Albatross Leather

The best thing you can do is get fitted. Then you will at least know what shaft and lie angle is best for your game. There probably will be DTC sets similar to what worked for you. The worst feeling is getting excited for a newly purchased set, and finding out on the course that they're wrong for your game. 

There are a lot of club refurbishes these days that you can send that to for re-plating. That being said, it will rust and look nice over time if you're into that look. Some people swear that it adds spin. 

The best thing you can do is get fitted. Then you will at least know what shaft and lie angle is best for your game. There probably will be DTC sets similar to what worked for you. The worst feeling is getting excited for a newly purchased set, and finding out on the course that they're wrong for your game. 

It’s not paint, it is a chrome plating.  The only way to “fix” would be to strip the plating and replace, but you have also removed the micro grooves.   The finish on the face gets worn from use, best thing is to leave it alone.   If you want to remove rust, soak it in coke or search for other chemicals that can remove the rust.   
 
the best way to use a Drexel is to not use one.  

For the past two or so years I have been designing, developing and prototyping my own personal set of irons. I took on the project because my grandfather introduced me to golf and got me hooked. I always loved designing things in CAD, from wooden puzzles to keyboards. I originally wanted to make a putter that could replace his old odyssey two-ball but my design ambition only grew from there. I started by inspecting my own Titleist 710 AP1 irons and from there I created hundreds of sketches for iron faces alone. I wanted to be able to compare my Titleist irons with the ones I designed so after a google search I used the spec sheet Titleist provided for the AP1 710 irons on their website. Over the course of these two years I learned how to incorporate loft, lie, offset, camber, sole width, blade length and numerous other variables that make up golf clubs. 
After finally becoming satisfied with the design I began prototyping, I sent two designs over to a CNC milling factory: a 7 iron and a Pitching Wedge. They looked beautiful although they didn't have a typical muscle cavity. They exceeded my expectations and I achieved more distance with these prototypes and I had people I met on the driving range along with some people at a PGA TOUR Superstore test these irons as well and somewhat to my surprise they loved them. After about 6+ months of learning how to incorporate forgiveness into my cavity I finally had another design that resembled a more traditional blade. It came out beautiful but I was only able to produce a single 7 iron. During that time I continued to work on designs, at the request of some friends. I made a Phantom X style putter but with my design input rather than copy an existing design, a driving iron and a CB Iron set but they haven't been prototyped or produced yet.
I want to be able to experiment with more materials and unique construction cavities that use tungsten to move the CG over to the toe, however prototyping alone is pretty expensive and I can’t afford to keep experimenting. So now you’re all caught up, I guess my future plans with this project is to keep developing these irons and hope some people approach me with interest to test these irons themselves or possibly have their own set design. I have also designed a couple wedge sets but I don’t think they are quite ready for prototyping yet because I want them to be able to compete with name brand wedges. Right now I have basically a finalized design, however I still want to remove a couple more grams to get it within my target weight. I have also made a handful of putters but I haven’t decided to prototype them yet simply because these irons take priority. 
 
The link attached is a showcase of CAD images, the prototypes and the experimental designs like wedges and putters:
Misc golf CAD Designs, Prototypes & 3D Prints
Lob Wedge:
Lob Wedge Design

If you are frugal but want a quality product that can be custom built you should also consider Maltby clubs from GolfWorks. 

My best recommendation is to get fit by a good professional fitter then find the clubs that work best for you whether DTC or quality used.  There are really a lot of options out there.

Agreed on their apparel. It seems like it's more geared towards the European market. It might get better over time, but right now its pretty pedestrian, and not geared towards their customer base in NA. Some of the limited edition stuff is awesome though. 

I love their golf balls and towels are kinda cool but never been interested in their clothing line. Too many other (fun) choices out there. 

I found a guy on Instagram that was making head covers and sent a dm about pricing for a custom one. After a few messages, he made me this beaut, at a really great price I might add.
SeeMe Golf 

I think putting is one of those things that has a tendency to ebb and flow and having more than one trusted putter can help when you hit a funk. I think being +0.2 SG is a sign that things are still trending well Especially after starting off your first 10 rounds at -0.5. I would definitely give it more time and see how your stats trend. Are you seeing different results on courses with slow vs. fast greens?

FWIW, I struggled a lot with pace when I was gaming my DF2. Not sure if it's the difference in head, shaft (DF2 had stability shaft), or both, but the Link.1 feels much firmer off the face and I feel like I have better control of pace/touch.

As a former SKB hard shell user I can say I had the case broken three times in two years.
I) Wheel was ripped off. Molded shell was damaged. Delta gave me the actual cost to replace it. I drilled a through hole and put a steel axle straight through, drilled and tapped holes in each end to mount the wheels to. I ordered a replacement wheel from SKB.
I put the money aside less the cost of the wheel.
2) Broken latch. Delta again gave me the replacment cost. Ordered a new latch, drilled out the rivets, replaced the latch.
Put the money aside again
3) Broken TSA lock.
The heck with it. I purchased a Club Glove Pro. 7 years no issues.
The airlines baggage claim guy said that the hard cases are to long to make the turns in the conveyor systems. The softer ones have more give. I also use a stiff arm.
 
 

Wow, these are seriously impressive! You can tell how much effort and skill went into the design. It might be worth exploring a kick-starter to see what kind of response there is. A lot of smaller DTC brands are getting popular now which is great. 

Wear whatever you feel comfortable in as long as it's to the courses dress code. I personally don't like the look, but it seems to be coming back into style now.