fitting a .350 shaft in a .335 hosel

[solid_ONE]

Is it safe to sand down a .350 shaft to fit in a .335 clubhead?

[aquacooled]

It can be done, do I recommend it?? No......

With your handicap I would recommend sticking with the .350 hosel.. $0.02

[solid_ONE]

What if I shot a lower score?

I'm have trouble finding someone to rebore my .335 hosel to .350. I have a 460 ti componet clubhead. Launcher ti clone. I bought the .350 shafts thinking they would fit withourt measuring. Pulled the shaft... oops. Not as close of a clone as I thought. Any advice?

I have some drill bits the correct size. Would carfull use of a hand drill work? Or would I be just asking for trouble?

[Everardo]

I'm have trouble finding someone to rebore my .335 hosel to .350. I have a 460 ti componet clubhead. Launcher ti clone. I bought the .350 shafts thinking they would fit withourt measuring. Pulled the shaft... oops. Not as close of a clone as I thought. Any advice?

You're asking for trouble if you drill out the hosel.

Yes you can sand down the shaft but not recommended.

[mybloodinvt]

You're asking for trouble if you drill out the hosel.

you are severely compromising the structural integrity of either component whichever route you take. both the tip of the shaft and the hosel are under enormous stress when striking the ball. here is another prime example of why knock-offs are just no good.

[Fisherdude]

You absolutely, positively cannot sand down the tip of the shaft to make it smaller.

Boring out a hosel is perfectly safe and will not compromise the structural integrity of the head. However, you'll need a drill press and a head vise to do it correctly. It can be done with a hand drill and a vise, although you're really taking a risk. If you don't hold the drill perfectly square to the hole, you'll probably snap off the drill bit, with the broken end stuck in the hosel. If you don't do that, there's still a possibility that you'll end up with a misaligned hole in the hosel. Either way, you're buying a new head.

If you don't have the proper tools, take it to an experienced professional club builder or repairperson.

[solid_ONE]

You absolutely, positively cannot sand down the tip of the shaft to make it smaller.

That's exactly the problem... can't find anybody near by to bore out my hosel.

I have access to a drill press, but no head vise to secure it properly.

[Everardo]

Fisherdude, I'm not trying to pick on you personally so I hope you don't take my comments too negatively.

You absolutely, positively cannot sand down the tip of the shaft to make it smaller.

Actually you can but again is NOT recommended in most situations because people can and often ruin the shaft in the process. As I state below a person is better off in most situations just buying the correct shaft for their application. That being said, many club makers (myself included) have sanded shafts down to make them fit and knock on wood I haven't had any come back but I don't do this type of work often if I don't thing the shaft will hold up.

Boring out a hosel is perfectly safe and will not compromise the structural integrity of the head.

With irons you can get away with this and be perfectly safe because you are drilling away a small amount of the inner section (.355 Taper to .370 Parallel -

I wish I had a graphic for this ). HOWEVER on many hyrbids and woods you are taking away material of the entire hosel which makes this work on many metal woods a no no.

If you don't have the proper tools, take it to an experienced professional club builder or repairperson.

I completely agree with this statement and have had many heads and shafts come into my shop from people trying this at home with improper equipment. Sadly most of the time I cannot correct these mistakes.

That's exactly the problem... can't find anybody near by to bore out my hosel.

My advice, even if you got a screaming deal on this shaft you bought don't waste the time, money and possible aggravation. Just go purchase the correct shaft for the job.

[aquacooled]

You absolutely, positively cannot sand down the tip of the shaft to make it smaller.

your first comment is really incorrect.. you can sand down the tip, like I said however its not recommened..

and drilling out the head DOES compromise the structural integrity of the head, and anytime you make changes to something from the factory it can cause trouble.. Most clubmakers will only do it when you sign a release.. you might want to reread your post before you start making comments to some of the members that have been here helping other members for quite sometime..

[Fisherdude]

...

I do re-read my posts before hitting "submit", both for content, spelling and grammatical errors, and to make sure that I haven't inadvertently come across with the wrong tone.

These are matters of opinion. I've been building clubs for 25 years. I'm very well aware of shaft manufacturers' recommendations for prepping tips for insertion into clubheads. I'm also very well aware of guidelines for drilling out hosels. Three comments: 1. We essentially agree on not sanding down shaft tips. I simply said not to do it. You said you don't recommend it. 2. We do not agree on drilling out hosels. Let me ask you a question: How many times have you seen shafts snap off at the top of the hosel? How many times have you seen a hosel fail or fracture in any way? My answers would be: Many times, and zero. 3. I intended my post to be helpful. I think it was helpful. I stand by my comments and suggestions. I'm sorry I haven't been a member as long as you have. I don't think it's relevant.

[gas_can]

Is it safe to sand down a .350 shaft to fit in a .335 clubhead?

solid_ONE,

Let's try and separate fact from fiction here and discuss the real facts about why you should or shouldn't sand down a .350 shaft into a .335 hosel. Sanding down .370 shafts into .355 taper tips is commonplace and readily accepted, so the question often arises as to why you can't sand down a .350 tip shaft. There are a couple of reasons. First of all, iron and hybrid shafts typically have wider hosel depths and deeper bores than wood shafts. Secondly all graphite .355 taper tips are manufactured as .370 tips and sanded down to .355 taper. As far as .350 shafts are concerned, most .350 shafts are manufactured on the same mandrels as .335 shafts, the only difference is the .350 shafts are made thicker. Shafts constructed this way are fine to sand down. On the other hand, shafts that are manufactured on different mandrels and designed to play identically between .335 and .350 tips are not safe to sand down, since the walls on the .350 tip shafts are too thin. So the answer can be either yes or no, depending on your case. Edit: One more thing I forgot to add. Always buy .335 tip shafts, whether the hosel is .335 or .350. I only stock .335 tip shafts because it's so easy to shim a smaller diameter shaft into a larger hosel and removes all risk and doubt from the equation.

[aquacooled]

These are matters of opinion. I've been building clubs for 25 years. I'm very well aware of shaft manufacturers' recommendations for prepping tips for insertion into clubheads. I'm also very well aware of guidelines for drilling out hosels.

Ok lets straighten this out before it gets out of hand.

I havent been in the field for 25 years however I do have some experence (working with TM germany nike germany and titlest germany) As gascan stated some can be sanded down without worry, I didnt get this detailed my mistake.. Sorry your right in the fact that the shaft fails more then the hosel, however I have seen a couple crack or totally break thru (from 3 big companies) I guess we all speak from our own experence, there is always the exception to the rule. I personally like to use the right tool and part for the job and never "rig" someones equipment (not saying you do or anything) but somepeople make mistakes and I feel Im here to help them whenever possible.. and I do think time spent somewhere does count for something goodluck and again sorry...

[Fisherdude]

We used to use a phrase at work when we were sharing collective experience and opinions that describes this pretty well:

We're "violently agreeing"!

Although I try not to do it, it's very easy for me to come across as a bit more aggressive than I intended when writing an email or online post for others to read. I appreciate your reply.

I'm fairly certain that all three of us agree on the best possible solution to this issue...use the proper shaft. It will solve all the problems!

Clay

[solid_ONE]

solid_ONE,

Awsome! Thanks, everybody for the input. Now I know the how and the why.

After inspecting the thickness of the shaft, I desided to sand down it down to fit. From the looks of the shaft after resizing, it appears to still have a good margin of material from the hollow inside to the mating surface to the hosel. Hopfully it will hold. If it breaks... I'll still have a suitable shaft for a 7 or 5 wood. BTW the shaft in question is a UST super 47 lite stiff. fingers crossed...

[solid_ONE]

Got out on the course yesterday. Hit my longest drive to date @ 270 with my newly shafted driver. Kranked out a bucket of 85 balls with the driver. So far, no signs of damage or weakening of the shaft.

Thanks again guys