'Golf' Epoxy vs Regular Epoxy

[johnnyyooper]

i have a shaft and a clubhead. i want to epoxy them together. i have regular epoxy that comes from my local Home Depot. Will that get the job done? I have faith it will hold but my concern is will it ever come loose if i apply heat as with "golf" epoxy if i wanted to take it apart someday? Is there something special about 'golf' epoxy vs regular epoxy?
yeah, i could buy 'golf' epoxy but it would probably go to waste after this one use as i am not a regular golf maker/fitter.
just wondering.....

[LBlack14]

Golf club epoxy has a lower break down temp than other epoxy not design for clubs. I wouldn't advise using anything other if you may want to take it apart some day. You're liable to have to heat it up so much as to damage/ruin the shaft and roast the head/paint/metal.

[doof_dizzler]

mehhh.....

[johnnyyooper]

mehhh.....

mehhh? what does that mean?

[LBlack14]

mehhh? what does that mean?

Means he thinks I don't know what I'm talking about, but I do.

[basesloaded190]

hardware store epoxy will be just fine. Make sure its two ton epoxy though. Trust me, been making clubs for a long time and thats the only thing we have used.

[lcfd42]

mehhh.....

Mehhh? Hmmmm........

Intresting....

[basesloaded190]

http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1276841

Here is the stuff that we have been using for 25 years. Trust me, it works. Let it sit for 24 solid hours upright in a rack and don't touch it at all and you won't have to worry about the club coming apart

[LBlack14]

What's the break down temp for that stuff?

[lcfd42]

What's the break down temp for that stuff?

Lblack, if it's the same stuff we use in the machine shop, it will probably require drilling out. It is a moderately strong compound, that is not very heat sensitive. You would most likely detemper/ruin any part before softening it enough to breakdown.

[LBlack14]

Lblack, if it's the same stuff we use in the machine shop, it will probably require drilling out. It is a moderately strong compound, that is not very heat sensitive. You would most likely detemper/ruin any part before softening it enough to breakdown.

That's why it shouldn't be used for clubs. He said he may want to change out the shaft and if he used that he would definitely ruin the shaft and probably torch the head unless he cut and then drilled out the rest. Lot of unnecessary work IMO.

[MGP]

Golf shaft epoxy also has a much higher shear strength than general purpose epoxy. It isn't as brittle as general purpose epoxy when it cures so it takes the torque of the head hitting the ball better and there's much less of a chance of the epoxy bond cracking.

I've fixed several clubs that were "fixed" with general purpose epoxy and every one had a cracked epoxy joint on the head. A few failures resulted in heads flying down the fairway.

Use the right epoxy. It's cheap and readily available.

[LBlack14]

I forgot that point also, Great post!

[basesloaded190]

Believe me or not, but like i said been using that stuff for over 25 years and never had a problem taking a club apart. If you know how to properly take a club apart without damaging it, you should have any problems. FYI we use a blow torch to head our heads off. Before you go and trash me for using one thinking that we will torch the head, you can't torch the head if the flame NEVER hits the club. If you know what your doing this process is simple.

[LBlack14]

Not going to trash you, just know if the breakdown temp is too high you will ruin the shaft and torch the paint. I have used propane on occasion, but I also use epoxy designed for golf clubs so I don't have to super heat a head.

[FrenchFries]

I remember a video from Taylor Made tour van. The guy was using usual 3M epoxy. Don't see the exact #ref of the paste but it was usual 3M cartridge...

In fact, I would try to manage best of both worlds. Golf epoxy can be hard to find or need to be ordered over the net. Epoxy at your local Home Depot are often cheap epoxies...

Try to find a good store near your home that sell some "industrial" epoxy and you will see that there is a tremendous choice for epoxy.

I personnaly use 3M DP 420 paste. The paste is black, quite fluent and one thing important, the paste is NON-THIXOTROPIC. It is an important thing because it allows for light adjustement during the cure.

Sorry for my bad english...

[misty_mountainhop]

You can use hardware epoxy fine...if it has a high (~3000psi) lap shear strength. Most hardware epoxy resins I've used breakdown fine with a bit of heat. If you go the hardware store route, don't go for the "quick setting" resins; you want the ~24 hour cure expoxys as they're almost always stronger. TBH though, it's just as easy to buy a high lap shear glue specifically for club shafting these days and you don't have to worry about glue flexibility issues.

[basesloaded190]

Oh our clubs get hot when taking them apart because it does take a lot of heat to break down the epoxy, but i would rather have the head securely on there instead of using something thinking that i will have to be re shafting in the future and use something not as strong. We do have to worry about shaft and paint of the club, but like i said if your careful and good at what you do, this shouldn't be an issue. As far as glue flexibility, we ALWAYS counter sink our heads before either making new clubs or re shafting them because most club manufacturers over in china don't have the time or take the time to do that and that gives the shaft very little wiggle room inside the hosel. With a quick counter sick of the club head, we can achieve the right combination of shaft and epoxy that we are looking for.