Reshaft - Old Blades

[Lowcut]

Hello all,

I’ve been looking at many posts related this above mentioned subject matter. That is what led me to join up here.

I am almost complete with two quasi-restore projects on a set of 1980`s Wilson X31 `custom forged` 3-PW and a set of around the same year Wilson `FG-17` Tour Blades. 2-PW.

When removing the shafts, several of them would not move, that was with heat to approx. 500 degrees and twisting the club head due to the internal `threading`. I didn't push it any further on heat due to fear of bubbling chrome and or creating an uneven temper to the club head. The shafts that did not cleanly pull basically broke off at the hozel when putting any real torque to remove them when heating. They were a bit rusty of course... This lead me to hozel boring. Not something I wanted to do since the hozels were .355 taper tipped and could have simply been replaced...

I machined a boring jig and set it up on my milling machine to go ahead and bore the hozels to .372 using an undersized two flute carbide end mill then a sized reamer to clean out the hozel. If anyone is curious what some modern manufactures have for hozel bore diameter tolerances, its approx. (0.2mm) (0.007") on the top end of the tolerance from all the info I have been able to find on the web.

When aligning the tooling the bore I was surprised that more than half of the bores were not centered in the hozel from the factory... I suppose the standard of manufacturing in 1980 were less than that of today with the big names. I confirmed the misalignment with a second set of the X-31`s I picked up as well.

I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this on older equipment upon re-shafting

I went with .370 FCM Rifles and PX flighted shafts as the replacements. The FCMs in the FG-17`s and the PX in the X31`s. 

Anyway, I wanted to show my polished and re-shafted progress, boring, re-shafting jig and fancy ferules.

Thanks for looking and for any responses on the topic.

PS. I fully intend to play both sets regularly.

Cheers,

Matt

Edited May 9, 2018 by Lowcut
PS

[JonMA1]

Welcome to the site @Lowcut.

While I cannot comment on the machining, the end result is a nice looking iron.

[billchao]

I've read old Wilson's can be hard to reshaft which is why I've stayed away from them, but man they look great. Nice job, @Lowcut.

[1badbadger]

The only reason I can think of why some of the shafts were hard to pull is they may have been pinned.  Epoxy wasn't as good back then as it is now, so some companies would install an aluminum or steel pin in the hosel to prevent the head from flying off.  These have to be drilled out before pulling the shaft, otherwise the shaft won't come out or it will break.

[Lowcut]

12 minutes ago, 1badbadger said:

The only reason I can think of why some of the shafts were hard to pull is they may have been pinned.  Epoxy wasn't as good back then as it is now, so some companies would install an aluminum or steel pin in the hosel to prevent the head from flying off.  These have to be drilled out before pulling the shaft, otherwise the shaft won't come out or it will break.

No pins to speak of sir. Some pulled cleanly as any other iron would. Pictures attached were one that would not pull. You can see the straw colored heat oxidation on the outer hozel that would not remove with buffing. +- 450* f.

Edited May 10, 2018 by Lowcut
PS

[billchao]

4 hours ago, 1badbadger said:

The only reason I can think of why some of the shafts were hard to pull is they may have been pinned.  Epoxy wasn't as good back then as it is now, so some companies would install an aluminum or steel pin in the hosel to prevent the head from flying off.  These have to be drilled out before pulling the shaft, otherwise the shaft won't come out or it will break.

Hogans have pins, but as I have read, Wilsons don't. I have heard some manufacturers used to swage the hosels, perhaps that's what Wilson used to do.

[NM Golf]

Nice looking irons, hit it in the sweet spot 😁.

[Lowcut]

1 minute ago, NM Golf said:

Nice looking irons, hit it in the sweet spot 😁.

You’d be surprised how forgiving the X31’s are 😉. I do strike the ball very well with them though. One good thing about butterknives, misses don’t go nearly as bad as with GI equipment. I’ve played about ten rounds with the X31’s and love them, blades are all I’ve ever played for that last 20 years, lots of fun!

[satchmodog]

Excellent looking project. I have some old blades and a friend is going to help me put some new sticks on them

 

[Lowcut]

4 minutes ago, satchmodog said:

Excellent looking project. I have some old blades and a friend is going to help me put some new sticks on them

 

Let me know if I can answer anything. If your friend is a machinist they will be able to do most anything to bore the head if needed. If a shop could pull the shafts cleanly to measure the shafts before you buy them, that would be the best. Note, hosel outside diameters were a bit larger then. Probably around 0.560 OD ferrules would get you close for proper turning and finishing. Mine unfortunately were about a thou small. A little black epoxy filler to smooth the ferrule to hosel transition will be needed at some point.

Look forward to seeing those!

[satchmodog]

1 minute ago, Lowcut said:

Let me know if I can answer anything. If your friend is a machinist they will be able to do most anything to bore the head if needed. If a shop could pull the shafts cleanly to measure the shafts before you buy them, that would be the best. Note, hosel outside diameters were a bit larger then. Probably around 0.560 OD ferrules would get you close for proper turning and finishing. Mine unfortunately were about a thou small. A little black epoxy filler to smooth the ferrule to hosel transition will be needed at some point.

Look forward to seeing those!

Thanks!! If we hit the eventual snag i will surely hit you up

[Lowcut]

12 hours ago, billchao said:

Hogans have pins, but as I have read, Wilsons don't. I have heard some manufacturers used to swage the hosels, perhaps that's what Wilson used to do.

I wouldn’t doubt this at all. I’m almost thinking the knurling on the hozel May actually be press marked that squeezed the shaft upon epoxying. Who really knows right! Gotta love it though!

[iacas]

Almost off topic… but I like those hosels. Classy and cool without being overstated.

[Lowcut]

On 5/10/2018 at 10:48 PM, Lowcut said:

I wouldn’t doubt this at all. I’m almost thinking the knurling on the hozel May actually be press marked that squeezed the shaft upon epoxying. Who really knows right! Gotta love it though!

Why thank you! I found the ferrules on amazon and was in love at first sight. Bought 30 of em. These sets will actually be for sale here shortly. I ended up Going to an AP2 714 because the price was too good. Anyhow, thanks!

[Toxophilite]

I've re-shafted quite a few Wilson Iron sets, so I'll share a couple of experiences.  First, on the 70's and earlier models (some later perhaps, I can't remember them all) Wilson would have a smaller section at the tip of the shaft/bottom of hosel section on models with "proprietary" shafts.  Often these were the ones accompanied with the illegal "remider" grips and on the models with players' names targeted to off-course sporting goods retailers. However, I've found it on Staffs as well, particularly ones with drill-through hosels.

As for the hosels, I must agree with Lowcut, I've come across quite a few Wilsons where the hole is not centered in the hosel, and this created extra work.  I've found this on Staff as well as lower priced models. That being said, I like most Wilson classic irons for their feel and appearance in the playing position.