Pulling graphite shaft disaster

[reg]

Hey, just starting out with club fitting, I've done alright with steel shafts, but my first attempt at a graphite shaft was a flop.

 

I dont have a shaft puller, It was an old club and didn't care if it didnt work.

 

The shaft is stuck in the hosel and the shaft has splintered.

 

I've since read that graphite shafts are made with epoxy and how it should be done only with an extractor. I'm wondering if the shaft has melted into the hosel. I used a torch. What is too hot?

 

I saw a guy on you tube twist a graphite shaft off like you would a home job steel shaft.

 

Is there anyway of pulling a graphite shaft safely without an extractor? Any tips?

[pughdog]

If you're using a torch and twisting my tip would be get someone else to do it!

[RookieBlue7]

If you twisted it at all, you've already messed up. Cut it off and drill it out. If it's a driver shaft and you don't have too deep of a hosel, you can save it to try and use in a fairway, otherwise, you now have an alignment stick.

 

You can build a shaft puller that will work just fine for about $20 and a trip to the local hardware store.

 

http://planet-torque.com/golf/extractor/

 

The vise you're wanting in the picture is a drill press vice.

[reg]

If you're using a torch and twisting my tip would be get someone else to do it!

 

 

Yeah, that's pretty much my plan from now on with graphite, like I said it was an old club that I just wanted to try for fun. It was a case of monkey see, monkey do with twisting it after seeing someone do it on youtube.

 

I've got an opti-fit Ft-5 with a Proforce V2 shaft, I was contemplating pulling the opti-fit tip off and buy a driver head and putting the shaft in myself, don't think I'll be doing that anymore!

 

I don't need the head or shaft so I'm not going to drill it out, haven't used the club in 5yrs. It's worth the same now ruined as it was before.

 

The thing I was more interested in is it feels like the shaft has melted into the hosel, I didn't put the torch on it for that long. I've read stuff that even if you pull a graphite shaft correctly they can be damaged and unusable, are they really that fragile?

 

Thanks for the responses.

[chappy]

Don't be frightened to attempt pulling a graphite shaft. You need the right tools or tools that will do the job effectively, low heat and a bit of patience.

[reg]

Don't be frightened to attempt pulling a graphite shaft. You need the right tools or tools that will do the job effectively, low heat and a bit of patience.

 

 

Will a graphite shaft melt or fuse in some way to the inside of the hosel if you apply too much heat for too long?

[chappy]

Reg that's not a problem that I have encountered yet. If you have a shaft pulling apparatus, there wont be a danger of heating for too long as once the epoxy breaks down (some times you can hear a little pop) the head should slide off the shaft tip anyway.

[Shambles]

Pulling a graphite shaft is no big deal if you have a spring loaded puller. That's because the moment the epoxy gives, the head goes out and you stop applying heat and just finish pulling the head off. Without the spring loaded shaft puller, you need experience and the knowledge of when to stop the heat and start pulling the head off. That can be acquired by watching someone else do the job and checking the amount of time he spends applying heat.

 

Best solution is really to get yourself a spring loaded shaft puller. It's not a necessity but it makes pulling so much more simple.

 

 

Shambles

[reg]

Thanks for the help people,

 

I live in an apartment block so I dont have a work bench or vise, I played around with a couple of old steel shafted irons, I just heated them up for 30 secs, put a towel over the clubhead so my hand wouldnt burn and pulled/twisted, if it didnt work I gave it some more heat.

 

Think I'll leave the graphite shafts for the pro's, I only intended to do 1 club, not really worth buying a whole bunch of equipment for one club. Was playing around as a bit of fun....a also I'm pretty anal about having my grips/shafts line up the way I want, doing any repair jobs by myself was a way of getting it exactly the way I want.

[McGolf]

The graphite did not melt per-sey however you weekend it when you applied heat and then went to twisting the shaft. That separated the graphite strands and did not a transfer the force to the outer layer. much like bending a coat hangar until it breaks you did that to the inside portion of the shaft where the outside was still stuck to the wall of the hosel.

Think how hard it was turning off the steel shaft and now doing that to a pencil.

 

The above advice is spot on, a puller is needed using about the amount of heat.

[Newbs14]

How can you tell on a graphite shaft that has had too much heat applied to it? 

 

[golferguy27]

when I last ruined a shaft with too much heat, once I got it out of the head, it had this weird "bloomed" appearance in which finer and things were clearly visible and it was clear I cooked any binding glues etc beyond function - basically too much heat seems to magically re-engineer a graphite shaft back to its natural fiber mode of being