New interest in club building

[xerographic26]

Hello, first post on the sandtrap.

I have recently taken an interest in learning how to build golf clubs.  I have been doing a lot of research online and have purchased a book on club making so I am becoming familiar with the procedures.  One area I have been reading into is what component heads to buy, specifically irons.  I have heard good things about diamond tour golf, but was wondering if anyone has had experience with monark golf components. Or is there another route to go?  I understand the pros and cons of "clone" clubs but I figured this would be a good way to get some experience.  I had a club fitting done a couple of weeks ago so I have my swing speed and measurements.  I was going to start by just building a single club, probably a seven iron just to try out and decide if I want to pursue this hobby further.

I have been lurking around this site for some time now and there is a lot of knowledge here.  I look forward to any insight.

Thanks

[Stuffs]

For woods/ drivers, Golfsmith, SMT, Maltby (Golf Works), are all pretty descent.

For Irons, the SMT 303 lines are nice. Definitely give those a look.

I would go for actual component companies where they product their own line rather the "clones" because they're usually very poorly made.

[solarbear]

Would look mostly at valuegolf and maltby. Valuegolf for cheaper Acer components And Maltby for a bit better stuff Golfsmith used to be really good but is a bit sparse these days

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by solarbear

Would look mostly at valuegolf and maltby.

Valuegolf for cheaper Acer components

And Maltby for a bit better stuff

Golfsmith used to be really good but is a bit sparse these days

Hirekogolf.com is a great website.  They are the manufacturer of the Acer line of stuff.  I currently play Acer wedges and they are great (similar to the Cleveland CG15 wedges, but came out first)

Acer XC wedges

I have ordered from Value golf as well.  I like them because they carry the FST shaft (a great value shaft) as well as the Acer heads (great budget heads)

Another website that is smaller than TST but has a pretty active club builder forum is freegolfinfo.com the owner of Value Golf is on the website.

[xerographic26]

Thanks for the replies.  I will definitely check out those companies you mentioned.

[solarbear]

Originally Posted by clearwaterms

Acer XC wedges

That is actually a pretty nice looking wedge.  :D

The guys on Freegolfinfo use Valuegolf a lot, and the service is said to be good, which is why I reccomended them.

[clearwaterms]

Originally Posted by solarbear

That is actually a pretty nice looking wedge.  :D

The guys on Freegolfinfo use Valuegolf a lot, and the service is said to be good, which is why I reccomended them.

Yes, I "think" that the owner of value golf is named Aaron, he is a very fair guy.  If you are a member of Freegolfinfo, he gives you a small discount.  His prices are good, and he ships fast.  When researching the hireko stuff (Acer, Dynacraft, iBella) I think the Hireko website has a little more information.  Depending on which shaft you end up selecting (the FST shafts are REALLY nice) Aaron has a larger selection of shafts.  So I have typically purchased based on which place has the shafts in stock.

I put together a set of Distance master heads I purchased from Golf Galaxy when they were closing out the Golfworks department (3-SW) for like $1.30 a head, it was a smoking deal.  I got some cheap FST shafts from Aaron, and some Karma grips (which is still my goto grip at $1 a piece) and had a full set of irons for less than $75 brand new.

I have built clubs for friends from the Acer stuff and it always turns out great.  The one thing to bear in mind is that components don't really do "under weight" heads.  What that means is that if you need longer than average clubs, it is often difficult to maintain the D0~D3 swing weights that the OEMs can do because they have some lighter heads that they can use.