Calling All Clubmakers
This Caveman is curious: Have you ever built, repaired or regripped a golf club?
Whether you’re a shaft-swappin’, grip-rippin’ professional who’s done it all or maybe only done a few minor repairs here and there, speak up! How long have you been at it? Describe your workshop or toolkit, or just tell me what YOU think are the best components on the market!
See, I don’t usually have too many golf grips & shafts here in The Cave, but that’s changed now! In just the last 24 hours or so, I’ve more than doubled my component inventory: Aldila, Fujikura, Golf Pride, Grafalloy & more top brands.
I figure my Rock Heads know a good deal when they see it so these won’t be around for long! But right now I’d love to hear YOUR experiences with clubmaking!
-Scratch
PS: Even if you don’t know the difference between a vice and a golf visor, I still want to hear from you! Let me know what else you’d like to see more of in The Cave!
I know this doesn’t have much to do with club making, but I would love to see you guys carry this clothing line:
http://www.subseventy.com/prodtype.asp
*** Response From Scratch ***
Wow John, those threads are loud enough to earn a shush from the starter!
Scratch,
I’m a self-taught beginner/hack club restorer. I started with regripping and now moved on to replacing lame/bent shafts and buffing and polishing heads on the grinding wheel. Talk about a great way to rejuvinate, some old vintage classics:) I mostly stick with putters, as I have a fear of the club head flying off in the middle of a round. I would love to get a black oxide service set up in the garage, but am intimidated by the caustic chemicals:(
I have a bench out in the garage with a small tool kit that contains, pip strips, grip tape solvent, two-part epoxy, pop sicle sticks and mixing cups. The four most important tools seems to be my bench vice, shaft clamp, heat gun, and large rubber mallet. I use extra care when installing new grips, as I would hate to skewer myself with a golf shaft. Once you learn how these clubs are put together, it ain’t rocket science, but I can’t imagine running a tour van and trying to figure out how to assemble the surgical instruments the tour players use;)
Disclaimer: I do not proclaim to be a professional. The clubs I repair are for my personal use only.
*** Response From Scratch ***
Sounds like you’ve got a great setup there Burnz! And I agree, those PGA Tour equipment techs seem like about 50% engineer/50% wizard to me. Not a bad way to earn a livin’ if you can get it!
I have been building my own clubs for about 10 years. I started about 30 years ago working in a bag room at a country club helping the pro with repairs.
My shop is just my basement work bench. I have a swingweight balance, the right drill bits and some other low tech equipment – enough to do what I want to do. I can’t adjust lofts and lies but prefer to do that with shaft length and head configuration from the beginning rather than bending (and risking breaking) cast clubs.
I absolutely love Winn grips! I use mainly Grafalloy and Aldila shafts but I know Fujikura has some good high end stuff. I’d love to see you offer club heads from reputable component companies.
*** Response From Scratch ***
Thanks for sharing Brian, I’ll see if I can’t find some more quality components for you in the future!
I have been making/repairing clubs as a hobby for about 6 years. Have all the tools to do the job correctly. I build a lot of Tom Wishon and Golfworks products. I like grafalloy and aldila graphite shafts and FST and Rifle for steel shafts.
*** Response From Scratch ***
Glad to hear from you Fred, I’m on the hunt for some steel shafts and appreciate the recommendations!
Been doing club making for over ten years, lots of repair and re-griping. I normally do all work at cost+materials. It is a way of helping other golfers and I love to hear postive results. Glad RBG is into this area of golf equipement.
*** Response From Scratch ***
Mike, 10+ years is a great accomplishment and something to be proud of, no doubt! Cost + Materials seems more than fair and I’m sure your customers agree once they swing ’em, if not before.
Have made complete sets of irons and drivers. Reshafted and regripped clubs from wedges to putters. I have vices (don’t we all!) and tube cutting equipment. GolfPride, TrueTemper and Aldila are good. Use SnakeEyes components.
*** Response From Scratch ***
You sound like you’d fit right in down here at The Cave Chris!
A forum on special application repairs would be great. OEM’s are getting pretty complicated in technology. I know Golfworks carries a pretty good assortment of products to let clubmakers work on oem’s, but a bit of technical advice would help. Perhaps the CAVE can be a great place to exchange ideas. Thanks
*** Response From Scratch ***
Hey Stan – You’re right, I always find a little bit of “been-there” know-how goes a long way! And keep watchin’ my blog because I’m about to show everybody some new ways to communicate with me and the rest of the Rock Heads on Tuesday!
I started repairing clubs in high school 35 years ago because I was a hot head and simply could not afford to pay someone to do my repairs. Components were cheap and it was not difficult. I continue to do it now because I think the OEMs have outsmarted their market and overpriced their goods. Things like coming out with a new or updated line 2 or 3 times a year is not smart and you can see it in the immediate “sales” available shortly after a product launch/re-launch. The fact is most of us, those not ranked in some sort top player ranking, do not have the swing consistency to tell an OEM from a high quality component club. A builder who knows a little about fitting can put you in a better set of component clubs than you’ll ever get in an OEM “off the rack” club. Stay away from obvious knock-off designs. A strong component manufacturer that does it’s own design (Golfworks, Golfsmith among others) will have high quality products.
*** Response From Scratch ***
Great comment Mike! Sounds like you found a great way to save money, improve your clubs and keep your temper in check.
4 years ago I decided I wanted to start building clubs for my own use. I attended the GolfSmith school in an attempt to learn the basics. Since then I have been slowly assembling my work shop. I have a Maltby enhanced shaft puller (it is fantastic) a 7″ chop saw, 6′ Bench grinder (w/cotton buffing wheels), a belt sander and a hot air gun (no torch for me). I’m saving up for a frequency meter. I’m now building compelete sets of clubs for family, co-workers and friends. I get a lot of my basic stuff from GolfSmith and GolfWorks, but my shafts and heads are almost all bought on-line, e-bay, ProSeriesGolf, Hireko, etc. I will also buy used clubs, take them apart and use the parts for other projects. I love to tinker. I might find a driver head I like and over a 30 period try 5 or 6 different shafts to see what kind of difference they make. That way when a prospective customer asks me a question, I have some real practical experiance to base my answer on.
If you are seriously thinking about selling components to club builders make sure you have a a good technicial database of information about the parts. For heads, that means loft and lie angles, hosle measurments, seating depth, weight, face height and length, amount of offset, things like that. For shafts, it’s important to know the basics like flex, kick point and tip size, but even more important to be able to get tip trimming instructions 24 hours a day. Some of us build clubs at night, long after the technical support staff have gone home.
Good Luck with your new additions.
I HAVE BEEN BUILDING CLUBS FOR TEN YEARS AND I’VE USED BOTH GRAPHITE AND STEEL SHAFTS. MY FAVORITE COMPONENTS TO USE ARE TRUE TEMPER, UST, GRAFFALLOY, SNAKE EYES, SMT,POWER PLAY 5000 AND DYNACRAFT.
Yes, I regrip clubs and would like a source to get my grips and club making supplies at a good price.
I have been building my own clubs for about 10 years. I started about 35 years ago working as a caddy, then in a bag room and finally the pro shop at a country club helping the pro with repairs. I now do mostly new iron sets, drivers, re-shafts and re-grips from my garage. There are so many good components out there, I have used the likes of Snake Eyes, Aldila, Winn, Golf Pride, True Temper, Graffalloy, Golfsmith, Penley and others. I enjoy all of the work(its actually a hobby). Can’t wait to see the items you come out with! Keep up the GREAT sales, too!! Thank You !!
I have been putting clubs together, reshafting, regriping for about 20 years. I do mostly shaft replacement and geip replacement. I have built many sets of clubs in the past 20 years.
I started building clubs about 30-35 years ago; back when “woods” were wood! I really enjoyed sanding, staining and dipping the driver heads. I moved and changed professions 23 years ago and just made clubs for my friends and myself. I am now retired(again) and would like to start making clubs again although I need info on the new shafts and how to cut them since I understand my old equipment may not work on the graphite shafts. I used parts mostly from Golfsmith and some from the local Lexington,Ky. supplier. I will be interested in your blogs. Thanks, Bill
I have been building clubs for 10 years. I was a “glue-n-go” clubmaker for 9 years but have made the step up to better clubmaking this year. I have received some personal instruction from Dana Upshaw, twice named Clubmaker of the Year in the U.s., and currently featured in this month’s Golf Digest. I build/repair woods, irons, and putters with graphite and steel shafts. I have a frequency meter, swingweight scale, professional bending machine, cut-off saw, and several grinders and ferrule turning tools. My shop is in my 12′ X 30′ metal storage building behind my home. Cramped, yes, but I have banged out hundreds of clubs from its meager accommodations. The best kept secret in graphite shafts is SK Fiber in Alabama. I have just become a dealer for them and their shafts are in a word, AMAZING! I have used them all, Grafalloy, Aldila, Fuji, House of Forged, Rifle, and the SK Fiber is as good or better than any other. Period. Rifle and FST steel shafts have no match. The FST is the new guy on the block but is quickly claiming a significant marketshare. I concur with Mike French’s post regarding components wholeheartedly. Please email if I can be of any assistance.
I am a garage golf rat.I have been doing grips and repairs for about 15 years. I have also begun to build custom driver and iron sets for golf buddys and friends.I regrip approx 25 sets a year and build about 10 iron sets and 10 drivers and fairway woods. My garage is equipt with a full work bench,vise ,chop saw ,epoxy and assorted other tools. I usually have 100 or so assorted grips and 12 to 15 assorted driver shafts.Iron shafts are custom ordered.This hobby sure beats t.v Vinnie
As a Golf Professional who runs the club repair at my facility I am always looking for GOOD DEALS on shafts that I can sell to my members when they break theirs. I would be very much interested in the components, primarily golf shafts (ALDILA, Graffaloy, Fujikura, and UST). Better yet a very inexpensive shaft.
Any plans to open up over the pond in Europe?
***Reply from Scratch***
We definitely already ship there! I am pretty much an internet golfin’ company any! But maybe someday!
Thanks bro for writing this great piece of information.
This was a great blogpost! I’m looking forward to some of your future blogposts 🙂
You made some respectable points there. I regarded on the web for the problem and found most people will go together with together with your website.
Oh my goodness! a tremendous article dude. Thank you Nonetheless I’m experiencing problem with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting similar rss drawback? Anybody who knows kindly respond. Thnkx
Hi,
As Inventor of “The Original” Graphite Shaft Extension(s) back in 1996 I am writing to re-introduce my line of Graphite Shaft Extensions in 10 sizes.
Please find Attached literature about the Graphite Shaft Extensions (G.S.E.). They describe my story, a description and a Color Chart that identifies each size.
Pricing:*
1-24 pcs – $1.75 each
25–99 pcs. $1.50 each
100 pcs. in 4 pre-packed boxes of 25 pcs. of a size – $1.25 each
150 pcs. in 6 pre-packed boxes of 25 pcs of a size – $1.15 each
* – Call for Introductory 1st Order pricing
The Tip End of each piece is Numerically Stamped and Color Coded with a Laminated Color Code Reference Chart that I send to each customer.
In the upcoming year I will be introducing more products, including my own line of Parage Components, Steel and Graphite Shafts, Grips and Grip Tape, Epoxy, etc.
You can reach me at 951.218.3009 with any questions.
Thank you,
Glen Wisneski
Parage Golf
951.218.3009
paragegolf@gmail.com