30 replies to this topic

[Big_Ben77]

Ok, so im relatively new to club building. I bought a kit from golf works last year(extractor,belt sander, swing weight scale, grip station, ect...). Right now im just a hobbiest messing around with my own clubs, built some wedges, reshafted my set of irons, regripped, small things like that. Eventually I would like to do things for my buddies and then who knows what....

Any way I just wanted to get some advice/knowledge from some of you folks that have been doing this a long time or just alittle while. Your best tips/tricks of the trade, things that will help me or anyone else exploring club building and maybe things you cant learing from video's.... I appreciate any knowledge you can pass on! thanks Ben

[HISPL]

Measure twice and cut once!

A lot of It is in the detail, if you aren't in a rush make sure you get your measurement/s perfect before doing something permanent!

I'm definitely not perfect, but the mistakes I do make are generally due to being rushed (I do a large volume of work, and have some tight deadlines sometimes.)

With any heat based work, generally less is more and using more pressure will help when pulling a shaft.

Mask off where you can if you have the time. It pays to be careful when using glues or painting but to be sure if you mask something off and you do happen to slop some glue it will be a heck of a lot easier to clean up.

Have EVERYTHING ready before starting a job, it sucks to have a bunch of glue mixed and when you reach into a drawer for a shim or a ferrule and it isn't there!

Ask questions before doing something you aren't experienced in, a smart man learns from other people's mistakes.

[HISPL]

Oh, Double sided tape can be a bear to work with if you are trying to remove a grip and save it.

We use Bostik contact cement, it is a heck of a lot quicker than tape and won't budge once it is on but if you want to use air to get the grip back off it is MUCH easier and it is compatible with normal grip solvent for the guys that want to use a syringe.

[Twohey]

1)  Turning ferrules can be a pain.  Since you got a belt sander, get the Durabrite belt from Golfworks -- it's great for hobbyists and will not harm the shaft or club if you slip.

2)  I use an adjustable heat gun instead of a torch.  Take a bit longer but it's more versatile for me.  In addition to removing heads, I use lower settings to soften ferrules that are tight during installation.  I also use it to remove old grip tape -- most can be peeled off by hand after heated.

[Big_Ben77]

I actually have one I just learned from a friend..... how to save a ferrule when heating a steel shaft, you take a rag or old sock and get it wet and wrap around the ferrule. That way you dont melt the ferrule when you are heating the epoxy, twist the head off and the ferrule is perfecly intact!

[Big_Ben77]

Twohey, on 23 February 2013 - 07:46 AM, said:

1) Turning ferrules can be a pain. Since you got a belt sander, get the Durabrite belt from Golfworks -- it's great for hobbyists and will not harm the shaft or club if you slip.

I did get one of these belts but the toughest thing for me when turning ferrules is to keep turning the club evenly.... seems like the club always rotates to fast on me when I get to the toe section, guess I just need more practice. But that belt is a lot easyer to use definatly.

[Golfrnut]

One I didn't understand that cost me a lot of ferrules, always turn against the direct of the belt.  It's amazing how much easier that makes things  

[Scott@84]

Take your time and be meticulous.

[Howard Jones]

A whiteboard pen...you will be amazed how much you can use it for, and if you got 1, you dont need impact labels, and you can even judge lie angles on a driver with it.

Get a cutting tool for butt caps on grips so you can cut holes of 0.600
Then you can test a club, ex a driver, on a shorter club length, WITHOUT cutting it down
You simply let the part you plan to cut of, go strait trough the grip so it sticks out on top of the grip.
Now you can test it on a shorter length, and have full return.

Graffa tape - it will save you a fortune in lead tape when testing for different swing weight
Add graffa tape to the head, then lead tape. This way you can "re use" the lead tape, since the next time you just put graffa on top of it to fix it to the club.

Thats 3 low cost, but very handy "tools" to have when doing club fitting, because you cant just do clubs, you have to find out what to to with them first :-)

[wundej]

Great thread. Lots of good info.

[Big_Ben77]

Howard Jones, on 23 February 2013 - 03:02 PM, said:

A whiteboard pen...you will be amazed how much you can use it for, and if you got 1, you dont need impact labels, and you can even judge lie angles on a driver with it.

Very good tip!

[Nessism]

Fiberglass drywall tape makes a good shim substitute (installing a .335 shaft in a .350 hosel, or .355 in .370).  Not my idea, read it here.

3M DP 420/460 epoxy has a lap shear of 4800 psi after cure.  Over kill maybe, but very high quality stuff.

Slow dry epoxy can be speed cured by placing a couple of light bulbs (old style type, not new fangled low power type) next to the club.  60 min. @ 140 F and that DP460 will be up to 4500 psi.

[stage1350]

Use 24 hour epoxy and be patient.  If you need something done for a round in the next 2 hours, something WILL go wrong.

[Russ757]

stage1350, on 24 February 2013 - 10:07 AM, said:

Use 24 hour epoxy and be patient.  If you need something done for a round in the next 2 hours, something WILL go wrong.

this and practice with cheap stuff before toying with exotics

practice makes perfect

[kwooten31]

Great thread, things like this help out a ton.... lets keep it going..

[mxtitleistgolfer]

Get the Brampton 5 & 10 epoxy and an air compressor. With that epoxy you've got a 5 minute gel time, and can handle the club in 10 minutes. Use the air compressor to blow on the grip and you've got a club you can hit in just over an hour. I've built thousands of clubs with this stuff and have never had a problem. However, with such a short gel time make sure to have everything ready to go and don't do more than 3 clubs per batch of epoxy.

[RookieBlue7]

Always save your excess epoxy to make sure it cured properly. I usually put masking tape on my bench and smear it on the tape after I'm done with the club. Then I write the club its on with a sharpie on the tape. Once it cures and you verify it, simply peel the tape and toss it. No mess.

Always buy proper tools. Trying to rig something up will lead to mistakes or problems.

On graphite, instead of sanding the tip, scrape it with the blade at a 90 degree angle to the shaft. Will save you a lot of headaches and ruined shafts.

[vix02]

Scott@84, on 23 February 2013 - 02:33 PM, said:

Take your time and be meticulous.

+1...hit the nail on the head.

and Practice, Practice , Practice

[KILLEDBYASHANKEDWEDGE]

As mentioned earlier, nothing better IMO:

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[Hstead]

Geoff Jones showed me a good one for adding lead tape.  Take a torch to the area of the club where you are going to apply the lead tape.  It removes all of the moisture.  It doesn't take long, like 8 seconds probably.  You can see the moisture evaporate.  After you hit the area with the torch, apply the lead tape.  He also takes the handle of a screw driver, I used the back end of a marker, to smash the lead tape on real tight down into every crease etc.  My lead tape never comes off on its own now, it is really on tight.

[Golfrnut]

KILLEDBYASHANKEDWEDGE, on 26 February 2013 - 11:21 AM, said:

As mentioned earlier, nothing better IMO:

I don't think you are alone.  Larry, who teaches at Mitchell, claims the stuff is about the best that there is.  Never used before, but I know it is held in high regard.

[ptjn1201]

Use wrap style round grips -- takes alignment out of the picture.

[Nessism]

Paint thinner (mineral spirits) make great grip solvent.  Get the odorless type if you are sensitive to the smell.

A small tip torch allows more focused heat than a heat gun.  Much less heat overall will be needed to pull a head, because the heat can be focused on the hosel.

[Golfrnut]

Nessism, on 26 February 2013 - 02:59 PM, said:

Paint thinner (mineral spirits) make great grip solvent. Get the odorless type if you are sensitive to the smell. A small tip torch allows more focused heat than a heat gun. Much less heat overall will be needed to pull a head, because the heat can be focused on the hosel.

Good point on the torch.  I usually just used a head gun, but a torch if you have one is awesome when it comes to irons.  Speeds up the process x10.  Graphite, of course, is still best done with a head gun.  A small bottle of "Blue Away" just in case you discolor the iron head a little bit is also a good idea.

[xathanasi]

1) Blowing on and off grips is a great time saver. Be careful with the light grips because they are very thin and tend to pop. Wear eye protection and get a sheath or cover of some kind for safety. Search for how-to info.

2) Build a Clubhoroto! Rick Isaacs designed the thing - I built one about 8 or 10 years ago and it is awesome. I have absolute confidence that I will never ruin a shaft (and I haven't yet). It's a device that holds and spins the club (using a BBQ rotisserie) and holds the heat gun your desired distance from the hosel. Calibrate the heatgun by holding it a certain distance from a candy thermometer (2" for mine and 3" for Rick's) and let it heat up for 5 min. If it's in the 260-290*F range you are good to go. 300*F or above and it's too hot for graphite shafts. 8-10 minutes usually works just fine. (Don't forget to heat and remove the ferrule first.) Take it out and slap it in your puller, and, presto!

 ClubHoRoto.pdf   432.39K   57 downloads

3) Do not cut shafts to length until after you have tipped them, epoxied them and the epoxy is set.

4) If a shaft is sliding in your puller either the epoxy wasn't cooked enough, or you simply need to wrap one layer of copy paper (or slightly thicker) around the shaft. That'll usually add enough friction to get the job done.

5) Have fun! There's no use having a hobby like this if you're always frustrated when things don't go as planned.

Hope these help.

X

Edited by xathanasi, 26 February 2013 - 06:12 PM.

[Richatvillage]

My golfroom gets a little cool in the winter months, so I built a drying rack & use a halogen work light to warm up the clubs I have glued to accelerate  the epoxy hardening. I uses a pc. of sheet metal as a reflector. Works great!

[Richatvillage]

My wife bought a steam cleaner off some info-mercial & it ended up in the closet. I use it to clean club heads & dirty rubber grips. Works well. At least someone is using it!
I use 3"wide masking tape to mix epoxy on. I tape it to the edge of the bench & roll shafts on it. Excess epoxy is left until hard & then peeled off.

[stebed]

Some great tips there for sure.  Not sure about the "don't cut shafts to length until you have glued them into a head" though tell me how you swing weight them or install tip weights using this method.?

The other one I do is write down all the tip trim info and playing length it seems to cut down on wasted shafts.  Another one I do when repairing older irons that the specs can be hard to find is ask for another iron from the set closest to the snapped one to enable me to get the repair right.  Let me just explain that, customer snaps his 7 iron, brings me the head and half a shaft but has tossed the grip end, he doesn't know his specs, if his clubs are short or long so I ask for him to bring the 6 iron also but be careful with this as Callaway did some sets where length only changed every two clubs.

When I am testing driver shafts I always start at 45.75 playing length then they are always usable when pulled, same goes for 3 woods set them a little long so they can be saved.

I use a golf smith 60 min cure epoxy but never give the customer the clubs back until the next day, that way you can move them in the repair rack etc if you need more space.

[Big_Ben77]

Some great tips for sure, thanks guys...... Any more

[xathanasi]

stebed, on 27 February 2013 - 02:11 PM, said:

Some great tips there for sure.  Not sure about the "don't cut shafts to length until you have glued them into a head" though tell me how you swing weight them or install tip weights using this method.?

I've just seen too many guys make dry fitting mistakes - the shaft slides out of the hosel a bit either by kinking when measuring or by not being completely seated, or the shaft rides up a bit after it's epoxied. I've seen up to 1/4" short and long, but it's really hard to make a length mistake if the epoxy is set. I always estimate swingweight with component weights and have never been too far off. To each his own...