Re-Shafting Irons (First Timer Advice)

[Thomas_P14]

I have a set of Nike VR split cavity irons that I got brand new back in 2008 when they first came out.  I absolutely love them to death and refuse to buy anything else.  I am a stickler for clean clubs and would clean them in a bucket of water regularly (unbeknownst to me at the time) having them in a bucket of water above the hozel was not good for them and now where the hozel meets the shaft is quite rusted and my clubs are breaking.  I would like to take a stab at re shafting them myself before taking them somewhere to have them professionally done (probably much more of a pain for someone like me to do it than a professional, I know, but I want to make an honest attempt at it myself first.)  For those of you who have done it before... outside of the shafts and centering beads what else am I looking at to need to get this job done?  I can think of epoxy, new grips and tape, a bench to work on, vise, heat gun ect. but I am sure I am missing some key details.  I do not have a loft and lie machine, swing weight machine or anything you would find on a tour truck so maybe this is just not doable for someone trying to do it in their garage or basement but I would like to make an attempt at it if it is not going to screw up the clubs that I love  

 

Thanks In Advance!

[ChetlovesMer]

Okay, firstly you don't need a loft or lie machine. Reshafting shouldn't affect the loft or the lie. Whether or not the loft and lies are correct in a set of 15 year old clubs is another topic. But if you reshaft them properly you won't change the loft and lie from where they are today.

Secondly, swing weight is important to how the clubs feel. So you will want to be conscious of putting the swing weight back to where it is today. A low cost swing weight scale can be had for as little as maybe 30 to 50 bucks. But with a little math, some patience and a good and accurate postal scale you can get there without one. 

Here's a link to how to calculate swing weight without a scale. 

Design Notes - Heft: swingweight and MOI p4

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Measuring swingweight and MOI. MOI matching using a swingweight scale.

Okay, so how do you match your new shafts to your old swing weight. 

To do so, you will need to know either the head weight, the shaft weight, the grip weight or ideally all three on the clubs they way they are built today. But you at least need to know the head weight. If you know the other two you can get there by doing math. Otherwise once you take them apart weigh all the heads and note the weights in grams. Don't just weigh one of them. Weigh them all and note them. Then find the weight of the grips you plan to use. Then once you know what shafts you will be using you can do the math on the components and determine if you need to add butt weight to the shaft or tip weight to the shaft or (If you are extremely lucky) neither. 

If your math tells you that you need tip weights, you will definitely have to install the tip weights in the shaft before you build up the clubs. (Note, there is a way to add tip weight after the club is built by pouring lead or tungsten powder down the shaft and then ramming a cork down the shaft to keep it in place, it was common in the 80's and 90's but not so much today.) 

If your math tells you that you will need to add butt weight to your shaft that is super easy to do either by selecting a heavier shaft, selecting a heavier grip or by literally putting in a counter weight. 

You can get your weights here:

https://www.golfworks.com/brass-tip-weight-plugs/p/sitw4/?gclid=CjwKCAiA2fmdBhBpEiwA4CcHzXJmHM-jvy6vI6PoIf3XD5ugFCL6bl1HP9xoN_N4yFLoR189aD9AkxoCp00QAvD_BwE

Or here

The GolfWorks - The Source For All Your Golf Needs

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The GolfWorks is the leader in golf club components and accessories. Grips, Shafts, Heads, Custom Clubs, Clubmaking Tools and Supplies, Golf Balls and more. Shop now!

You will also want and/or need a acetylene torch. Although in a pinch I once did the job using a gas range top. But, I don't recommend that for beginners. I also recommend a pair of leather gloves as the head will get hot when you remove it. I find leather gloves much easier than any kind of tool used to try to grip the head. Just grabbing it with gloves is much easier... unless of course you have a shaft puller, which I'm guessing you don't. Lastly, you will want some way to clean out the inside of the heads. This is best done when they are still warm. You can litterally use sandpaper, or any of a few Dremel tool attachments. Basically you want the old glue out of there. But don't use a drill bit, as I have seen others do, unless you are super careful you mess up the inside of the iron's head. 

It really isn't that hard to do. There's math involved and heat. But its not rocket surgery. Basically you are breaking the glue bonds with heat and then rebonding new glue. 

There are a number of good youtube channels on the subject. I personally would recommend McGolf Custom Clubs. He's really good and explains things well. Plus he's local to me and pretty entertaining. 

Last thing. This whole thing gets tons easier after you've done one or two. So, if you have an old club that nobody's going to miss, you can practice on it and you will likely learn a lot. Then when you do your beloved Nike VR's you'll be better prepared. 

Good luck and let us know how it comes out. 

 

 

[Club Rat]

The other thing to consider when reshafting is obtaining a similar shaft or trying a different shaft brand.
To replace with the same shaft you currently have, the shafts will need to be cut to length after "Tip Trimming"
You can view the proper tip trimming recommendations on the manufactures website.
After cutting, the ends should be sanded to remove cut burrs. Also, the tip should be sanded lightley 
about one inch for the shaft to fit the hosel cleanly. It's also a necessity to clean the heads for old glue reidue 
in the hosel. A small wire brush can be used. 

Sometimes you can purchase "Shaft Pulls", they are commonly sold on Ebay.
They are usually sold in sets and will save you a lot of time.
They are typically sold ready to install.

[ChetlovesMer]

23 minutes ago, Club Rat said:

the shafts will need to be cut to length after "Tip Trimming"

Just for clarity sake. I would suggest never cutting the shafts to length until after they've been epoxied into the heads and the epoxy is completely dry. Then you can measure the club with the head attached and then cut to length. Some folks differ on this opinion, but I feel strongly that you should wait until assembly. 

So for the sake of over-clarity. IMO - The steps should be something like this.

1. Mark each shaft with a sharpie in a place that will be cut off eventually or covered by the grip. But you need to know which is the 8 iron shaft and which is the 7 iron and so on.
2. Cut the tip off each shaft per manufactures specs, their will nearly always be a progression. i.e. you'll cut more off the tip of a 9 iron than off the tip of a 5 iron. etc... But every shaft manufacture will have a trim code for your specific shaft. You can just google trim code what ever and you will get what you need. 
3. Prep the tip. Some folks use sandpaper, there is actually a machine that will do tip prep, but sandpaper works just fine. I like to measure up 1 inch from the cut tip and put blue tape. That keeps me from scuffing parts that will show later when the club is built. 
4. Test fit all the shafts into the heads. Also test fit the ferrules. Nothing sucks like having the freaking ferrule not fit when you a trying to assemble. Be sure to test fit with the tip weights if you are using them. I've never had a problem with a tip weight not fitting, but its a good idea to check before you've got a blob of 2-part epoxy drying in front of you. 
5. Get the two part epoxy ready
6. Glue up all the shafts into all the heads, use the marks you made to know that the 7 iron shaft when in the 7 iron head etc. Remember to install the ferrules. If you are using graphite shafts make sure to orient the graphics the way you like them. Sometimes steel shafts have graphics and then the same applies. I personally don't think you need to worry about splines or truing the shaft, not since about 2000 or so. But if you feel you do, a good club repair house will mark the splines for you, often for free if you ask correctly. You can also get shafts that have the splines labelled on them. But even that's not so common anymore. (Splining or truing the shafts is a whole other topic. Opinions on the subject vary. My opinion is you don't need to worry about it. Others may disagree.) 
7. Let the epoxy dry over night. Ideally, if you can, it's best to put just a little pressure holding the shafts into the head. You can also just set them in such a way that gravity holds them as they dry. If you use gravity keep checking on them for the first 30 minutes to an hour as sometimes (although rarely) the epoxy will heave the shaft out a bit as it dries. (I actually have a low closet shelf that I use. I just lightly wedge the club under the shelf with the head up and then let the carpet keep the shaft from slipping backward. Hard to describe but works wonderfully. 
8. Next measure and mark all the clubs to the playing length you'd like them to be. I'm a firm believer in cutting to playing length AFTER the club is built but again, opinions vary on that. 
9. Put the butt weights or counterweights in if you are using them. Some folks epoxy them in. Others let the grip hold the counterweight. I've done both and never had a problem either way. (Pro tip, if you plan to use a product like Shot-Scope or Arccos be sure your counter weight has a hole drilled through it to fit the sensors later. Otherwise, you'll be gluing your sensors on.) 
10. Lastly, put your grips on and Bob's your uncle. I could not recommend Pure grips more. They go on with no tape, no solvent. Just an air compressor. Use any grips you like, but again. Pure grips go on super easy and can easily be removed. 

Here's a link to pure grips

PURE Grips | Made in the USA

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PURE Grips combines everything you want in a grip: superior feel and comfort, exceptional durability, easy installation and colorful personalization. Always Quality. Always Made In the USA.

 

 

 

[boogielicious]

20 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I would suggest never cutting the shafts to length until after they've been epoxied into the heads and the epoxy is completely dry. Then you can measure the club with the head attached and then cut to length. Some folks differ on this opinion, but I feel strongly that you should wait until assembly. 

The only time I would cut to length before gluing is if I needed to adjust the swing weight. It’s really hard to guess how much tip weight is needed. For this method I have an old grip that has been cut off so I can slide it on and measure the swing weight with everything dry fit. I usually do this with one club in the set like the 6 or 7 and then use the same weight for the rest of the set. For the other clubs, I cut to length after gluing.

[ChetlovesMer]

14 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

The only time I would cut to length before gluing is if I needed to adjust the swing weight. It’s really hard to guess how much tip weight is needed. For this method I have an old grip that has been cut off so I can slide it on and measure the swing weight with everything dry fit. I usually do this with one club in the set like the 6 or 7 and then use the same weight for the rest of the set. For the other clubs, I cut to length after gluing.

That's hilarious because I used to do the same thing. I actually went so far as to put tape on the grip so that the grip would weigh the same as a grip plus tape. 

However, over the years I've found that I prefer to use math instead. Here's my reasoning on this. It's basically 2 fold.

One, usually each head weighs slightly different. So, I either have to put every club on the swing weight scale and adjust the tip weights accordingly, or I just weigh up "the average head" and live with the tiny bit of error of the slightly lighter or heaver heads. Where as with the math method, I can weigh each head individually note how much it weighs. Then I work on each club as it's own project. The shafts are very consistent in terms of weight and you can easily calculate cut weight and add grip weight. 

Two, back in the day I used to be able to pour some lead powder or tungsten down the shaft and ram a cork down there to adjust the tip weight. This made bulls-eyeing a specific tip weight super easy. Now because I have to order tip weights, I find the math method makes it much easier to decide which tip weights to order. What I have found over the years is that there's often a knee in the curve. Meaning that often the GW through 8 iron will need one tip weight and then the 7 iron though 4 iron will need a slightly different one. I'm sure that's because modern golf club heads are designed progressively so that the launch characteristics of each club will be correct for that club. 

One more reason to use the math method is if the grip you plan to use isn't the same as the spare grip you have you will have to do math anyway. 

Having typed all of that. Either way is probably fine. The error or tolerance in either method is likely to be small enough where I'm almost certain I will not be able to tell the difference when I swing the club. I'm guessing if you handed me a D0 swing weight 7 iron and a D1 swing weight 7 iron I'll hit pretty much the exact same bath of shots with each. 

It's fun to discuss though. I like to pretend I know what I'm talking about. 👍😜👍

Edited January 13, 2023 by ChetlovesMer

[boogielicious]

4 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

That's hilarious because I used to do the same thing. I actually went so far as to put tape on the grip so that the grip would weigh the same as a grip plus tape. 

However, over the years I've found that I prefer to use math instead. Here's my reasoning on this. It's basically 2 fold.

One, usually each head weighs slightly different. So, I either have to put every club on the swing weight scale and adjust the tip weights accordingly, or I just weigh up "the average head" and live with the tiny bit of error of the slightly lighter or heaver heads. Where as with the math method, I can weigh each head individually note how much it weighs. Then I work on each club as it's own project. The shafts are very consistent in terms of weight and you can easily calculate cut weight and add grip weight. 

Two, back in the day I used to be able to pour some lead powder or tungsten down the shaft and ram a cork down there to adjust the tip weight. This made bulls-eyeing a specific tip weight super easy. Now because I have to order tip weights, I find the math method makes it much easier to decide which tip weights to order. What I have found over the years is that there's often a knee in the curve. Meaning that often the GW through 8 iron will need one tip weight and then the 7 iron though 4 iron will need a slightly different one. I'm sure that's because modern golf club heads are designed progressively so that the launch characteristics of each club will be correct for that club. 

One more reason to use the math method is if the grip you plan to use isn't the same as the spare grip you have you will have to do math anyway. 

Having typed all of that. Either way is probably fine. The error or tolerance in either method is likely to be small enough where I'm almost certain I will not be able to tell the difference when I swing the club. I'm guessing if you handed me a D0 swing weight 7 iron and a D1 swing weight 7 iron I'll hit pretty much the exact same bath of shots with each. 

It's fun to discuss though. I like to pretend I know what I'm talking about. 👍😜👍

We’re going to scare the OP off! 

[ChetlovesMer]

2 hours ago, boogielicious said:

We’re going to scare the OP off! 

Oh... You may be right.

[Deepred]

What shafts are in the clubs and do you plan to switch to a different shaft?

Do you know the tip size? If not remove a grip and tape. There should be a code there. 
 

 

If for instance you have a .355 Dynamic Gold S300 shaft, it’s unlikely the swing weight will change with a new shaft unless the grip is way off.