Loft/Lie Machine

[Live Free Golf MA]

Hi All! 

I'm just recently getting back into my club repair/building.  Went to school and took some classes on this back in the day, the only thing I am missing in my set up at the moment that i think would really benefit me would be a Mitchell type machine for bending loft/lie.

Is there a solid option out there that isn't going to cost me $1,000+.  I'm not yet planning on doing this for a ton of other people, so the investment wouldnt be worth it at the moment. I will bite the bullet eventually since it's something i would love to get back into as a part time gig. 

Right now in my makeshift shop I have mostly golf works equipment:

• Grip station (Vice mounted)
• Shaft extractor (Vice mounted) 
• 1" x 30" belt sander 
• Bench top small chop saw
• 8" grinder wheel (new purchase, still not sure exactly what buffing/grinding wheels to get) 
• PLUS all the extra smaller tools needed to remove grips & do the small stuff

Any other recommendations would be awesome! Thanks! 

Thank you!

[Calvo90]

Great ''basic'' setup. I wish I could afford one. 

You will absolutely need a setup to properly measure club length and club swing weight and either butane/propane torch or an industrial fan (torch can also be used to blue clubs)

For cutting steel shafts I absolutely love small pipe cutter. It makes the job of cutting shafts so much easier and cleaner - quick, no sharp edges and the ends are beautifully rounded inwards. 

Besides miscellaneuos (10g shaft tip weights to be cut down to desired weight, different ferrules etc.) you got it all.

[Live Free Golf MA]

Thank you sir! 

I have a heat gun i used to remove club heads and heat the epoxy up. I do have a small torch, but I don't trust my ADD to use it! haha 

I'll pick up a pipe cutter @ home depot and give that  whirl, seems like kind of a no brainer, but i've only used the chop saw. 

Cheers! 

[Kenny B]

I would love to have a lot/lie bending machine, but I can't justify it.  I have thought about the economy bending machines at Golfworks.  When I buy irons, I need them about 2-3º flat to fit my swing.  If I buy new, I can get them that way, but if I want to buy used then I have to get them adjusted.  I can go to my local golf store and get them adjusted for a couple of bucks each, free if my buddy is working.  Even if I pay, I can bring them back for checks for free.  I would never recoup my investment in a machine, and don't want to do it for others because of the chance of breaking their clubs.  I would feel awful and end up buying them new clubs!  LOL

As @Calvo90 suggested, a swingweight scale is a necessity and the ability to adjust.

[Live Free Golf MA]

54 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

I would love to have a lot/lie bending machine, but I can't justify it.  I have thought about the economy bending machines at Golfworks.  When I buy irons, I need them about 2-3º flat to fit my swing.  If I buy new, I can get them that way, but if I want to buy used then I have to get them adjusted.  I can go to my local golf store and get them adjusted for a couple of bucks each, free if my buddy is working.  Even if I pay, I can bring them back for checks for free.  I would never recoup my investment in a machine, and don't want to do it for others because of the chance of breaking their clubs.  I would feel awful and end up buying them new clubs!  LOL

As @Calvo90 suggested, a swingweight scale is a necessity and the ability to adjust.

I'm trying to justify it so bad! Along with MP20 MBs lol 

I do have a swing weight scale, forgot to put that on there & a digital scale for total weight.

[dlow206]

I wanted to bend my putter a bit more upright today, since i started standing closer to the ball. Luckily my approach worked out, stepping on the putter head and pulling the shaft gently.

[Live Free Golf MA]

7 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

I wanted to bend my putter a bit more upright today, since i started standing closer to the ball. Luckily my approach worked out, stepping on the putter head and pulling the shaft gently.

Wow thats some balls! Love it, glad it worked out for you! 

 

[dlow206]

18 minutes ago, Live Free Golf MA said:

Wow thats some balls! Love it, glad it worked out for you! 

 

Yeah, it was sort of risky and an expensive putter. I should probably never test my luck again, haha.

[awcarlisle01]

I’m in the same boat and something important to keep in mind is keeping it calibrated and buying something that is accurate. I’ve had Club Champion who uses Mitchell digital lie and loft machines check what a older Mitchell manual machine adjustment did and the manual was off. After learning how often their equipment is calibrated and the fact my adjustments are for my own clubs, I want it to be right. Therefore this is something you don’t want to go cheap on. If you decide to buy a used one on the bay send it to Mitchell to be tuned up or your going to buy a bunch of problems. If you decide to go new here’s an alternative to Mitchell https://mr3golfdesigns.com/ 

I hate to say it but until the cost, convenience, and quality can be met I’m paying someone else to adjust my clubs. 

 

 

[MmmmmmBuddy]

Yeah, it was sort of risky and an expensive putter. I should probably never test my luck again, haha.

Back in the day, we used to slam our irons on the ground to get them to “look right”. We were just bending the lie a little. Not scientific at all, but it worked. Kinda.


Sent from OregonMyGolfSpy

[Calvo90]

8 hours ago, MmmmmmBuddy said:

 

Back in the day, we used to slam our irons on the ground to get them to “look right”. We were just bending the lie a little. Not scientific at all, but it worked. Kinda.


Sent from OregonMyGolfSpy

 

Isn't that the ''Tiger'' method? LOL

[Calvo90]

13 hours ago, Live Free Golf MA said:

Thank you sir! 

I have a heat gun i used to remove club heads and heat the epoxy up. I do have a small torch, but I don't trust my ADD to use it! haha 

I'll pick up a pipe cutter @ home depot and give that  whirl, seems like kind of a no brainer, but i've only used the chop saw. 

Cheers! 

Just another advice when using pipe cutter: When you decide to cut the shaft, insert another junk shaft into the shaft you intend to cut to support it from the inside. It can be steel or graphite, it doesn't matter. Especially light-weight shafts tend to ''oval'' if you putt a little bit too much of a sqeeze on them and you can end up with inprecise cut because the pipe cutter wandered off the desired line. The additional support prevents the shaft from ovaling and makes the whole process pretty much without any risk.

[Live Free Golf MA]

Awesome. Thanks for the tip!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

[mikewohlwend]

I’m hoping I can find something too. Would love to have a Mitchell or True Blue, but they are out of my price range right now.

[BIG STU]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:08 PM, dlow206 said:

I wanted to bend my putter a bit more upright today, since i started standing closer to the ball. Luckily my approach worked out, stepping on the putter head and pulling the shaft gently.

Actually there used to be a piece you could step on to hold a putter head down and bend to suit

[BIG STU]

On 3/29/2020 at 9:25 PM, MmmmmmBuddy said:

 

Back in the day, we used to slam our irons on the ground to get them to “look right”. We were just bending the lie a little. Not scientific at all, but it worked. Kinda.


Sent from OregonMyGolfSpy

 

That was the Trevino method long before Tiger. Back in the day the old hustlers used to carry a small pipe wrench and wedge the club in the bumper of a golf cart ( back when carts had real steel bumpers) and bend to sight. I still have an old pipe wrench from those days with the teeth ground down

[BIG STU]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:56 PM, awcarlisle01 said:

I’m in the same boat and something important to keep in mind is keeping it calibrated and buying something that is accurate. I’ve had Club Champion who uses Mitchell digital lie and loft machines check what a older Mitchell manual machine adjustment did and the manual was off. After learning how often their equipment is calibrated and the fact my adjustments are for my own clubs, I want it to be right. Therefore this is something you don’t want to go cheap on. If you decide to buy a used one on the bay send it to Mitchell to be tuned up or your going to buy a bunch of problems. If you decide to go new here’s an alternative to Mitchell https://mr3golfdesigns.com/ 

I hate to say it but until the cost, convenience, and quality can be met I’m paying someone else to adjust my clubs. 

 

 

I will agree with you that it is more cost effective for the average guy to take their clubs to be checked. Now from me being in the golf business in the past I do have my own machine but I do check it in several different ways.  I have 3 clubs that are never hit that were checked on a Mitchell digital. I also have a couple more test clubs that I will bend up and check on my clamp board with a Maltby angle gauge and a digital angle finder. My machine is a little oddball as far as machines goes. It is a Silvestri which not many were made. I think there are only 10 or 12 of them made before the owner / designer got sick. The only other person I knew that had and used one was Ari at Scratch Golf. I had the fortune a few years back through a friend to get in contact with the gentleman who designed it. Learned a lot about it. with SOP for me I manually check a club anyhow after I bend it so I stay on top of things. I don't do it for a living now so mainly it is used for my stuff I tinker with. I also made my own putter bending and hybrid with a neck jigs. I bought that machine like 20 years ago when the guy that owned it passed away. In fact my partner and I bought about 90% of his shop and that is where we started

[cnosil]

3 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Actually there used to be a piece you could step on to hold a putter head down and bend to suit

I know Rife had one for their 2 bar putters;  was there a generic one that fitters used or was it similar to what rife provided?

https://www.amazon.com/Guerin-Rife-LieALine-Accuracy-Fitting/dp/B00N3WXF7C

 

[BIG STU]

6 hours ago, cnosil said:

I know Rife had one for their 2 bar putters;  was there a generic one that fitters used or was it similar to what rife provided?

https://www.amazon.com/Guerin-Rife-LieALine-Accuracy-Fitting/dp/B00N3WXF7C

 

Thanks for jogging my memory that is exactly who had that. I may have mine in one of my tool boxes or drawers in the shop. We were a Rife dealer

[MmmmmmBuddy]

On 4/4/2020 at 2:35 AM, BIG STU said:

 The only other person I knew that had and used one was Ari at Scratch Golf.

Heard from Ari lately?  I haven't seen him since the team from Scratch up and moved production to Tennessee. We used to see a fair bit of the boys out here. Jeff and Ari, Eggling... Miss those guys.