Putting a classic back in play

[deejaid]

My golfing journey has recently brought me to persimmon woods and the enjoyment that comes from playing hand crafted wood clubs. There is nothing more satisfying than hitting one “on the screws”.

 

Well, being a woodworking tinkerer, I’ve been absorbing as much info on the refinishing and repair of classic wood clubs as well as picking up neglected clubs in need of a little tlc.

 

This one, a 1950’s era Macgregor M65 3-wood, deserved a much better fate, so I decided to get it tuned up and back out on the course.

 

Here she is as found

 

 

 

And as she looks today, ready for another round.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[deejaid]

And the sole, before:



And after:





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[mpatrickriley]

That's some really lovely work. I'm sure it's very satisfying to take the work of your hands to the course and put it into play.

[deejaid]

Thanks mpatrickriley. I really love finding discarded or neglected items (golf clubs, guitars) and making them useful again. It would have been an absolute shame if this club was tossed in the garbage. It has so many rounds left in it and will hopefully be on a course somewhere long after I’m gone.


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[chemclub]

Beautiful work deejaid! The sole pics are pretty striking. 

[deejaid]

Beautiful work deejaid! The sole pics are pretty striking. 

Thanks Chemclub! The sole plate is brass which is very easy to work with. In my guitar building I make my own brass pickguards and usually age them to give a nice patina, but it shines up very easily too.

The hardest part was the whipping. Just finding it was hard enough, but whipping the club takes a little bit of practice and a homemade jig.






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[dbdors]

I started playing golf in the later 90's so never had a chance to play with "woods".  I should at least try them they look sweet.

[srooch2]

I have a set in my attic, I need to take them out and try em. Have you ever thought of building one from scratch? I'm sure it's not as easy as it sounds but would be a fun project. 

[deejaid]

I started playing golf in the later 90's so never had a chance to play with "woods".  I should at least try them they look sweet.

You’d be surprised how much fun they can be. Give it a shot.


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[deejaid]

I have a set in my attic, I need to take them out and try em. Have you ever thought of building one from scratch? I'm sure it's not as easy as it sounds but would be a fun project. 

Pull them out of the attic and give them a whirl. I’ll admit, I’ve lost about 20 yards with my persimmon driver but my accuracy has improved dramatically. As for the fairway woods, I haven’t really noticed any distance loss at all.

As for building one from scratch, I actually have found a place online that sells persimmon blocks that would be perfect to hand carve into some club heads. Haven’t felt the urge to go that route yet.

I do have a few unfinished heads that will be getting some very special paint jobs.







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[dbdors]

17 minutes ago, deejaid said:

You’d be surprised how much fun they can be. Give it a shot.
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I may do just that.  I remember I had a boss back with I started, he said it just couldnt hit those "metal woods".

[GB13]

This is so cool. 

I wish I had the talent (and patience) for woodworking. 

Thanks for sharing. This truly is art in its purest form. 

[deejaid]

This is so cool. 
I wish I had the talent (and patience) for woodworking. 
Thanks for sharing. This truly is art in its purest form. 

Thanks GB13!


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[HardcoreLooper]

That looks gorgeous.  Did you do anything with the stamping?

I have an old MacGregor Tommy Armour driver that my dad had refinished, and the guy ruined the stamping trying to deepen it.

[deejaid]

That looks gorgeous.  Did you do anything with the stamping? I have an old MacGregor Tommy Armour driver that my dad had refinished, and the guy ruined the stamping trying to deepen it.

 

 

 

Thanks Hardcore. After staining I sealed the head in Nitrocellulose lacquer and after a few coats built up I did need to deepen the stamping on top, though it was mostly just cleaning the new nitro out of the stamping before the paint fill. On the sole I just left the stamping alone. The factory correct finish would have had the model # stamping on the bottom paintfilled white I believe. You can clearly read what it says and I just think it looks better without the fill.

 

Bummer about your dads club, but perhaps it could be fixed.

 

 

 

 

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[Reesedw]

Looks great DJ.. I'm glad you found your happy place..

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[PING Apologist #9]

Great work out there DJ! You have some serious talent and it's awesome to see such a profound respect and commitment given to the proper restoration of these old work horses.

FYI, I play with a buddy of mine that still bags a persimmon 3w, MacGregor I believe similar to yours. He really hits that thing well and unless it comes unraveled, I don't see him ever replacing it

[PlaidJacket]

Well, I just find all this very interesting. I was really surprised when I kept reading and came upon the photo with all the raw heads on the bench. Turnings? I'm curious to know Deejaid if you have the equipment to measure and determine the various specs for the heads. I know very little about such but I have watched a Wishon Video a few times where he discusses how "woods" were bored in the old days to set the loft and lie angles. Are you familiar with this? If not I think I can find it again. I won't post it unless you approve first. It's interesting.

Keep us up to date and perhaps you can show us how you go about doing this work. Perhaps a video and photo series?

Thanks and nice work.

[tommc23]

The hardest part was the whipping. Just finding it was hard enough, but whipping the club takes a little bit of practice and a homemade jig.






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I wonder if some people don't know what whipping is??? That looks good though you did one heck of a good job

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[bullldog]

I wonder if some people don't know what whipping is??? That looks good though you did one heck of a good job

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Its what my Dad used to give me.

[deejaid]

I wonder if some people don't know what whipping is??? That looks good though you did one heck of a good job

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You are right Tommc23. Whipping is the nylon thread wrapped around the hosel or neck of the wood where it meets the shaft.

Here is a pic of the whipping I have and the jig I use to do the whipping, which is just a couple pieces of scrap wood with 1 1/4” holes drilled into it held in a vise. I can then turn the club to wind the whipping around.




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[deejaid]

Well, I just find all this very interesting. I was really surprised when I kept reading and came upon the photo with all the raw heads on the bench. Turnings? I'm curious to know Deejaid if you have the equipment to measure and determine the various specs for the heads. I know very little about such but I have watched a Wishon Video a few times where he discusses how "woods" were bored in the old days to set the loft and lie angles. Are you familiar with this? If not I think I can find it again. I won't post it unless you approve first. It's interesting.
Keep us up to date and perhaps you can show us how you go about doing this work. Perhaps a video and photo series?
Thanks and nice work.

I can’t remember if I’ve seen Tom Wishons video or not. I have seen some videos on changing the lie angle on old woods but I’m not sure if I’ve seen Tom’s.

I do have a Golfworks protractor ordered so I can measure the loft of the clubs, that will be here this week.

Some of the other tools I used just happened to be ones I bought for guitar building.

For example, the scoring lines needed
to be deepened after sanding the club face but a normal hacksaw had too wide of a kerf. I just happened to have a fret saw for guitar frets that was the perfect .020” wide kerf and it worked perfect.



Another guitar tool I had was a set of radius gauges to measure guitar neck radius. They are perfect for measuring the bulge and roll of a persimmon wood face.



My beautiful blonde set of Stan Thompson’s that are now in my bag we’re starting to lose their lead back weight, so a trip to Walmart for some lead fishing sinkers and a lead ladle off amazon were needed. I built a dam around the cavity with modeling clay, melted the lead with a torch and poured it in. A little peening to set it in place and it was good to go.






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[tommc23]

I can’t remember if I’ve seen Tom Wishons video or not. I have seen some videos on changing the lie angle on old woods but I’m not sure if I’ve seen Tom’s.

I do have a Golfworks protractor ordered so I can measure the loft of the clubs, that will be here this week.

Some of the other tools I used just happened to be ones I bought for guitar building.

For example, the scoring lines needed
to be deepened after sanding the club face but a normal hacksaw had too wide of a kerf. I just happened to have a fret saw for guitar frets that was the perfect .020” wide kerf and it worked perfect.



Another guitar tool I had was a set of radius gauges to measure guitar neck radius. They are perfect for measuring the bulge and roll of a persimmon wood face.



My beautiful blonde set of Stan Thompson’s that are now in my bag we’re starting to lose their lead back weight, so a trip to Walmart for some lead fishing sinkers and a lead ladle off amazon were needed. I built a dam around the cavity with modeling clay, melted the lead with a torch and poured it in. A little peening to set it in place and it was good to go.






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Nice move using the clay.

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[PlaidJacket]

Deejaid, I'll look some for the Wishon videos and send the links to you through a private message. I did watch one earlier this morning after reading your original post. It's somewhat technical but you'll find it interesting. The other one I'm thinking about had Tom using a wood head and discussing the bore angle in the hosel. He really has good information.

[BIG STU]

Good work as usual DJ---- Amazing the guitar tools and even the saw could be adapted to golf clubs. I remember one time way back when I grooved out an old Northwestern 6 wood> I actually carefully ground down a hacksaw blade and it worked on that. 

[chemclub]

This thread is just fantastic! Damn that whipping looks tedious.

So why persimmon wood in the first place? Is it just known to be really hard and light? Why not oak heads?

[deejaid]

This thread is just fantastic! Damn that whipping looks tedious.

So why persimmon wood in the first place? Is it just known to be really hard and light? Why not oak heads?

 

 

Good question. I think persimmon was chosen because it has great impact resistance. It won’t deform or dent when used to hit an object.

 

And yeah, the whipping can be a pain but it’s not to bad.

 

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[LeftyHawk]

I have quite a few experienced "wood" clubs I'd like to give it a go at breathing life back into.

Where do I start to get some idea how?

Chris

[deejaid]

I have quite a few experienced "wood" clubs I'd like to give it a go at breathing life back into.
Where do I start to get some idea how?
Chris

Chris, here is a link to the first of a series of videos that explains the entire process.

Personally I found the polyurethane-dipped finish to be too thick for 1950’s era clubs so I went with Nitrocellulose lacquer on the M65 a showed here.

Once I’m finished with my honey-do list remodeling the bathroom right now maybe I will make a thread documenting the entire process.

Good luck!



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[Mr. 82]

Very impressive work.