Starting with a raw forged blank and going to a wedge that's usable... Here we GO

[RookieBlue7]

Well, my club building hobby has consumed as much of my free time in golf interests lately as actual golf has.  Part of that has to do with cabin fever from the snow storms we've had.  Part of it has to do with it's that time of the year when I play Russian Roulette with my golf bag.  Today, I had a forged blank I ordered come in and I'm starting on my second journey to a hand ground wedge that I grind from the forge to completion(it's been pressed in the forge, the face flattened, and the grooves chopped in).  I'm going to replace my 56 and 60 degree wedges this year with the same company's wedges.  This time, however, I got blanks without the OEM I got them from's logo on them (which was surprising as I was expecting their logo to be pressed in already).  No biggie for me, as it actually allows me more room to work, stamp, etc.  LOL.  Yes, I'm a club geek like that.  

Anyway, the point of this post is to take you all through my journey from fresh pressed blank to completed wedge.  I only ordered one blank, as they're not cheap for one (head price is pretty much the same price as lots of completed wedges).  Is it costly?  Sure, but for me, it's also rewarding, knowing that the club in my bag is something I started with nothing, virtually, and completed to the shape my hand and eyes see.  It's time consuming and painstaking at times (I did my 56 and 60 that's been in my bag for a while too), but knowing I got something that I ground in the same fashion one of the most reknowned clubmakers in the world did, starting with the same piece he starts with out of the OEM's tour department is fulfilling for me.  Why?  Because, again, I'm both a club geek and a club gigolo.  So here we go....(And bear with me, as this will take a few days to complete, as there's a lot of handwork I'll be doing as well.  I'm still trying to decide on the finish, and I'm nowhere near that point.  It's going to have a good bit of pictures too.)

Here's what I started with(remember when I said it's a raw blank fresh out of the foundry? This one started even more rough than the last one I had, as the lip was at least ground off of that one).  Starting weight is 361.2 grams:

 

Yeah, like I said, she was rough to start with.  But that's fine, because that's what I signed up for and it's what I was expecting.

 

My next step was to do a rough sketch and take some reference images with the sketching in place to give me an idea of where I wanted to go with it.  So that's what happens next:

 

 

 

If you'll notice, I've preliminarily decided upon another C-grind on this wedge, that I modify a little from these preliminary sketches.  I may change that up and go with a santoku type grind like I did on the Clevelands that I've been bagging for a few months during the sloppy winter.  I haven't decided upon the sole fit/finish yet, but this is a good prelim sketch up on the wedge.  I also like to kill the heel regardless and I'll be doing the topline thinning I've been doing on my wedges for a while now.  I also will be squaring the toe up a good bit.  I like the thinned toplines as it sets up like I like when looking down on them.  I got that design aspect from admiring James Patrick's handiwork (note: he is a FAR more skilled artisian than myself.  Me, I'm a garage tinkerer that's had zero schooling.  Him, he's like Van Gogh to wedges.  But imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right? This is why I use the names he calls his grinds, and the aspects he calls his design aspects.  Because I like giving credit where it's due)

 

So now that I have a reference set, it's time to start grinding.  The reference images will be retained for future usage to transfer back onto the wedge once shaping begins.  In these images (which is where I've stopped for the time being), you'll notice that I haven't done a whole lot.  I mainly wanted to rid the wedge of the lip from being pressed so that I can once again do a mock-up/sketch on the wedges themselves to determine shaping of the sole, etc.  The real work begins after this point, and it's tedious and time consuming as I'll be removing as little material as possible during each pass until I get them to shape, which takes a LOT of time.  I will not be polishing these much, as I prefer a more matte finish.  I'm still trying to decide whether to stipple them, scrape them, or what for the rear side finish.  Regardless, here's where the wedge sits as I type (weight at this point is 358.7 grams, like I said, I haven't removed much material).

 

[hckymeyer]

Awesome Rookie, I'm excited to watch the progress

[whiskey golf]

Awesome Rookie, I'm excited to watch the progress

 

+1

[BK in TEXAS]

Cool...I like this stuff!!!!

[BK in TEXAS]

Did I miss what brand head that is?

[BestGrips.com]

I'm excited to follow this. Are we going to see a rookieblue wedge company in the future, ala xenon golf?

[BestGrips.com]

Double post. : (

[RookieBlue7]

Did I miss what brand head that is?

I didn't say because they don't sell them like this. It took begging pleading and asking really nicely to get it. Lol. I've had this brand in the bag and had the raw unground heads before that I ground as well.

[RookieBlue7]

I'm excited to follow this. Are we going to see a rookieblue wedge company in the future, ala xenon golf?

Haha no. Just my thing I do for my bag. Lol

[Blade]

Wow, that's really cool! Show us some pics of your grinders/sanders too.  How cool to start from scratch like that.

[RookieBlue7]

Wow, that's really cool! Show us some pics of your grinders/sanders too.  How cool to start from scratch like that.

 

I would, but my workshop/garage is a mess... LOL.  I'm kind of ashamed by that, but I do know exactly where everything is.   I use several things, a grinder with belt sander attachment, a 1" belt sander, die grinder, dremel, whatever it takes, lol.

[RookieBlue7]

Day 2:

Up next was shaping the wedge to what I wanted from it.  I decided to forego the santoku type grind I did on the Clevelands I refinished.  Instead, I elected to go with more of the traditional grind I've been doing, my modified version of the C-grind.  I took some off the toe, but left a little heft there to balance it a bit more, as I've always done.  I killed the heel, though.  Once the sole was shaped like I wanted (and I "scientifically" checked it by using a turf mat to make sure it looked like I wanted at address as well as when laid open), I then went to work thinning the topline, killing the trailing edge, and shaping the toe. I wanted this one to feature a more squared off toe profile than I've attempted in the past.  Why?  I don't know, I just like the look of a squared off toe in pictures and sine I have a project, why not right?  That was my thinking behind it.  I don't measure anything for myself, I grind until it looks appealing and like I want, sets up like I want, and sits like I want at address.  No fitting or any of that, I know what works for me and what I like as well as what I like to do with my wedges.  I know what I need to do to grind it where it sits like I want in the positions I want it to sit in.  I then slightly blunt the leading edge.  Afterward, I call it done (except for finishing work (which I didn't get to tonight as I still have to bead blast the face and do the oil quenched torching).  So that's the thought that goes into MY process for MY personal wedges.  LOL.

Anyway, here's the wedges after shaping, etc.  Remember the sketching?  It returns here some and I grind like crazy to get it right.  I use rudimentary tools if necessary (I even broke the files out to shape the leading edge at one point because I didn't like how it was looking).  

With sketching on:

Getting closer/grind to the line:

 

 

Alright, at this point, the grinding is done.  It's time to decide what kind of rear side finish I wanted.  I didn't really know what I wanted to do, and I had a BUNCH of canvas to work with.  It was void of any stamping at this point as well.  I started to go with hand peening, but I bought a tool I've been wanting to try a finish with and what better place than to try it?  A blank canvas.  So I did a hand scraped finish on the back side.  Yeah, I've seen this finish before (remember, I said I loved JP's work).  And yes, I know I'm not quite as skilled, but I'm giving it a whirl.  So I went to town scraping, trying to make it unique.  The result is below.  Once that was done, then I had to decide on how I wanted to stamp it.  I could go nuts and stamp all kinds of stuff on here.  Instead, I elected to go simple.  Stamped my initials on the sole nearest the heel side.  Then, I stamped the loft out near the toe(yes, that's a shamrock for the zero), but not too near it so it's still readable (and because I've tried stamping there.  Those that can do, those that can't relocate).  Then I said "Hmm... there's a TON of blank canvas left".  And I got to thinking.  What would look cool there?  I thought about several options.  Paying homage to something (what, I don't know).  Nah... KISS... Keep It Simple Stupid and don't ruin the aesthetics.  So I simple spelled out the loft and left a LOT of open space.  I like how it turned out and am stoked to get this bad boy bead blasted tomorrow at work.  I'll then oil quench finish her and shaft it up with my preferred DG spinner and BOOM, she'll be done, start to finish.   At this point, the weight is 328.3 grams.  I like a heavy swingweight in my wedges, and this baby will be no different.  I also like a dark, raw rusty finish, but the oil quench will keep it dark till it "seasons" in.  Does it look rough?  Absolutely.  I don't spend a lot of time shining them up because I like satin and no glare, so I'll do a little clean-up after blasting it, but not a ton.  Just make sure everything looks SMOOTH before I torch it.

 

 

Does the kid have the skills to pay the bills?  Who knows, I doubt it.  That said, I'm pleased with it, especially with my rudimentary methods and my non-commercial tools.  I like handcrafting stuff, and this is my 3rd wedge ever.  You might not like it, and that's okay too, because it's in my bag, not yours.  But, since I did it, I figured I'd share.

[Blade]

That's great! Can't wait to see the finish. I like the grind. I wish I had some "blank canvas" like that to work with.

[whiskey golf]

Looks great Rookie.

[Salmon]

Looks fantastic so far mate, I also like the oil can type finish

 

and like the others I wish I had the skill and oppertunity to try something like that

[hckymeyer]

That hand scraped finish on the back looks great!

[RookieBlue7]

Today marks finishing day for this bad boy.  I'm proud of my handiwork, I don't care what anyone thinks of it.  I'm stoked with the final finish I have on it, and I'm stoked with how it turned out.  I've got the shaft drying now (DG Spinner), and this bad boy will be making the trip to Tampa with me this weekend (whether it goes in the bag yet, I'm not certain, as I have to check turf interaction on full swings, etc).  That said, to round out the projet, today I took it with me to work and beadblasted the face to matte it.  I rolled the beadblasting over the topline to the rear, handscraped portion.  Once that was done, I degreased everything really well.  Then, it came time for the finish.  We changed the oil in a motor today and I had a bucket of used Royal Purple, so I figured "why the heck not"?  I let the oil cool all day until I was off the clock to make certain it was completely cooled.  Then, out came the torch.  I torched the wedge until I got about the hues I wanted, then in the bucket it went with the oil for a quick dip.  Once it came back out, I torched it again, making sure to ignite the now hot oil and vapors of the hot oil until it burned off and left a nice film.  Back into the bucket again to completely cool.   Once it was cool, I wiped it down really well with a rag and then wrapped it in another rag for the ride home (it was still warm at this point, plus I didn't wipe ALL of the oil off, just enough so it wasn't dripping).  I made sure to recycle the remaining oil in our oil recycling station.  I wanted it to soak for the ride home.  Once I got home, it was time to degrease.  So I sprayed some industrial degreaser on it that I have here and wiped it down again.  Then it was time for the Dawn dish soap to really scrub it (and by really scrub it I mean I put on nitrile gloves, squirted some Dawn on it and went to work with an old tooth brush).  Once that was done, rinse and dry then hit with a heat gun to evaporate any remaining water.  Then I hit it a few more times with the scrape to let just a little raw metal shine through for accent (hey, gotta look good right)?  Blew the wedge off and paintfilled with Tiffany nail polish (yes, I found some at Sally's).  Let it dry, wiped it clean and shafted it up.  Once the epoxy sets, I'll chop to length and slap a grip on (I shouldn't have to trim much as I just pulled the shaft out of my old 60*).  BOOM, DONE!

 

Oh, and sorry some of the pics got rotated wrong.  I don't know what happened, I uploaded them all straight up and when it popped up complete, they were rotated all which way...

 

[Aotearoa_Brad]

looks awesome!

[BestGrips.com]

That is so sick looking!

[RookieBlue7]

A few snaps as I was loading the car in the sunlight

 

[Jgolf]

Great work! That is both incredibly impressive and incredibly well done! 

[GolfSpy Barbajo]

Top shelf rookie -- that's a real labor of love right there!

[whiskey golf]

Very nice, looks great. Are you planning on doing another wedge for your bag?

[RookieBlue7]

Yeah, I'm going to replace the 56 as well. I just do them 1 at a time because if I didn't, I'd end up grinding on both at the same time due to OCD and would screw something up in sure lol.

[whiskey golf]

Yeah, I'm going to replace the 56 as well. I just do them 1 at a time because if I didn't, I'd end up grinding on both at the same time due to OCD and would screw something up in sure lol.

 

Yeah you can't just leave a wedge head laying around, it needs to be worked on right away. I would be the same if I was doing this project.

[Max F]

Really cool narrative.  Thanks for including all the details and pictures.  The wedge looks great.  I had thoughts about trying something like this.  However, with no tools, no skills, and no patience I realized that this kind of project is WAY over my head.  Thank you for saving me time, money, and aggravation.

 

Congrats on a job well done.  I have more respect than ever for those that can do this kind of work.   I had no idea how complicated the process is and all the steps involved.

 

Hope it plays as god as it looks.  Please let us know.

[RookieBlue7]

I've gotta do an edit on it when I get done doing putters. Just modify the sole a bit. That or wait till it dries out some to try it again (soaked ground).