21 replies to this topic

[thegooddoctor]

So I had a beat up set of unprofessionally "rawed" TEE CNC Forged irons that were in need of some help. I also have a cleveland designed by mallet that I wanted to change.

So I had them copper plated. That plating was uneven and rough to the touch so I did some "touch up" on them after a tarn-x soak. they are being shafted with kbs black nickels and some "unique" ferrules.

The pics are all after tarn-x bath and the first few show one before touch up and 1 (5 iron) after touch up.
Group pic is after touch up.

This is my first attempt at this, and I think they look decent for the low cost I did this for.

Any comments or suggestions or questions are welcome

Cheers
Evan

[horty1388]

Those look pretty cool keep updates coming. How'd you do the finish?

[Howard Jones]

Thats no good at all, you have to tell us the complete history of how you did that, or you just p..us off and whats the purpose of that ? :-) LOL

Give us the info needed so all that wants to can do it - they look stunning, but im afraid the copper finish want hold up for long, but you will know how to re-do them if needed, so it might not be a issue at all.

[thegooddoctor]

The plating was done by a local commercial plater who did them very cheap ( charges by the batch ). To smooth out the finish I first dunked them in tarn-x for 20 min (wear gloves), then used 000 steel wool and 00 steel wool in the cavities as they were rougher. Then, used 000 in the cavities. Be patient this step takes a while. Finally went over whole head with 0000 steel wool. Please wears rubber or neoprene gloves and I would wear mask (fine steel particles no fun in lungs).

Just like copper wedge I expect the finish to wear pretty quickly on sole and sweet spot (if I can find it).

I'm going with white paintfill.
Ill post pics of them shafted when they are.

Cheers,
Evan

[cxx]

It will be interesting to see what color they turn over time. I'd expect a green oxide finish. I'd be interested in how they hit as well.

[thegooddoctor]

When they were wet between polishing they turning a spotty red-purple. I'll be sure to post pics after use to wear and patina. I would be surprised by green oxide. Usually need quite a bit of salt/vinegar to get that color. MY guess is some colors red/purples early and then a dark matte brown.

Thanks for all the comments guys,
Ill keep pic coming

[Arnie]

thegooddoctor, on 18 January 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

When they were wet between polishing they turning a spotty red-purple. I'll be sure to post pics after use to wear and patina. I would be surprised by green oxide. Usually need quite a bit of salt/vinegar to get that color. MY guess is some colors red/purples early and then a dark matte brown.

Thanks for all the comments guys,
Ill keep pic coming

The salt vinegar bath removes patina it doesn't cause it!
If you want the dark brown patina give them a soak bath in a mashed hard boiled egg yolk mixed with water.  The sulfur in the egg yolk causes the patina.

[highdraw69]

i just think the copper plating you did is really cool...does it do anything drastic to head/swingweight?

[heavybladed]

If they do end up with the tint of say, an old penny, that would look very cool!

Love the white paintfill idea too!

[blink3665]

Wow.  That is awesome.  How thick is that copper plating?  How long do you think it will last?  and lastly... how much did the guy charge to do that?  I have a set of 680MBs that I was going to send to have refinished, but I may just get them stripped and do the copper thing.  That looks really good!

[thegooddoctor]

"The salt vinegar bath removes patina it doesn't cause it!
If you want the dark brown patina give them a soak bath in a mashed hard boiled egg yolk mixed with water.  The sulfur in the egg yolk causes the patina."
Hmm, I had a byron that a used vinegar water on with electric tape and it turned green in like 3-4 days

highdraw69, on 18 January 2013 - 04:54 PM, said:

i just think the copper plating you did is really cool...does it do anything drastic to head/swingweight?

Its pretty thin, I didn't weigh them before or after but my guess is no more than 5 grams heavier. That being said when I got them the chrome had been stripped by previous owner, so my guess is the weight from chrome to copper is very similar.

blink3665, on 18 January 2013 - 06:12 PM, said:

Wow.  That is awesome.  How thick is that copper plating?  How long do you think it will last?  and lastly... how much did the guy charge to do that?  I have a set of 680MBs that I was going to send to have refinished, but I may just get them stripped and do the copper thing.  That looks really good!

I would guess that in non hitting areas of the club it will hold up well. When I got them, the plating was pretty thick and rough, I'm not sure how thin it is now, but I think heavy sandpaper would stripe it. The charge from the plater here was per batch and this batch was around 40 bucks total. That being said, they needed quite a bit of work after plating. I wont be using them until march, I decided to use the i20s at the range to save these. I would bet that within 1-2 rounds the finish will start to wear on sole and face. I'll let you know when I hit them.

I took them in today to be shafted. Like I said black nickel KBS, with some surprise ferrules, and went with white tourwraps for grips. Should have them  by tuesday.

PS: I'm considering iron covers, but don't anyone

[thegooddoctor]

OK So they are shafted and finished. The irons were swingweighting at either c7-or 8 depending on which on it was so I'm guessing I lost some weight in the process. Had tip weights put in to get back to d2.  Shafted with kaleidoscope ferrules and kbs black nickel and white tour wraps.  The look great, Putter is outstanding as well, really looks great from address. I prob will start the season gaming my new lajosi (pic below), but I switch every couple rounds:).

Let me know what you think

Evan

[T-Bone84]

Most important question:  Where did you get the Chief headcover from?  It's awesome!

[thegooddoctor]

i picked up a bunch from putter-works. He has some on ebay right now, they are sweet!

[knockdstiff]

Those look great - makes me want to find a set of irons and do this to them. Do they have a website? I think I still have an old set of 681s sitting around....

[thegooddoctor]

The guy who plated them for me is real old school, The website he has is just for industrial plating and metal work, I think the only reason he did it was I went in person and begged him:)

[ptjn1201]

Awesome idea -- I hope they hold up well for you.  They look great.

[syenkoc]

Those irons look SWEET!!! Have you hit them yet? I'm wondering if the finish will make them feel any different or change the spin characteristics.

Also, where did you get those ferrules?

[RookieBlue7]

Other than the ferrules, they look great. I think a solid black ferrule on those (and I'm a ferrule whore) would detract the least from the copper. I'd have loved to see those heads with black shafts and ferrules with orange Iomics (or another orange grip, maybe the burnt orange Lamkin prototypes).

[fore_life]

RookieBlue7, on 24 January 2013 - 01:54 PM, said:

Other than the ferrules, they look great. I think a solid black ferrule on those (and I'm a ferrule whore) would detract the least from the copper. I'd have loved to see those heads with black shafts and ferrules with orange Iomics (or another orange grip, maybe the burnt orange Lamkin prototypes).

I agree about the ferruls, makes them go from looking awesome to cheap.

I'd love to see them with flat black power coated shafts, black ferruls, white paint, and white grips

[blink3665]

Please update this when you start hitting them!  I want to know how long the copper holds up, and how it looks as it starts to patina a wear down.

Thanks!

[thegooddoctor]

I went back and forth on the ferrules, I actually like them, but I agree that black would look great as well. In person the ferrules, just like the heads are not really that shiny, and look more muted. I got them from goblet golf I think, and they have some on ebay still. I think as the copper darkens/patinas the ferrules will match much better.

I'm not gonna hit them until my trip to the warm state of florida in march, but I will post pics when i do. my guess is the will wear pretty quickly. I don't mind wear or the raw look that will come on the sole and face, but not gonna "waste" them off mats in 10 degree weather at the range.d

This was a really fun project, and I'm glad I could share it.