Club Building 101: Shaft tip diameters; sanding .370″ to taper

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Published

6 years ago

Sep 3, 2018

Ryan Barath

Every club head has a certain tip diameter designed for a specific shaft. As a club builder, it’s my job to know which shafts work in which heads, and also when to use certain tools — like a shim or a reamer — to get the optimum shaft into the club head to create the best fit for the player.

This video explains those processes, along with both hard and soft stepping. I also give you the definitive answer for sanding a graphite shaft to taper.

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Ryan Barath

Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

6 Comments

joro

Sep 4, 2018 at 12:17 pm

Or,,,, you can bore out your Irons to 370, much easier and the fit will be better. This guy is a Master Club Maker? Advocating this sanding stuff is BS. It ain”t easy to get it correct, and Taper tips are each make for a number. The design of the shaft is totally different.

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- geohogan
  
  Sep 4, 2018 at 5:19 pm
  
  To bore out the hosel of a taper tip iron head requires precision drill press , a couple of different size drill bits and reamer for accuracy and consistency throughout a set and even then, chances are some fits will be loose , very loose and others tight. A taper fit is always the same, if the tapers are accurately machined.
  
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Ray Rise

Sep 4, 2018 at 12:07 pm

Correct Tony Dyck – the difference between parallel and taper is merely 0.015 of an inch. Anyone attempting this would logically use a good caliper gauge to the appropriate diameter and depth of the receiving hosel.

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Dodo

Sep 4, 2018 at 11:10 am

Shanking this video. Doesn’t explain enough and it leaves a lot of people still confused. You need more diagrams and actual footage of the parts you are describing and the work it takes to make, say, that 370 fit into the 355. And say that yes, it “fits” but it’ll never play the same or feel the same as a real taper tip that has a long taper section at the bottom 3 inches than the same 370 thickness of that parallel shaft.

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Tony Dyck

Sep 4, 2018 at 10:53 am

Likely should have proofed this episode before airing it. I get it that it’s not easy, but the one that stands out is that you are only sanding off .015″ of the tip diameter and not .15″ (and only .0075″ off the radius).

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geohogan

Sep 3, 2018 at 8:55 pm

Thank you for addressing issues that are not often discussed.

Suggest that the advantage of taper tip iron shafts is that properly machined tapered tip shafts inserted in tapered bore clubheads, are much more precise and consistent through a set of irons than parallel tip shafts inserted into clubheads machined for parallel tip shafts.This is basic knowledge in the machining business.

It is much more expensive as you point out to machine, sort and match taper tip shafts to clubheads; however if machined properly the taper fit will always ensure the shaft is perfectly centered within the hosel, close to “interference fit” throughout the set and there will not be looseness found in parallel tip irons.

IMO it is one of the main reasons golfers say that they notice a difference between forged clubs compared to cast iron heads. The difference in feel IMO, is due to more precise fit of shaft and clubhead with taper tip shafts in taper tip heads, which is common with more expensive forged irons. Cheaper cast iron heads more commonly will have parallel tip shafts in parallel heads. Its cheaper for the manufacturer.

So although mfg may say it is ok to grind or sand parallel tip graphite shafts to suit tapered tip iron heads, I suggest the precision inherent with irons with taper tip shafts precisely machined in the factory, may be lost when taper is done ad hoc for each shaft. If the irons are expensive forged, IMO dont compromise the feel for relatively small shaft cost savings.

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Equipment

Michael Block spotted with full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons at Valhalla

Published

6 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

On Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club, Block had a full set of TaylorMade “Proto” irons in the bag.

Block is the first player of many on the PGA TOUR to bag a set of the mysterious “Proto” irons. Rory McIlroy first switched into a “Proto” 4-iron at the Valero Texas Open, and Collin Morikawa followed suit at the 2024 RBC Heritage. Block isn’t using just the 4-iron, though, he’s using a full set to go along with a TaylorMade Stealth UDI driving iron.

Speaking with GolfWRX.com on Monday at the PGA Championship, Block revealed the full backstory.

“I hit a couple super “Proto” irons when I was at the Kingdom (TaylorMade’s fitting facility in Southern California) a couple months ago, and it was a 9-iron that didn’t have any badges or anything on it,” Block said. “I had no idea what it was … It was very similar to what I was using back then, you know, my old MCs, and very similar from the top. I hit it and absolutely loved it. For me to even think about switching irons from the last 11-12 years is crazy.

“I got this set about two weeks ago, and I’m working my way into them. I hit them more solid; it comes off the face more solid. Much higher. I think they’re still slightly too upright for me, so they’re being bent a degree flatter, because they’re going a little too high for me and drawing a little too much. When that starts to happen, I start to drop the club under and compensate too much, so I’m getting them flattened slightly, and I’m going to test them on the range again, and hopefully have them in play on Thursday…

“They go further, and they go higher … that combination is kind of a no-brainer. If I can take a 5-iron from 204 rather than a 4-iron, it’s good on me. It’s going to help me out for sure, especially at a major with the pin locations. Having that height coming in, that descent angle is going to be huge.”

With such new irons in the bag, after using the same irons for over a decade, surely you’d think there will be a bit of a learning curve. Block, however, is finding immediate comfort with the new “Proto” irons.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.

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Whats in the Bag

WITB Time Machine: Rory McIlroy’s winning WITB, 2014 PGA Championship

Published

8 hours ago

May 14, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Rory McIlroy outlasted Phil Mickelson at the 2014 PGA Championship. It’s even harder to believe McIlroy hasn’t hoisted a major trophy since his 2014 victory at Valhalla.

After a slow start to his final round, McIlroy tallied an eagle and two birdies on the back nine and his fourth major championship. Take a look at the clubs he played a decade ago in Kentucky.

Driver: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (8.5 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Mitsubishi Kuro Kage XTS 70X

3-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (15 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

5-wood: Nike VR_S Covert 2.0 Tour (19 degrees) Buy here.
Shaft: Fujikura Rombax Pro 95 X

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

Irons: Nike VR Pro Blade (4-9) Buy here.
Shaft: Project X 7.0

Wedges: Nike VR Forged (46, 52, 56, 60 degrees) Buy here.
Shafts: Project X 6.5

Putter: Nike Method 006 Buy here.

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Nike RZN Black

Check out more in-hand photos of Rory McIlroy’s clubs from 2014 here.

WITB Time Machine is presented by 2nd Swing Golf. 2nd Swing has more than 100,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.

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