Weed Torched Stainless Wedges

[edingc]

I picked up a 52/56/60 set of Vokey clones from Diamond Tour Golf a few weeks ago, with the intention of possibly using them as my wedges next season. At $35 delivered for the three heads, I figured it to be a cheap experiment for me to try.

The heads are 431 stainless steel, and while not ugly, aren't gorgeous either. They're boring, and the branding/font used screams clone to me. I'm a fan of the "oil can" or "gun blue" finishing that can be used on carbon steel wedges, stainless however does not have option. So, I decided to give tempering a try to bring out some dark straw, blue and purple colors.

First, what the wedges looked like from DTG. I removed the paint fill with some CitriStrip and acetone, and then using latex gloves gave them a final acetone wipe to remove any oily residue before torching.

I have a propane weed torch from Harbor Freight that I use for weeding our driveway and also searing steaks post-sous vide. HF claims the torch can reach over 3,000 degrees, and since stainless takes a lot of heat to temper, it was my choice for this work. I have a smaller propane torch, but I would have been heating each head for a long time (target temperature for blue/purple color on stainless is VERY high).

Please note: Be careful. I managed to complete this without burning my house down, but I am not responsible for whatever happens if you choose to (literally) play with fire.

I setup on my concrete driveway placing the head on a brick so that the driveway wouldn't bear the brunt of the heat. Basically, I blasted away for several minutes until I got the color I wanted and them dumped the heads in a snowbank to cool rapidly. I recommend a long screwdriver or bolt to turn the heads and to transport them to their cooling destination. I almost started an oven mitt on fire because the heads were so hot.

Anyway, I'm excited with how they turned out! I certainly didn't have perfect prep work and it shows, but I like the uniqueness of each head. In dim light they are dark straw/bronze color, and in the sunlight they have a lot of blue and purple highlights that are gorgeous. 

I haven't decided if I want to do new paint fill on them, or leave them empty. But, all in all, this was a fun experiment. I personally think they look a lot better than before.

[hckymeyer]

Great write up and step by step.  I agree they look 100% better, well done!

[azstu324]

Hey total wacky non-golf related side question.. how does the torch do with finishing a sous vide steak? I've been curious about any possible propane flavor on the meat but I'm the only person in my own crazy world who even knows what the hell a sous vide even is so I can't really ask around. I use a cast iron pan but it's really easy to further cook the meat by the time you get a good caramelization.. and I've seen a bunch of videos recommending the torch approach.

"Sous vide everything" is a fun YouTube channel.

Excellent job on the wedges BTW!

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..

[edingc]

2 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Hey total wacky non-golf related side question.. how does the torch do with finishing a sous vide steak? I've been curious about any possible propane flavor on the meat but I'm the only person in my own crazy world who even knows what the hell a sous vide even is so I can't really ask around. I use a cast iron pan but it's really easy to further cook the meat by the time you get a good caramelization.. and I've seen a bunch of videos recommending the torch approach.

"Sous vide everything" is a fun YouTube channel.

Excellent job on the wedges BTW!

the more I practice, the luckier I seem to get..
 

I haven't used it a ton, but I often will use a combo of cast iron on the stovetop with a smaller handheld propane torch with good results. I don't notice any propane flavors, the important thing is to make sure the torch is lit before pointing it at the food. Based on my reading most of the "off" flavors are the result of uncombusted propane that can happen before it is fully ignited.

Part of the reason I haven't used it a lot is that I'm a little gun shy - I warped one of my nice stainless cooking racks with it (turned a blue/purple color - part of the inspiration for this project) and I haven't tried it since. Next time I think I'd put a cast iron pan right on the driveway and then blast the steaks inside of there! 

[SaturdayGolfer]

They look great! And good tip on the screwdriver/bolt - I could definitely see myself burning a hole through an oven mitt had I not read that warning.

Any residual scorching on the driveway or did the brick do a good job taking the brunt of the heat? 

[edingc]

2 hours ago, SaturdayGolfer said:

They look great! And good tip on the screwdriver/bolt - I could definitely see myself burning a hole through an oven mitt had I not read that warning.

Any residual scorching on the driveway or did the brick do a good job taking the brunt of the heat? 

Thanks!

No scorching on the driveway or the brick. I made sure to cool the brick in a snowbank as well.

I ordered some shafts for these this past weekend and will be building them soon.

[edingc]

The 52 degree is looking really nice when shafted up with a black and white ferrule from msfix13 on eBay.

I went with a cheap Apollo Standard Stepless shaft from Hireko, trimmed to stiff, soft-stepped once. Just need a slight turn on the ferrule to get it flush with the hosel. Adding a black Star Sidewinder grip tomorrow morning to finish it off and it will be heading out to the range shortly thereafter to give it a whirl.

Based on Hireko's DSFI numbers, the Apollo Stepless should feel similar to my C-Taper Lites, but about 10 grams heavier with a slightly softer tip. At 35.5" playing length, it's going to come close to D8 swingweight, about four points heavier than my mid-irons. We'll see how that works out.

Total cost for each of the wedges will be around $26, $78 or so for all three. If they perform decently, that's a great deal.

[Kor.A.Door]

Were these plated before hand. If so how did you remove the plating? 

[ballplayer002003]

Nice job!  Don't paint fill.  I can't tell if you filled with black or if it's just the shadow.  But again, they look MUCH MUCH better!!!

[Miboy62]

Great job, those look awesome!

[edingc]

Thanks, all!

On 1/9/2020 at 1:47 PM, Kor.A.Door said:

Were these plated before hand. If so how did you remove the plating? 

These weren't chrome plated, just more of a brushed stainless finish. 

[Rickp]

I picked up a 52/56/60 set of Vokey clones from Diamond Tour Golf a few weeks ago, with the intention of possibly using them as my wedges next season. At $35 delivered for the three heads, I figured it to be a cheap experiment for me to try.
The heads are 431 stainless steel, and while not ugly, aren't gorgeous either. They're boring, and the branding/font used screams clone to me. I'm a fan of the "oil can" or "gun blue" finishing that can be used on carbon steel wedges, stainless however does not have option. So, I decided to give tempering a try to bring out some dark straw, blue and purple colors.
First, what the wedges looked like from DTG. I removed the paint fill with some CitriStrip and acetone, and then using latex gloves gave them a final acetone wipe to remove any oily residue before torching.


I have a propane weed torch from Harbor Freight that I use for weeding our driveway and also searing steaks post-sous vide. HF claims the torch can reach over 3,000 degrees, and since stainless takes a lot of heat to temper, it was my choice for this work. I have a smaller propane torch, but I would have been heating each head for a long time (target temperature for blue/purple color on stainless is VERY high).

Please note: Be careful. I managed to complete this without burning my house down, but I am not responsible for whatever happens if you choose to (literally) play with fire.
I setup on my concrete driveway placing the head on a brick so that the driveway wouldn't bear the brunt of the heat. Basically, I blasted away for several minutes until I got the color I wanted and them dumped the heads in a snowbank to cool rapidly. I recommend a long screwdriver or bolt to turn the heads and to transport them to their cooling destination. I almost started an oven mitt on fire because the heads were so hot.

Anyway, I'm excited with how they turned out! I certainly didn't have perfect prep work and it shows, but I like the uniqueness of each head. In dim light they are dark straw/bronze color, and in the sunlight they have a lot of blue and purple highlights that are gorgeous. 

I haven't decided if I want to do new paint fill on them, or leave them empty. But, all in all, this was a fun experiment. I personally think they look a lot better than before.

Great job, I like it


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[clafoone]

I like!

[AmishJason]

I'm wondering how this affects the clubs in terms of performance. From my LIMITED knowledge of heat treat I'm guessing you actually have changed your clubs at the atomic level.  I'm not saying you changed from one type of steel to another, but that color reminds me of iron/steel that has been in a 400-450F draw furnace for a couple hours which relaxes the carbon atoms and makes for a softer material.  This is all just a guess because I dont knownthe club manufacturer's process and how/if the clubs are heat treated beyond the forging process.

[edingc]

 

On 2/6/2020 at 12:55 AM, AmishJason said:

I'm wondering how this affects the clubs in terms of performance. From my LIMITED knowledge of heat treat I'm guessing you actually have changed your clubs at the atomic level.  I'm not saying you changed from one type of steel to another, but that color reminds me of iron/steel that has been in a 400-450F draw furnace for a couple hours which relaxes the carbon atoms and makes for a softer material.  This is all just a guess because I dont knownthe club manufacturer's process and how/if the clubs are heat treated beyond the forging process.

Long-term tempering will definitely change the properties of stainless steel. In this case, I didn't hold temperature long enough to do much beyond change the color. The results are similar to the discoloration that occurs from welding two pieces of stainless together, it just that most welders will go back over with a stainless wire wheel to remove the discoloration after the weld has cooled.

The finish has held up really well so far, save for the bottom of the 60 degree that was accidentally skipped off concrete (oops...). 

[Kor.A.Door]

the purple and blue colors come at 450-500 degrees. The copper color changes around 300 degrees. You have to hold temperatures in excess of 900° F  or hotter in order to  begin to change the steel.  Since we are only getting the steel to a temp that will change the color and then letting it cool, theres not really any chance to get them up to 900° F.