Rusty wedges

[nick1998bunker]

so i have some nike forged black oxide wedges that i think are supposed to rust. before i went on vacation they were black but when i got back they were rusted. I dont mind the rust but now it isnnt rusty on the bottom or where i strike the ball so it looks weird. I tried putting water on them but they really didnt rust at all. Any advice (Wears off after 5 shots)

cant realy see the contrast but it there!

[mvmac]

Yeah nothing you can do about that, just how those wedges are.  Some tour players have a similar look to their wedges.  Like these, check out the soles

[LettucePray27]

If you do not like the rust on the wedges or return them to the black oxide finish you can clean the rust away with a brass bristle brush or some light grit sand paper. (1500-2000 grit) to restore the black oxide (also known as bluing) visit brownells.com and search for ortho-blu. It is a DYI bluing salt that you rub on the bare metal and it turns the metal back to black. The more you rub, the deeper the finish. All bluing requires a very very thin coat of oil over the surfaces to prevent it from rusting. Just wipe off before play and your wedges will always stay beautifully black.... this product is very cheap and last forever. I use it routinely on gun parts and have never had an issue. Good luck

[iacas]

Rust is "fine" if you like that look on the back of the wedges.

In no way should you have rust on the face (or the sole, but that rubs off naturally) of your wedges. It decreases spin.

Personally, given what rust is and how easily it can spread, I prefer to keep it off my wedges (and all clubs) entirely.

[Pretzel]

The rust won't stay on the face or sole of a club for very long. I have the Ping Tour-S "Rustique" wedges and it has a sole just as shiny. I just take some steel wool to the face every so often just in case I mishit it, so that I wouldn't hit the ball on a rusted clubface no matter where on the face the ball was.

[nick1998bunker]

thanks- I left them in vinegar for an hour then sanded them down and the rust came off very easily. Now I just spray wd40 on them and they should maintain pretty good

[GaijinGolfer]

A little surface rust wont hurt a thing, although I never understood why people would actually want a wedge that rusts quickly, unless they somehow believe that rust increases spin (which it doesnt).

[Golfingdad]

  GaijinGolfer said:

A little surface rust wont hurt a thing, although I never understood why people would actually want a wedge that rusts quickly, unless they somehow believe that rust increases spin (which it doesnt).

My old wedges were the Cleveland 588 rtg that were designed to rust. I got them about 15 years ago when they were all the rage. Iirc they were promoted to decrease glare, not to increase spin. But who am I kidding? I got them because the pros played them and they were "cool."

[Pretzel]

  GaijinGolfer said:

Originally Posted by GaijinGolfer

A little surface rust wont hurt a thing, although I never understood why people would actually want a wedge that rusts quickly, unless they somehow believe that rust increases spin (which it doesnt).

I like them because they remind me a little of the old BeCu clubs. That and I have a good excuse for allowing the backs of my clubs to rust, instead of giving them a scrubbing once a month. The last part of my choice was because Ping made the "Rustique" wedges out of a different steel that was softer than the regular Tour-S wedge (8620 vs 17-4) due to lower levels of carbon present in the steel.

[jmanbooyaa]

My Nike VR pro wedge rusted up and some on the face. I put it in a glass of coke and that seemed to take off the rust blotches.

[Hardballs]

I'm sure I read on another thread, that some wedges rust intentionally fast, .....to increase surface roughness??? .. To increase spin??? It sounded like a reasonable theory??? I'm not bothered either way, but does anyone actually know for sure if this is true or not???

[iacas]

  Hardballs said:

Originally Posted by Hardballs

I'm sure I read on another thread, that some wedges rust intentionally fast, .....to increase surface roughness??? .. To increase spin???

It sounded like a reasonable theory???

I'm not bothered either way, but does anyone actually know for sure if this is true or not???

Yes, and we discussed it above, and elsewhere: rust decreases spin, it doesn't increase it.

[Hardballs]

I'm surprised!

[birlyshirly]

No advantage to rust per se , but I like that raw, unplated wedges can be maintained which could become an advantage if you hit a lot of balls, or a lot of sandy soil, and you don't want to replace expensive, or familiar, wedges. For minimal loss of head weight, grooves can be sharpened and faces can be smoothed more easily on a raw wedge. But chromed wedges are more durable in the first place. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

[nick1998bunker]

  birlyshirly said:

Originally Posted by birlyshirly

No advantage to rust per se, but I like that raw, unplated wedges can be maintained which could become an advantage if you hit a lot of balls, or a lot of sandy soil, and you don't want to replace expensive, or familiar, wedges. For minimal loss of head weight, grooves can be sharpened and faces can be smoothed more easily on a raw wedge. But chromed wedges are more durable in the first place. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

agreed

[nick1998bunker]

  birlyshirly said:

Originally Posted by birlyshirly

No advantage to rust per se, but I like that raw, unplated wedges can be maintained which could become an advantage if you hit a lot of balls, or a lot of sandy soil, and you don't want to replace expensive, or familiar, wedges. For minimal loss of head weight, grooves can be sharpened and faces can be smoothed more easily on a raw wedge. But chromed wedges are more durable in the first place. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

i hit enough balls that i would need to buy new wedges every 2 months but not anymore

[Golfingdad]

  nick1998bunker said:

i hit enough balls that i would need to buy new wedges every 2 months but not anymore

Why? Did you used to play with wedges made from clay? I have a pair of Cleveland wedges that I've had for about 15 years and have hit god only knows how many shots with and they work just as good as they've ever worked.

[birlyshirly]

Plenty players go through a wedge in a season or two. I don't - but that doesn't mean that nobody else does. A lot depends on practice habits and ground conditions, and on what you expect, or will tolerate, from a wedge.

I do believe that vokeys are plated with a very thin layer of kraft cheese - which may be part of the problem.