Just built (and used) my first SpineFinder

I just put together and tested out my very first spine finder... I gotta say, it was the coolest thing finding the spines on my shafts, watching them shift, then feeling the resistance as I tried to rotate through the spine.

Fantastic. Now it's time to pull the heads off my current irons, and spine 'em. I can't wait for the confidence that comes with knowing my clubs are assembled well... or at least similarily.

Sorry if this is a 'do nothing' post, I'm just a little pumped, as now my wedges are one step closer to being built!

What materials did you use to build you spine finder? Any instructions on how you built it?

It's a 'SpinyToad' bearing-type spinefinder - patent pending PhineasToad

It's made with a piece of PVC Pipe (compression join clamp), and 3 bearings.

I bought all my pieces from McMaster-Carr (www.McMaster.com) for $15.83 USD plus shipping.

It was dead simple to build (and even dead simpler to use) - unscrew the ends of the PVC and pull the gaskets. Put a big bearing in each end and screw the ends back on.

Assembly done.

My only 'complaint' is that the bearings didn't fit snugly into the the PVC pipe - they needed another 1/8" to sit flush in the hole (but then I'm concerned the bearings might have floated/rattled.

The other thing I need to figure out is how to stick it in my vise without cracking the PVC. I may trade up for a piece of brass, or build some sort of jig. As it stands, I do a fine job of spinefinding by hand - I hold the PVC down while deflecting the shaft by pulling on the small bearing.

I can drop the part list here, if you like.

A smooth, flat and level table will be able to locate the spine of a shaft. Simply roll the shaft on the surface and let the shaft roll to a stop. The shaft's spine will settle to the bottom. Mark the top of the shaft and you will have marked 180 degrees from the actual shaft. I have used this method and then had the shaft tested and found that my shafts are very close to being accurately spined. Best part of this is that I spent nothing, and little time, on my spining machine.

What do you do for graphite? /:s

I do the same thing for graphite shafts as well. I roll my shafts 5 or 6 times and mark each time with a Sharpie Marker. I do this several times to verify that the spine of the shaft does settle at the bottom of the surface. Steel and graphite shafts will have a spine and this method appears to work.

When testing a golf club on a frequency analyzer machine, a golf club not spined correctly will start to oscillate in a random pattern, up-down-and around and around. A gold club that is correctly spined will only oscillate up and down.

Again, my method is a very close location of a spined shaft. It appears to work and my driver and 3 wood are so repeatable that it is almost unfair. However, for a true and accurate location of spining (puring) I concede that there are machines that do this a little more accurately than my smooth, flat and level tabletop method. However, the table top method is a little more affordable.

__________________
Joe drinking Hacker

I concur that the tabletop is certainly the cost effective way to go... but I don't mind being out $20 USD, either... and now I don't have to clear off my table!

Yea, that is always a problem for me.