sure how to handle.

My advice, start small and progress as needed.  This site has been great, with a lot of knowledgable people that are willing to share.  Lots of great advice and tips on here, even for a person that has a lot of experience.

Good luck

[sung1018]

joec65, on 30 November 2012 - 10:54 PM, said:

Been doing all of my own work for quite a few years.  My area had a very limited amount of golf shops so there was no other option to get quality work.  The local on-course pro shop were good at times, depending on who the assistant/apprentice was at the time, but always had a high turnover of the younger pros.

Over the years, I've learned to do most of the repair procedures and purchased the required equipment.  First, things like grips and re-whipping (yes, this was in the 80's), then steel shaft reshafting and swingweighting.  Learned a little at a time until I've learned and had the equipment to do just about everything.

Now some of the local pros send me their personal clubs to work on or call for help when they get something that they are not sure how to handle.

My advice, start small and progress as needed.  This site has been great, with a lot of knowledgable people that are willing to share.  Lots of great advice and tips on here, even for a person that has a lot of experience.

Good luck

I haven't asked but does golf smith or other shop just pull heads from the shaft? If so what do they usually charge? I think I could do the prep and install on my own. However, I am not sure how I can dress up the ferrel. I guess this will be another problem. Maybe high grit sand paper ?
I prob better off doing it on my own then trust those idiots at golfsmith. It's shame my guy quit.

[TripleGrindSole]

^^^ they charged me 18 to pull a shaft and install a shaft pull that I brought in.

That was the day I decided to do all the club work myself. It has now turned into my favorite hobby.

[1fairway2another]

so far i do all my own work, it saves a lot of money and is pretty easy. It also makes it fun when your out on the course and your using stuff you put together. Its scary at first though worrying about messing up.

[KYMAR]

I do most of my own stuff, I don't have a loft/lie machine though so if i need those checked or adjusted i take them to my golf galaxy. I know pretty much every guy and have spent so much money in there they usually well check them all and if they are on they dont even charge me. if they have to make adjustments they do, but they make me deals all the time. Clubwork is fun, especially building clubs. I had a whole bag of clubs i built myself just over a year ago and really loved that fact. Just to say i did it you know? But honestly, it makes no sense buying all that you need to buy and putting together an appropriate area to do it if its not something you are going to jump into as almost a separate hobby from playing golf. To have all that you need just to do the work you need done? Might be cheaper to look for a better place to take it. But if like to tinker, get a high quality puller, a good swing weight scale, a heat gun, a small torch, some gloves, and all the ancillary stuff like ferrules and epoxy and and have at it! Its a blast and can be very rewarding.

[FEWO]

Find a good clubffitter and stick with them! The only clubwork ill do is paintfill. ill tell my clubfitter what i want but when it comes to lofts/lies, shafts, even grips ill leave it to the experts. ill only dink around with cosmetics stuff....

[tommy89]

Yup, there's not much i can't do myself

[plus8]

I do my own stuff on mine, my wife's, and some (gripping, shaft swaps, etc) for select friends, with very (very) few exceptions.  Takes a little patience, but is easy if you have any dexterity at all, and can do simple math (to calculate grips, trim points on parallel shafts, etc. Also, way back in time, I used to build component clubs.  It was fun, pretty cheap, and effective.

[hound25]

It's very easy really and you can find plenty of how to videos on YouTube. I think I have about $250 dollars or so into my equipment ( puller, saw, vice, drill bit sanding tool, razor knife). It has paid for itself several times over considering what you have to pay to get stuff done. For loft/lie, swing weight and ferrule finishing, I would have to get that stuff done. But once you have loft/lie adjusted, how often do you really need that done?

[Johnny T]

I'm just starting to get into building my own clubs.  I have regripped my own stuff for a couple of years and over that time I have gathered the equipment/tools to starting doing everything else.  I still need a few things, mainly a swingweight scale (and my chop saw that is backordered), but other than that I can most of what I need done.  The only thing I plan on buying is a loft/lie machine.  Everything has been surprisingly easy to do....except turning ferrules....still suck at that (those linen belts take material off in a hurry!).

[Jon Robert]

"How many of you do your own work on your club?"

I have been for 20 years. I even built my own lie and loft bending machine.  I will give some  advice. If you are timid and afraid then don't.  If you are like a terrier after a squirrle then go ahead. By this I mean if you will be all depressed because you put a small mark on the club or shaft then don't. If you are fully prepared to destroy a club beyond repair and don't blink then go ahead and do it. I have snapped brittle clubs trying to bend them and I just welded them back together and made them look pretty again. But I know people who would be terrified if there was a grass stain on their precious babies.

As far as shaft tools go. A vice and pad of some sort, electric heat gun, gloves, drill bit to clean out gunk

You got to start with the right attitude/aptitude

[wrmiller]

I regrip, reshaft, swingweight, spine/flo. Am looking to get a loft/lie machine (irons and putter) and either a frequency or moi analyzer. Also need a rig to turn ferrules down. Great hobby.  

[BCC]

I'm spoiled......

[Ri_Redneck]

Been doing my own work since '86. Yes, you need some tools. Good thing is, most of them never wear out, so you only have to buy them once.

BT

[tommy89]

BCC, on 01 December 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

shop 010.JPGI'm spoiled......

I'm jealous