Bending Ping Eye 2 to Match Modern Lofts

[Batchyyyyy]

Hi guys, I know nothing about bending clubs etc, but if I were to get my hands on a set of the old karsten ping eye 2’s could they be bent to match modern lofts? 

[billchao]

  On 5/18/2020 at 5:54 PM, Batchyyyyy said:

Hi guys, I know nothing about bending clubs etc, but if I were to get my hands on a set of the old karsten ping eye 2’s could they be bent to match modern lofts? 

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Without negatively affecting bounce angles or risk breaking the clubs? Probably not.

Why would you want to, anyway? They basically have the same lofts as modern irons (not the super jacked sets), only one club back. So the Eye 2 7i is like a modern 8i, the 8i a modern 9i, and so on.

[Vinsk]

  On 5/18/2020 at 5:54 PM, Batchyyyyy said:

Hi guys, I know nothing about bending clubs etc, but if I were to get my hands on a set of the old karsten ping eye 2’s could they be bent to match modern lofts? 

Expand  

Modern lofts are as they are due to technological changes in MOI, COG, so that they still behave as one expects a ‘7i’ to behave. Leave the lofts as they are for the Pings.

[Bonvivant]

As @Vinsk and @billchao pointed out, there are plenty of reasons to stay away from doing it. Eye 2s were already weak for their time, and trying to bring them even to "traditional" lofts would be an exercise in futility considering they are cast. You might break a couple of them trying to take them even 3 degrees strong. Unfortunately, you would have another 3/4 degrees to go until you got to "modern" lofts. As Bill said, the bounce is a big concern as well, because every degree you strengthen them, you lose a degree of bounce, so clubs that were designed to have 4 degrees of bounce, all of a sudden have -2 if you bend them that strong....talk about a leading edge.

What I've learned about traditional vs. modern lofts is, don't worry about what is on the bottom of the club in relation to how far you hit it. When I first came on this forum, I had a real bone to pick with manufacturers for strengthening lofts so much. Now I don't worry about it, and let people have their distance and feel proud about how far they hit their (x) iron. Between the 2 sets of clubs that I game most regularly, there is about a 20-25 yard distance gap from 7 iron to 7 iron. The funny thing about that is, is that there are only 2 degrees of loft separating them, which should equate to 5-8 yards of distance change, but the tech on modern clubs is so good that they blow old stuff out of the water when it comes to distance, even considering loft.

I'd recommend looking at something newer, or accepting that you are just going to be 1-3 clubs shorter than others in your group. I always thought it was funny when someone would ask me what I hit on a shot when I was gaming my older blades, and I would tell them and they would just look at me funny. They were so used to their modern clubs with modern lofts that it didn't compute to them that I could be hitting such a "long club" for the shot length. Even better was having a 7/8 iron spin back while their PW hopped off the green.

[billchao]

  On 5/19/2020 at 3:18 AM, Bonvivant said:

Unfortunately, you would have another 3/4 degrees to go until you got to "modern" lofts.

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Right, and that’s why I asked what the point would be. They’re literally the same exact lofts as my JPX919 Forged, give or take 0.5-1.0° from club to club.

They would have to bend the Eye 2 PW from 50.5° to 46°, then the 9i from 45° to 41°, then the 8i from 40° to 36°, the 7i from 36° to 32°, the 6i from 32° to 28°, and so on. The heads already exist in lofts that basically match. Essentially the entire process would be bending, for example, a 32° club stronger just to bend a weaker club to 32°. It’s an exercise in futility.

[David in FL]

It doesn’t matter what the number on the club says.  As long as you know how far you hit each, who cares if it says 7 or 8 on it, as long as you know that that club goes x yards.

Welcome to the site!  

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by David in FL

[Typhoon92]

Something most everyone overlooks is shaft length.  I get sick of hearing about “jacked lefts”.  Clubs need to be like that because of improvements over the years.  There is so much more to clubs now than it just changing the bounce.

Your old Ping 5 iron might go 190 yards.  Your NEW 190 yard club might be a 7 iron.  It’s fly at the same height, be far more forgiving and you will be more accurate due to the fact the you’re hitting a 7 iron shaft length vs. 5 iron shaft length.

[Batchyyyyy]

Oh I see, you’ve all made very valid points. I was just curious about how feasible or possible it could/would be.
 

 

Imagine a re-released version of these though 😍 perhaps a 30th anniversary edition, forged with traditional/more modern lofts.

[WUTiger]

Last year at a scramble, I saw a 20-something playing Ping Eye2 irons. Leave well-enough alone! Play them as is.

[onthehunt526]

  On 5/19/2020 at 3:18 AM, Bonvivant said:

As @Vinsk and @billchao pointed out, there are plenty of reasons to stay away from doing it. Eye 2s were already weak for their time, and trying to bring them even to "traditional" lofts would be an exercise in futility considering they are cast. You might break a couple of them trying to take them even 3 degrees strong. Unfortunately, you would have another 3/4 degrees to go until you got to "modern" lofts. As Bill said, the bounce is a big concern as well, because every degree you strengthen them, you lose a degree of bounce, so clubs that were designed to have 4 degrees of bounce, all of a sudden have -2 if you bend them that strong....talk about a leading edge.

What I've learned about traditional vs. modern lofts is, don't worry about what is on the bottom of the club in relation to how far you hit it. When I first came on this forum, I had a real bone to pick with manufacturers for strengthening lofts so much. Now I don't worry about it, and let people have their distance and feel proud about how far they hit their (x) iron. Between the 2 sets of clubs that I game most regularly, there is about a 20-25 yard distance gap from 7 iron to 7 iron. The funny thing about that is, is that there are only 2 degrees of loft separating them, which should equate to 5-8 yards of distance change, but the tech on modern clubs is so good that they blow old stuff out of the water when it comes to distance, even considering loft.

I'd recommend looking at something newer, or accepting that you are just going to be 1-3 clubs shorter than others in your group. I always thought it was funny when someone would ask me what I hit on a shot when I was gaming my older blades, and I would tell them and they would just look at me funny. They were so used to their modern clubs with modern lofts that it didn't compute to them that I could be hitting such a "long club" for the shot length. Even better was having a 7/8 iron spin back while their PW hopped off the green.

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Here’s a thought, if you’re set on making Eye 2s “modern lofted”. As stated before, think of the 4-iron as a 5, 5 as a 6, 6 as a 7, etc. There is one thing you might be able to do to make them more “modern”. 

Reshaft then with modern shafts. I’m not sure what the bore tip diameter would need to be. Either parallel or tapered (not sure what Ping was using in 1983, to be honest). But I’m pretty sure that you can probably find out what the tip diameter is for Eye 2s.
 

 

 

[Hoganman1]

I agree with most everyone else. I wouldn't try to bend them. It doesn't really matter what the loft of your seven iron is as long as you know the yardage it travels.  

[Sandy Divot]

I think they might break bending them that much.

[DrvFrShow]

Don't do it. They'll break.

I've got a fix for you. Take a Sharpie. Grab your irons. Start with your 3i. Write 4 on the bottom. Now take your 4i and write 5 on the bottom. Work your way up to 9 and write P on the bottom. Take your P and write an A on the bottom. Now you have a set of modern lofted irons that say Ping Eye 2 on them.

If you don't want to do that, just buy a newer set. 

[Colins69]

If you hit them where you want to be happy....

[dmnoland]

1. pick up a set of the Eye 2 +, closer to modern lofts.

2. who cares what the # on the club is. what matters is to know how far you hit it.

3. find a shaft you adore and reshaft the old Pings.  My lob is actually an Eye2 sw reshafted with Ping CFS that matches the rest of my irons. Cannot tell a difference  in feel or strike between my 54 and 58 even though they are 30 years apart in age.

[NHpro]

  On 5/18/2020 at 5:54 PM, Batchyyyyy said:

Hi guys, I know nothing about bending clubs etc, but if I were to get my hands on a set of the old karsten ping eye 2’s could they be bent to match modern lofts? 

Expand  

Yes, they can be made 2 degrees less loft without a major impact on bounce.

I know, my Ping Eye 2 irons are 2 degree less loft than factory and I think it improves the clubs.

Edited May 17, 2021 by NHpro

[NHpro]

  On 5/18/2020 at 5:54 PM, Batchyyyyy said:

Hi guys, I know nothing about bending clubs etc, but if I were to get my hands on a set of the old karsten ping eye 2’s could they be bent to match modern lofts? 

Expand  

I wanted to share with the group my recent experience with adjusting loft on my dad's old set of Ping Eye 2 Black Dot irons.

I adjusted them 2-3 degrees less on loft, which for me has made them more playable. I tend to hit a high shot normally, so delofting these irons has improved them for me.

Below are my new specs:

3i   18 deg.

4i   22deg.

5i   26deg

6i   30deg

7i   34deg

8i   38deg

9i   42deg

PW  46deg

SW  54deg