Building 1st clubs

Gday all,

I'm about to build my first set of clubs when the components arrive - 3 Maltby M-Series Black ION wedges - 50*, 56/8* and 60/6* with Rifle Spinner Wedge 4.5 shafts.

I'm just looking for pointers as for how to assemble them, what to assemble first, or any potential pitfalls.

Low post.

Building from components is the easiest way to start, so.....

You will need:

Sandpaper
Epoxy Resin (Araldite or similar)
A rat tail file.
Some Acetone (nail polish remover, but not the stuff with oil in it)
Rough up the last half inch of the tip of the shaft by rubbing with sandpaper. Do the same to the inside of the hosel with the file. clean them with acetone and leave to dry (a few minutes, no more) Now, mix up some epoxy, not too much about a pea sized blob of each of the two components. Slide the ferrule onto the end of the shaft. Apply half the epoxy to the end of the shaft and the other half to the inside of the hosel. Slot the shaft into the hosel and give it a good working about to get the epoxy well smeared about the place (caution this gets messy sometimes). Make sure you get some of the epoxy onto the bottom of the ferrule. Press the ferrule down onto the hosel and adjust the shaft so the shaft label sits correctly in relation to the head (ie the centre of the label should be parallel with the leading edge of the clubhead.

Leave to set for about 10 minutes then dampen a cloth with the acetone. Wipe the shaft and head to remove the bulk of the excess epoxy. Take care not to apply too much to the ferrule as it will start to dissolve.

Once the club had fully set (usually leave it overnight) you can use more acetone to clean it properly and smooth off the ferrule if it requires it.

Now you need to grip it:

You will need:

A grip!
Grip Tape
White spirit or gasoline
a utility knife

Fit the club in a vice by wrapping a towel round the shaft and securing it without applying too much pressure that would damage the shaft. Measure how far the grip goes down the shaft without actually putting it on. Now apply sufficient grip tape to cover the shaft down beyond the point the grip will occupy (about half an inch is enough). Now put a tee in the end of the grip to fill the little vent hole. Pour some white spirit into the grip (not too much about two or three tablespoonfulls) and put your finger over the open end and swirl it about inside for 30 seconds. Take your finger off the end and pour the white spirit over the grip tape. Remove the tee from the vent and slide the grip onto the shaft. Remove the club from the vice and adjust the grip so the pattern is even and the grip sits correctly on the club (grip name directly down the shaft towards the clubface). Allow to dry (an hour or so) then trim the excess grip tape off the shaft and clean it with some white spirit and a clean cloth.

Good luck, remember its better to take 2 days and get it right than try and get it done in one and it fall apart when you try and use it.

D.

Thanks D...

I'm a little nervous (as expected), but I really want to take my time and do a good job.

I've got plans for a spine finder - should I use it or is it sort of pointless for such short clubs?

Sorry, you will need to remind me what a spine finder is.....I must confess ignorance of such a gadget.


D.

The spine finder, as the name suggests, finds the spine of the shaft. This is a relatively new procedure. Essentially, this will determine where the seem of the shaft is. To use to your advantage, build your clubs so when you are aligning your club at address the spine of the shaft is one the target side, parallel to the target line.

Ahh i see


I suppose it cant hurt unless your shaft labels have already been applied then it might look a bit silly if they arent aligned along the spine.

Anyway, I thought royal precision shafts were spineless????

D.

I have no idea... I assumed all shafts had to have a spine (although I had heard that Rifles are pretty well manufactured, it's tough to find a spine).

Im pretty sure the newer rifle shafts are spineless. Go onto their website and check it out.

www.royalprecision.com

D.

Steel shafts have a much more of a spine than graphite, but yes - most of the manufacturers are trying to come up with a spineless shaft.

Maybe I'll spine 'em for practice. (That way if I screw up, I may still never know!)

You may want to spine your current clubs that you are replacing for practice. Mark the shafts so when you spine them you can see if the they were properly aligned when purchased.

Hey Ben, have you made any decisions on your woods? I remember you said you were going to check into the Ashton woods. Anyway, I was surfing around and thought I'd check their site to see what the latest news on them was and they have released a new driver. It is called the MS-5 and looks amazing. I am waiting to see some sort of review, but the price is right - $109 US!!! I may be swinging one of these before Summer hits if I can sell some of my surplus equipment. www.ashtongolf.com

I've been thinking about using a pullout Aldila with either the new Ashton driver or the SMT Spectrum (110 US)... the spectrum looks suh-weet!

UPDATE:

Started to put together my wedges tonight - got 'em spined and epoxied... tomorrow is the day of the grips.

The Rifles had huge spines... easily found with my bearing type finder.

I'll have to take a trip into Mulligans once I've got 'em together...

UPDATE:

Boy, I didn't remember fighting with grips that hard... I wonder if it's the difference between water activated tape and solvent activated tape?

EDIT: Answer - yes. Solvent works much, much better.

Anyway, the grips are on, and the epoxy is in it's back half of the 24 hour cure.

Just gotta find some time to go hit 'em.