Restoring a club - sanding the back of club

[Kwoodfield]

Hello all,

 

I know there are a lot of threads on putter restoration. I have a specific question regarding the sanding process. I have done quite well IMO sanding the top line, face, and sole of the club. So far I've keep the weight to 1g short of shipping weight. My specific question is how you sand the back of the putter to get nice and smooth?

 

 

“Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've Got to believe.”

Jack Nicklaus

[Kwoodfield]

Before

 

After - 1st round of 80-220-400 grit sanding

 

Need to figure out how to best sand this area smooth?!?

 

 

“Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've Got to believe.”

Jack Nicklaus

[GB13]

I am by no means an expert on the subject so take this with a grain of salt.

 

I would use a Micro Dremel Drill and get the finest grit(1200) cylindrical sanding head, use the lowest speed and slowly smooth that area.

 

What you have done looks great.

[NiftyNiblick]

You do it yourselfers are scary.

 

I thought the only way to restore clubs was to send them to The Iron Factory.

 

Don't do it now, though. Norton Anti Virus is red-flagging their website for some reason.

 

Does the Maltby GolfWorks still do it?

 

They don't advertise restoration and repairs anymore, but they used to do a pretty good job..

[cnosil]

I am not an expert by any means but i always did mine by hand and progressed through the grits up to about 2000. Always avoided Dremel tools since they can take away material too fast.

[Kwoodfield]

GB13 - thank you for that. That's was I was thinking. I have done 80 150 220 and 400 I believe so far. Waiting for 1000 grit and 2000 grit to come in wet sand. I'm going to look for a few dremel sanding cones and try the same process. Thanks for the tip.

 

NiftyNiblick- DIY is half the fun. I have sanded this old beat up terrible putter into near new on the top line, face, and sole. I will then customize it. Why would I want to pay someone else to do it? As I said with all the sanding I've only shaved off 1 gram in weight

 

 

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[NiftyNiblick]

I'm impressed, K.

 

But my man cave has a TV/stereo area and an office/library area.

 

No workshop area.

 

I should have made a bigger effort to learn when I was younger, I agree, but it was too easy to say, "Put another set of Tour Wraps on these,  please." 

[deejaid]

I've had good luck with Dremel abrasive buffs. They will remove finish but not metal. The down side is they disintegrate pretty much instantly. They have a few different grits but make sure you buy multiples of each, they get used up really fast.

 

 

 

https://www.dremel.com/en_US/products/-/show-product/accessories/512e-ez-lock-finishing-abrasive-buffs-320-grit-2-pack

 

 

 

 

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[McaseyM]

i've been lucky to have access to a high speed polisher at my work clinic, but i've also used the sanding sponges, starting with rougher grit in the 100-200 grit range, then 400-800. it's time consuming though

[ThomasArnold]

These get scratched easily... what is the best sander I can buy to do this myself? Would buying a sander even make sense or should I do this without one. I looked at some reviews about sanders online and when I looked at the prices I got surprised. You can get one for 35 bucks on Amazon. Even if I don't use it that much that is a really good price and I think I will get one. I looked a lot for videos on doing the work with sanders and when they finish it looks really nice. It seems that it is much easier to do the sanding with one.

______________________________
https://www.bestorbitalsander.com/

Edited November 2, 2020 by ThomasArnold

[Tarheelvolvo]

4 hours ago, ThomasArnold said:

These get scratched easily... what is the best sander I can buy to do this myself?

So, keep in mind that a lower number sand grit will leave lots of scratches and remove lots of material - we don't want that with a finely balanced putter. The idea is that you work progressively through various grits to get the polished look you want to achieve. For instance, when sanding/honing a knife blade, you don't start with 80 grit as that would mean a LOT of work for you to get it back to a mirror polish (~5000+ grit) stepping down from 80-120-150-200/220-300-400-600-800-1000-1200-etc... all way way to 5000 or more. You start with the highest grit you can get away with to save time and effort while achieving the results you're after.

My advice would be to start with about 200-300 grit by hand since it will remove FAR less material and keep the weight of the putter as close to original as possible. If you are still seeing scratches, pitting, chips, dings, etc... then go down in grit to 150/180 and try again. If it looks nice with 200, then go up in grit to 300, then 400 and on up till you get it where you want it with look, polish, etc...

As for tools to get into tight spaces, for this purpose I would stay away from machine sanding/polishing unless you know what you're doing. The risk of taking away too much material or causing the shape/balance to get out of alignment is just too great. Instead, try some Sanding Sticks like these. Don't worry about the fact they are for "wood" since your not trying to shape the metal, just clean it up a bit and make it shine again!