Is my shaft the correct size for the hosel?

I have a set of dynamic gold shafts tapered with the tip measuring at 0.355", and clone iron heads from the states. Using a digital caliper the inside diameter of the head is 0.366". When I dry fit the shaft into the head it is loose enough for the head to fall off on its own, or it can swivel around the shaft with ease, whereas the original Project X shaft had a snug fit and the head would stay in place. Should I be concerned about this, or would the epoxy be enough to hold the shaft and head in place? Is it unusual to be this loose or should the internal diameter of the head be 0.355" as well for 0.355" shafts? I can't see the head being designed for 0.370" shafts as this will mean the tip will be too wide and would pinch into the hosel. Thanks

Welcome to the world of manufacturing tolerances.

I've never actually measured out when shafts simply slide on and off, but if you can put the shaft in and noticably move it side to side, then it's not the right shaft.

FWIW, I've never seen a clone head at .355T, only ever .370.

It sounds to me like you've got some DG's pulled from OEM heads. Time for new shafts!

Come to think of it, I've put the original shaft back in and it too has some movement (had some melted ferrule on the shaft that held it to the hosel) but not as much. I'm not an experienced club maker, but is it common then to find oem heads out of industry tolerances, or does it tend to be the clone makers?

I've heard that some makers put some "beads" to hold the shaft in place while the epoxy sets, would this help?

Every single foundry has manufacturing tolerances - from the top end to the bottom.

The issue with some clones is that they're made from the discarded casts stolen or re-used from OEM foundries. These are used to make your counterfeits - they look like the exact same club except for a few cosmetic flaws. Needless to say, the reason that the casts were discarded is that they were no longer capable of manufacturing to spec+allowance. Cheaper heads (mostly clones) have wider allowances allowing for more deviation from spec.

I've had some of the exact same heads from different runs have more 'wiggle room' than others, but nothing so gross as to have the head flopping about. Likewise, most shaft manufacturers actually build up their shaft tip to slightly oversize, knowing assemblers will have to remove material to make for a better epoxy bond.

Also, taper tip shafts in parallel hosels are a night maker. Put a pylon in a steel drum. How much glue do you need to hold the pylon in there? Now put a steel tube in the drum - how much glue? Epoxy works in torsion (ie it holds well against twisting) but fails relatively easily in compression (ie it's not a gap filler).

I use shafting beads in my epoxy mix. It helps to both center the shaft in the hosel and also does the job of gap filling. But it shouldn't be used if there's visible rocking - you need different shafts.

The other thing to consider is that you can always ream tapered hosels to .370", but you can't take a .370" hosel and make it .355T (T for tapered). Sure, some guys use shims, but I don't like them as they're not reliable.

I daresay your .366 hosel is looking for a .370 shaft. The other option is to ream out your .366 to .370. I've had to do that a few times with chrome heads where, for some reason, the chrome got IN the hosel.

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Thanks for the reply - I'm currently looking for a "cut off" of a .370" shaft from a pro so that I can try before I buy another set. What's thebest tool to ream outh the hosel to the correct size?

The best tool to ream out a hosel? A reamer. (And a super-slow drill press).

You can buy them at golfsmith, golfworks, golf galaxy, and I believe myostrichgolf.com carries them.