FT-3 tour reshafting

[chappy]

Just did my first FT-3 shaft pull, I was a little apprehensive prior to attempting it, as some of the war stories I have read, quite frankly scared me.

 

But I have to tell you it wasn't as bad as I initially thought. I heated the the head rather than using a heating rod, although I wouldn't mind trying that hext time.

 

I don't know whether I'd make a habit of it, but overall I was very happy with the result.

 

Chappy

[jamo]

Is the FT-3 your gamer?

[chappy]

No Jamo,

I was doing some club building for a friend, i've recently put a Cobra Pro D in play and it is by far the longest driver i have ever hit.

 

When I hit it well that is

 

Chappy

[jamo]

Geez, nice friend you are. <_ i wish my friends built me golf clubs. congrats on a successful pull>

[chappy]

I am being remunerated for it Jamo, I've invested a fair amount of cash into my workshop.

 

Just a hobbist club builder, but the money I make allows me to tinker a little with my set up.

 

Never going to get rich from it, but i really enjoy working with clubs and the science of building them interests me.

[RookieBlue7]

Hope you used a heat shield gel on the head. If not, it's likely going to separate after hitting some balls with it.

[chappy]

RB,

Where is this likely to appear on the head? Is it common?

 

Chappy

[Justin66]

RB,

Where is this likely to appear on the head? Is it common?

 

Chappy

 

The metal face is held to the carbon-fiber body with glue. If too much and/or too hot (because some people like quick busrts of high heat, others like long, not-so-hot applications) heat gets near there- the bond can become compromised. I don't know the likelyhood/percentage of it happening, though. I have an FT-5 I wanted to reshaft and do some testing with, but I was leaning towards just sawing off the shaft and drilling out the leftover shaft... because of those said horror stories.

[RookieBlue7]

We discussed methods here: http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/61-pulling-a-shaft-from-a-non-hosel-clubhead/ about reshafting the composites. Heat shield gel, a wet washcloth, and heating rods are all options. The failures are always where it goes from composite to metal at that seam. What happens is that the composite is attached to the metal using an epoxy. The breakdown temp that they were using, especially on the FT3, was relatively low. Heating the head transfers heat to that seam, and failure happens. It's generally a few days to weeks later, but it's also common in about 60-70% of the heads unless precautions are taken to prevent it. Hopefully, you get lucky. If not, Callaway may cover it and they may not. Just depends on the rep you get. Hopefully, though, it won't fail. If you used a heat gun and not a torch, it's less likely to fail. The failures usually are from torch usage and not heat guns. A good shaft puller goes a long way when coupled with a heat gun. You can focus a lower temperature heat in one spot easier. Torches are harder to regulate the heat because they're all or nothing.

[Justin66]

This is also another reason not to leave the clubs in the trunk- especially in the summer months!

[chappy]

I did use a heat gun, have shyed away from a torch on anything other than iron's