Club building?

[fireman07]

What reading material or websites would be a good place to start to find out about
building my own clubs?

[edikp]

Originally Posted by fireman07

What reading material or websites would be a good place to start to find out about
building my own clubs?

Are you looking into finding out about custom fitting your clubs? Or, about learning to build golf clubs from components (club head, shafts, grips, etc.)?

[SolidRockGolf]

Originally Posted by fireman07

What reading material or websites would be a good place to start to find out about
building my own clubs?

If you going to read a website I suggest you go to Wishon's forum but keep inmind there's going to be alot of abreviations you won't understand at first.

Feel free to ask any questions you might have here and we will be glad to assist/explain.

Now if your interested I've got a video that I can sell you that will help explain clubmaking alot easier.

[fireman07]

Originally Posted by edikp

Are you looking into finding out about custom fitting your clubs? Or, about learning to build golf clubs from components (club head, shafts, grips, etc.)?

Probably more custom fitting, shafts and extending or shorting clubs I buy.
I have noticed alot of guys trying different shafts and re-gripping, it would be cheaper for me to try some of this myself.

Starting to research the subject and want too see if it is something I would be interested in doing.

[SolidRockGolf]

Originally Posted by fireman07

it would be cheaper for me to try some of this myself.

Thats how the addiction starts.
*First you want to try and save money while enjoying a new small hobby.
*First time you do it you get the itch and find yourself wanting more.
*A year later you will have spent more on tools, product and supplies then you thought after it all starts adding up.

Point is... be careful what your getting into and keep an open mind. The positive side - after you get the hang of it and have plenty of supplies you will find yourself making alittle on the side from working on friends and familys equipment.... but thats usually a year or two down the road.

[edikp]

Originally Posted by fireman07

Probably more custom fitting, shafts and extending or shorting clubs I buy.
I have noticed alot of guys trying different shafts and re-gripping, it would be cheaper for me to try some of this myself.

Starting to research the subject and want too see if it is something I would be interested in doing.

I too started the same way you did. I did not buy any books. Rather, I used Google a lot. There's plenty of information there. I also asked a friend who'd done it before. He gave me a lot of pointers and tricks. I started with regripping and when I felt comfortable with it, came reshafting. Then came the drooling over the many club making things on the Internet, especially.. eBay. This all happened within three months. The friend I mentioned earlier was the same when he started. So were many folks on Internet forums. So like what SolidRockGolf said: this hobby is very addictive. It could get expensive in a hurry, too. I never regret that I got into this hobby, though. It is super fun.

Btw, I happened to stumble upon a couple of bookmarks I've used to find oem shafts, loft and lie. Maybe you'll find them useful. Here they are:

- Golf Club Specifications
- OEM Shaft Replacement Guide

[JackSomebody]

Originally Posted by fireman07

What reading material or websites would be a good place to start to find out about
building my own clubs?

Hello Fireman07. I think building your own set of clubs is a gutsy move. My blood pressure goes up whenever I have to make a repair. Recently I've had to reglue the heads of my 5 iron and pitching wedge back on (scary sign that the rest of the heads are loosening up). I bought the "shafting epoxy" and applied as directed. They seem to be tight. I just don't understand how you can glue two metals together. I guess thats technology working for us. I just didn't think two non-porous metals can be glued.

By the way does anyone else have any experience with repairs such as this ?

[MarkinTN1]

Its the prep you do and the epoxy you use. I use bramptons 10/10 epoxy, save you alot of heartache. Make sure the hosel is clean, sandpaper on a cotter pint in a drill will do it and the shaft tips have been abraided (scratched up), that will make them porous enough for the epoxy to bond.
What kind of epoxy did you use and where did you get it? This kind of failure is really unusual.

Fireman, check out the golfsmith website for videos showing clubmaking, thats a good start.

[JPsuff]

.


I got into clubbuilding way back in the 80's mainly because I had trouble finding competent clubmakers who were willing to listen to my detailed specifications for what I wanted in my clubs. All I ever heard were comments like, "Well that's all that's available", or "We can't get that from the manufacturer", or "You can't order them that way" and so on.

So one day I was browsing through the back pages of a golf magazine and saw an ad for this book: "GOLF CLUB DESIGN, FITTING, ALTERATION & REPAIR by Ralph Maltby". I had heard a bit about Ralph Maltby and knew that he was a respected clubmaker and designer, so I bought the book.

In it I found a veritable treasure trove of information, specifications, charts, graphs, the overall science of golf clubs as well as detailed instructions on every aspect of club repair. - I was hooked. I had a set of MacGregor Muirfield 20th anniversary irons which I felt I could hit better if I changed the stock stiff shafts (S-300's) to a set of extra stiff shafts (X-100's). I ordered a Golfworks catalog and found the shafts I wanted as well as a variety of tools, gizmos, grips, epoxies and so on. I changed those shafts and was very happy with the results and I've been doing my own clubs ever since. I even built a grinding/polishing/sanding station for myself and with a few supplies from Golfworks, I had the capacity to grind, polish, sand, buff, abrade, strip or roughen any club part for any reason.

I have not had a single solitary thing done to a golf club by anyone other than myself in over 25 years. I got into building club sets about ten years ago and I've leaned towards Golfsmith for iron heads and Golfworks for woods. I've also built a variety of putters and I'm constantly tinkering with my clubs. And with name brand clubs, I just order a club for the head. I get it with the cheapest shaft they offer because I've already decided on what shaft I'm going to replace it with and I sometimes order THAT before I even get the club itself. This saves money by not having to pay for a manufacturer's "upgrade" shaft when all I really want is the clubhead.
Or, sometimes I'll order an OEM club with an upgrade shaft to see how it plays and if I don't like it I'll pull it, replace it with something I like better and I have a saleable shaft leftover or one I can simply install into another clubhead at some point in the future. I change shafts like many people change socks and when I bought an inexpensive loft and lie machine (really just a glorified vise), I now set my own lofts and lies as well as maintain those settings.

I think clubmaking is a lot of fun and I love to experiment with different combinations of shafts, heads, and weighting as well as more complicated adjustments such as soft or hard-stepping, shimming, and custom grinding wedges.

I love doing it if for no other reason than expediency. I'm not the most patient man in the world and if I get it in my head that I'd like to try a new shaft, for example, I want to be swinging that shaft by the next weekend. So I jump online, order what I want and depending on how I have it shipped, it will be at my door either in a few days or the very next day. It goes in the club that evening and it's in my bag the next day. No waiting, no dropping the club off with some anonymous clerk who couldn't care less, no missed communication or forgotten orders.
For instance, on another thread on this board, someone posted that they had to wait 4 weeks to have a shaft installed and then found out it was the wrong shaft. He refused that shaft and asked them to install the one he ordered and was told it would be another 4 weeks before the club was ready. I never have such problems. I order what I want and I install it myself so there's never a question or problem with miscommunication and I have my club in my bag in mere days or hours - not weeks or months.

I think clubmaking is one of the most rewarding hobbies out there and I love it. You have to be a tinkerer at heart to really enjoy it and if you are, you'll become addicted to it as many other people have but the satisfaction of building and maintaining your own clubs is well worth it.

-JP