NickBooras

I've gotten pretty damn good at using a combo PVC pipe, pry bar, vice, and hot rod to pull Ping shafts without melting/removing the original hosel. I have reshafted about 50 this summer and have yet to ruin one. Out of curiosity, what methods have you all come up with to remove these tricky SOB's?

I've reshafted 2 C4 drivers recently, both with .335" shafts. I ended up pulling the shaft completely and making one hell of a shim to fit in the .400" hosel. Neither have fallen apart yet after 2-3 months of play, but I'm wondering if there is a better way. I've debated on using the old graphite as a shim and just boring a .335" hole in the old shaft, but I really don't know if the heat generated by the drill will break down the old shaft or not. Experiences?

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Go w/ a 355 tip size, soft step them twice or go a 1/2 to 3/4 flex softer than you intended to put ( R400 or S200 depending how stiff you want it to be ). Grind the tip ( about 3/4" from the tip ) to get a perfect tight, so it would be easier to self hold it during epoxy curing. This method doesn't require you to bore or to split the end of the shaft to fit the hosel.The old ferrules can be safe and reuse by using a wet tissue technique, however require some experiences to be able to heat it up without melting the ferrule. This technique only good for steel shafted one. Cheer! Joe Kwok Never tried the .355 method. I've always found boring the hosels is a much easier solution, especially when replacing graphite. You can pick up o-rings at Home Depot or through the Golfsmith catalog. They look very similar to the ones already on the X-16's. I believe it's the #83 o-ring, but I'm not positive. Really! From my 13 years working on the club i found it the other way around. Off course this method will not works on the X 14. Only work on the newer Callaway Irons( GBB, X16 and so on ). Joe Kwok From a shaft availability standpoint, boring the hosels has always been a much easier way to go. I also have the drill press right next to my bench so boring the head only takes a minute or so. Makes all future reshafts much easier as well. Why won't it work on the X-14's, out of curiosity? I've reshafted a few sets of those and never paid close enough attention to notice a difference in the hosel. What's the deal?

Go w/ a 355 tip size, soft step them twice or go a 1/2 to 3/4 flex softer than you intended to put ( R400 or S200 depending how stiff you want it to be ). Grind the tip ( about 3/4" from the tip ) to get a perfect tight, so it would be easier to self hold it during epoxy curing. This method doesn't require you to bore or to split the end of the shaft to fit the hosel.The old ferrules can be safe and reuse by using a wet tissue technique, however require some experiences to be able to heat it up without melting the ferrule. This technique only good for steel shafted one. Cheer! Joe Kwok Never tried the .355 method. I've always found boring the hosels is a much easier solution, especially when replacing graphite. You can pick up o-rings at Home Depot or through the Golfsmith catalog. They look very similar to the ones already on the X-16's. I believe it's the #83 o-ring, but I'm not positive.

The Warbirds were a .335" tip, so if you have a .350" shaft in there, something is screwed up with the head or the shaft. Also, I was under the impression that Fujikura didn't make the Speeder in a .350". Even Callaway uses the .335" tips to install in their new Big Bertha II woods. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm assuming we're talking irons. The cast versions of the RAC and 300 Series are all .370 parallel. The forged versions of each are .355" taper. If we're talking Bubble shafts, you're looking at somewhere around .400".

I disagree, and here is why: When you swing a shaft, it flexes. When a round tube flexes, it becomes out of round, or ovular (sp?). The kick point (or bend point) is the point on the shaft at which the shaft is most out of round, or most ovular. Studies have been done and it's been shown that all bend points, high or low, are almost in the middle of the shaft. The distance between a high bend point and a low bend point is going to be less than 2" apart. That being said, there is not enough distance between the two to impact trajectory more than a degree or two. In practice, the location of the bend point only affects feel. A high bend point feels stiff, a low bend point feels more flexable. If you really want to influence the trajectory of the ball you'll have to read more about shaft bend profile, not bend point. Hopefully that term will disappear in a couple years. It does nothing but confuse people.

Callaway irons will accept a .370" parallel shaft, but you're going to have to do some drilling. You'll notice that the shaft is split on the ends. I don't know why Callaway does this, but I'd assume to prevent people from modifying their clubs. Inside the hosel it goes from .370" parallel at the very top and then has a slight "step down" where it tapers off toward the bottom. You're going to have to use a 3/8" bit (.375") and bore them out to parallel, or, if you want to be more precise, take a tapered iron reamer and run it through the hosel just enough so the end of the shaft will poke through. I would suggest doing this on a drill press, especially if you use the 3/8" bit. The iron reamer isn't tough to do by hand, but just be careful. Let me know if you have more questions. Nick

That's not always true, but it's a pretty safe rule of thumb. Anyway, I know for sure the Taylor Mades are taper, and I believe the Srixon's are as well, but I'm not 100%. A good way to know for sure is to get yourself a set of calipers. Take a long iron and put the calipers on the shaft just above the ferrule. Run the calipers up the shaft. If it stays at .370" for a few inches, they're parallel. If it increases in diameter immediately, it's taper.

Ever since Wishon left the quality has gone down hill FAST. The 5040's aren't awful, but make sure you weigh them and measure the loft and lie when the head arrives. From what I understand, there is little to no quality control going on in Asia for Golfsmith at the moment.

The difference in shaft weight is going to be less than 5 grams, so you probably won't even notice it assuming you stay with the same grip weight and replace any tip weights you find in the V-Steel. If you want to be exact about it, just do dry swing weighting. Measure the swing weight of the V-Steel, pull the shaft, and put the new shaft in the V-Steel head (no glue). Make sure you have the grip and ferrule on and you should get a very good idea of what the final swing weight will be. You can fine tune from there.

If you don't want to be playing 1/2" over standard like they are, I see no harm in cutting them down to standard (38" 5 iron). If you do, two things to remember: 1. Make sure you have your lie angle checked again. Ever 1/2" you cut off makes the club play 1 degree flat, roughly. 2. Make sure your new grips are the same weight. If you go lighter or heavier you could run into swingweight problems again. Choke up if you like, it will give you the same effective swing weight, but I personally think it feels strange to grip down like that. Nick