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Putting a classic back in play


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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

 

IMG_0098.JPG

 

IMG_0102.JPG

 

And as she looks today, ready for another round.

 

IMG_0200.JPG

 

IMG_0201.JPG

 

 

 

 

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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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Beautiful work deejaid! The sole pics are pretty striking. 

Bag: Bennington Quiet Organizer 9-Lite (link)

Cart: :Clicgear: 3.5+

Driver:  :cobra-small:  F9 speedback, Accra iWood

Woods:  Sonartec GS Tour 14*, Fujikura Six S
DI:  :titelist-small:  T-MB 2 iron, KBS Tour-V 120 X,
Irons: :Miura: PP-9003SN 4-GW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
Wedges: :Miura: 1957 K-grind SW, LW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

Woods:  :callaway-small:  Rogue ST Max LS 9*,  Ventus Blue 6S / :taylormade-small: Stealth Plus+, 15*, MCA Diamana Thump 75S
Hybrid: :PXG: 0317 X Proto 3H & 4H, Ventus Blue 7S  

Irons: :Takomo: Takomo IRON 101 5-PW, Accra T90i S
Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX ZipCore 48*, Accra T90i, 53* & 58*, Accra T100i S
Putter: :EVNROLL: ER1.2, 355g, :kbs: Tour GPS, 33" w/
image.png.709cedef1b6b981263b7fb0d3abefd71.png Mid Slim 2.0
Ball: Maxfli Tour
Bag/Cart: :nike-small: '20 Air Hybrid 2 / :Clicgear: 4.0 / Alphard Club Booster V2, Swivel kit
Accessories: :Arccos: 360 /  Garmin G80 / Nikon Coolshot Pro Stabilized 

 

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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. 

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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

IMG_0051.JPG

IMG_0042.JPG



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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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".

Woods:  :callaway-small:  Rogue ST Max LS 9*,  Ventus Blue 6S / :taylormade-small: Stealth Plus+, 15*, MCA Diamana Thump 75S
Hybrid: :PXG: 0317 X Proto 3H & 4H, Ventus Blue 7S  

Irons: :Takomo: Takomo IRON 101 5-PW, Accra T90i S
Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX ZipCore 48*, Accra T90i, 53* & 58*, Accra T100i S
Putter: :EVNROLL: ER1.2, 355g, :kbs: Tour GPS, 33" w/
image.png.709cedef1b6b981263b7fb0d3abefd71.png Mid Slim 2.0
Ball: Maxfli Tour
Bag/Cart: :nike-small: '20 Air Hybrid 2 / :Clicgear: 4.0 / Alphard Club Booster V2, Swivel kit
Accessories: :Arccos: 360 /  Garmin G80 / Nikon Coolshot Pro Stabilized 

 

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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. 

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Callaway Rogue 3W Mitsubishi Diamana D+ LTD 80 stiff

Mizuno MP-18 MMC FLI-HI 2 iron UST Mamiya Recoil 95 stiff

Ping I200's 4-W Aerotech Steelfiber I110 CW stiff

Ping Glide 52* and 58* stiff

Bettinardi Studio Stock #38 Armlock

 

 

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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

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Driver - :cobra-small: F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S )
3 Wood (13.5*) - :titleist-small: 980F 
4 Wood (18*) - :cobra-small: F8 - Aldila NV Blue 60 ( S )
3 Hybrid (19*) - :taylormade-small: RBZ
4i - PW - :wilson_staff_small: D7 Forged - Recoil 760 ( S )
52* - :cleveland-small: CBX
58* - :cleveland-small: CBX Full Face 2
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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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

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Dave-

Follow me on twitter @GolfCrazyWA and on Instagram @GolfcrazyWA

 

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Cobra Ultralite Cart Bag 

Titleist TSR3 Hzrdus Black 65g shaft

Cobra F8+ 3wd Hzrdus Red 65g shaft

Cobra 3 hybrid Rogue Pro 75g Shaft

Cobra 4 hybrid Rogue Pro 75g Shaft

Cobra F8 irons 5-GW KBS tour 90 stiff shafts

Cobra King Black Wedge 54* 

Cleveland RTX Zipcore Wedge 58*

Snake Eyes Viper Putter.

Ball: Taylormade TP-5X

 

 

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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

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Driver
:    :ping-small: G410 SFT, set to 9.5*, Mitsubishi Tensei CK Orange 60, stiff (MGS Official 2019 Tester)
3W:          :ping-small: G-Series SF TEC, set to 16*, Aldila Tour Blue ATX, 65g, stiff
5W:          :ping-small: G400 SFT, set to 19*, Aldila Tour Blue ATX, 65g, stiff
7W:         :ping-small: G410 SFT, set to 22*. Alta CB 65 Red, stiff

Irons:       :ping-small: GMax, Green Dot, 5-PW, Project X Graphite Blue 6.0, 80-90g , stiff
Wedges: :ping-small: Glide 2.0 Stealth, 50* SS, 54* ES & 60*/8 Forged MGS Special from the Wedge Wizard, Green Dot, Alta CB graphite, 84g, stiff
Putter:     :ping-small: Vault 2.0 B60 Copper, 33", black dot w/GP SNSR grip (PING Sigma 2 Fetch under "see-trials")
Ball:       :Snell: MTB BLACK (MGS Official 2018 Tester for the :Snell: MTB RED)
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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.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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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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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.

IMG_0209.JPG


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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

IMG_0207.JPG

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.

IMG_0208.JPG

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.

IMG_0210.JPG

IMG_0211.JPG


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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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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.

IMG_0207.thumb.JPG.a16160e833b3a8fd367edc0538bd2abc.JPG

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.

IMG_0208.thumb.JPG.2abf03308d7f99e1c425cec83b2913cb.JPG

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.

IMG_0210.thumb.JPG.2bc2c3652564ec31db5732bc59ff1ba4.JPG

IMG_0211.thumb.JPG.1b09a8b3b062a4f0e2138e61475f00d5.JPG


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Nice move using the clay.

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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.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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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. 

Driver ---- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha  Speeder 565 R flex- 5W TM V-Steel Fubuki 60r--- 7W TM V-Steel UST Pro Force Gold 65R----- 9 W TM V Steel TM MAS stiff---- Irons 2015 TM TP CB Steel Fiber 95 R--- GW Callaway Mack Daddy 2 52* shaft unknown junk pile refugee. SW Callaway PM Grind 56*  Modified sole grind--- KBS Tour Wedge-- LW Vokey 58* SM5 L grind--- Putter Ping B90I Broom Stick 

 

 

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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?

Bag: Bennington Quiet Organizer 9-Lite (link)

Cart: :Clicgear: 3.5+

Driver:  :cobra-small:  F9 speedback, Accra iWood

Woods:  Sonartec GS Tour 14*, Fujikura Six S
DI:  :titelist-small:  T-MB 2 iron, KBS Tour-V 120 X,
Irons: :Miura: PP-9003SN 4-GW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
Wedges: :Miura: 1957 K-grind SW, LW, Nippon 1150GH Stiff
Putter: :odyssey-small: EXO Indianapolis (link)
Ball: :Snell: MTB
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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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

Far and Sure......

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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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WITB:

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

 

 

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