Ghetto iron loft testing

So yesterday I was kind of bored and decided to see if I could check the lofts on my new and old clubs. Not having any clubmaking equipment or a protractor of any good size, I had to come up with another way. Well here it is, with pictures

Tools:
Carpenters square (8" by 12" is what I used)
Excel
Trig (well only TOA from the SOH CAH TOA)

Step 1: Use the carpenters square to determine exactly where the mid-line of the shaft intersects with the clubface (generally at the second groove but this will depend on the offset)

Step 2: Run the short side of the carpenters square up the clubface perpendicular to the grooves, with the point from step 1 at a specific distance from the corner of the square (I used the full 8" side (except for the wedges)).

Step 3: Close one eye and then line up the clubface so that the line of sight is directly down the clubface, parallel with the grooves and looking at the point from step 1.

Step 4: read off the number on the other side of the square that intersects with the mid-line of the shaft (with out moving your head or the club - I generally looked at the shaft and then check the view on the clubface a couple of times just to get an accurate measurement).

Step 5: Input these two numbers into excel. "A" is the distance that is parallel to the clubface, and "B" is the distance from the corner of the square to the shaft mid-line. Then input the following into excel "=ATAN(B/A)*180/pi()" to determine the loft of the club in degrees.

It may sound like a lot of work but it didn't take that much time, and I now know all the lofts of my clubs and I am able to compare them to the original company stated lofts.

I found out that my old clubs (very cheap) were about 3° to 6° off, but my new clubs (Hogans) were at most 0.5° off.

Enjoy
Charles

Attached Images

Ghetto loft testing.jpg (47.1 KB, 9 views)

I think you're right - it looks like a ton of work when you write it down, but I know that measuring and plugging numbers into a spreadsheet takes no time at all. Plus, now you have a good idea where your lofts are at (which is really useful if you have weird yardage gaps).

LP - I know you have a fancy loft machine. Is there any chance you could try my method out on a few clubs to determine the accuracy of the Ghetto method?

Correction: I have TWO fancey loft machines.

LOL

If I knew how to use a carpenters' square, I'd love to check it out. I've got a combination square (ruler on one side, angled piece with a bubble level that slides on the ruler) - will that work?

A carpenters' square is just an L shaped ruler. A combination square should work because you can set it to 90°.

Check out the pictures with my original post. It pretty much covers it.

Carpenters square