LEAD TAPE! Show me your pics!

[El Chivo 30]

What kind and how do they make it looks like its part of the club almost like its a jagged rock! 

It looks so cool....whenever anyone else does it, it looks like lame af pieces of duct tape! 

Gear Heads let me know, I want the secrets! 

[tommc23 12,815]

@BIG STUis our local lead tape aficionado 

[BIG STU 9,638]

In the old days they did not have lead tape as we know it--- The old club makers used to heat lead and pour it on the back and hammer it to compress it. What I do on vintage clubs is to apply the lead tape and maybe hammer it some with a jewlers ball peen hammer to give it the hammered look. Now if you are like me and play the same set the lead tape will tarnish and get bag chatter too over time. Now I do not do it for looks but for function. Even though I have a Swing Weight machine I do not SW my personal clubs with it I go strictly by feel. I do not check my clubs and if the truth is known my SWs are all over the place but I do not care. I play with weight and bottom end shaft kick all the time. 

[driveandputtmachine 106]

I am not just a lead tape guy.   My weird playing lengths not only require lead tape, but also require weight to be pulled out of the 9,PW, and down.  9 and PW weight is pulled from the hosel, so it is invisible.   Short wedges I had to drill out the weight.

[NRJyzr 1,237]

I'll have to dig up a couple pics, I'm away from my comp desk at moment.  I am another lead tape disciple, slap it on everything I need to.

Reshafted my MP37s with graphite, they were a bit overweight with steel, and wound up also having lead down the shaft, they needed a lot of tape to get back to normal.

Even use it on putters.   

[El Chivo 30]

1 hour ago, Golferplus1 said:

I am not just a lead tape guy.   My weird playing lengths not only require lead tape, but also require weight to be pulled out of the 9,PW, and down.  9 and PW weight is pulled from the hosel, so it is invisible.   Short wedges I had to drill out the weight.

That is so damned unique! I love it! 

On 9/14/2021 at 3:29 AM, BIG STU said:

In the old days they did not have lead tape as we know it--- The old club makers used to heat lead and pour it on the back and hammer it to compress it. What I do on vintage clubs is to apply the lead tape and maybe hammer it some with a jewlers ball peen hammer to give it the hammered look. Now if you are like me and play the same set the lead tape will tarnish and get bag chatter too over time. Now I do not do it for looks but for function. Even though I have a Swing Weight machine I do not SW my personal clubs with it I go strictly by feel. I do not check my clubs and if the truth is known my SWs are all over the place but I do not care. I play with weight and bottom end shaft kick all the time. 

WOW! I never knew that! 

[El Chivo 30]

1 hour ago, Golferplus1 said:

I am not just a lead tape guy.   My weird playing lengths not only require lead tape, but also require weight to be pulled out of the 9,PW, and down.  9 and PW weight is pulled from the hosel, so it is invisible.   Short wedges I had to drill out the weight.

What do you mean pulled from the hosel?  You get a thinner or shorter hosel?

So I use it on all my irons and wedges to feel the heads more....with the woods its to prevent face closure.

[NRJyzr 1,237]

Was able to get to the laptop....

First, we have one of the MP37s

And then, we have a couple putters, a Spalding TPM-3 and Wilson Staff 8813

 

Don't seem to have other pics immediately available, I'll have to see if I can't scrounge them up....
 

[BIG STU 9,638]

9 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

Was able to get to the laptop....

First, we have one of the MP37s

And then, we have a couple putters, a Spalding TPM-3 and Wilson Staff 8813

 

Don't seem to have other pics immediately available, I'll have to see if I can't scrounge them up....
 

Yep the 37s need a lot of lead tape especially if one took the hosel weights out-- My 33s were covered and my 68s are too. Mizuno blade heads are light as heck

[driveandputtmachine 106]

12 minutes ago, El Chivo said:

What do you mean pulled from the hosel?  You get a thinner or shorter hosel?

So I use it on all my irons and wedges to feel the heads more....with the woods its to prevent face closure.

I guess I should have explained it more.   I take a 3/16" bit and after having removed the shaft I drill down into the metal of the hosel.  There is still a shelf for the shaft to sit on and not increase my BBGM, but it removes weight without having to hack up the back of the head.

[El Chivo 30]

1 minute ago, BIG STU said:

Yep the 37s need a lot of lead tape especially if one took the hosel weights out-- My 33s were covered and my 68s are too. Mizuno blade heads are light as heck

I'm so glad I saw this! I was thinking of adding some tape to my Original Arnold Palmer....wonderful putter from 5'....but its so light for today's greens I need some more heft.

[driveandputtmachine 106]

2 minutes ago, Golferplus1 said:

I guess I should have explained it more.   I take a 3/16" bit and after having removed the shaft I drill down into the metal of the hosel.  There is still a shelf for the shaft to sit on and not increase my BBGM, but it removes weight without having to hack up the back of the head.

I play unique lengths and do a poor mans MOI type matching along with testing on the range and with the dry erase marker.   So I start my build as a poor mans DIY MOI match without the expensive scale, then more or less weight is put on the clubs depending upon what I am trying to get to.

 

Club	Loft	SW	Length
LW	60	D7.2	36.75"
SW	54	D7.4	37
AW	50	D7.4	37
PW	46	D7.2	37.25"
9	42	D6.8	37.5"
8	38	D6.5	37.75"
7	34	D6	38"
6	30	D5.5	38-3/8"
5	26	D5	38-6/8"
4	22	D4.5	39-1/8"
2	18	D4	39-3/4"

[driveandputtmachine 106]

Just now, Golferplus1 said:

I play unique lengths and do a poor mans MOI type matching along with testing on the range and with the dry erase marker.   So I start my build as a poor mans DIY MOI match without the expensive scale, then more or less weight is put on the clubs depending upon what I am trying to get to.

 

 

Club	Loft	SW	Length
LW	60	D7.2	36.75"
SW	54	D7.4	37
AW	50	D7.4	37
PW	46	D7.2	37.25"
9	42	D6.8	37.5"
8	38	D6.5	37.75"
7	34	D6	38"
6	30	D5.5	38-3/8"
5	26	D5	38-6/8"
4	22	D4.5	39-1/8"
2	18	D4	39-3/4"

with the help of people far smarter than I, I determined MOI (or close to it) with the headweights and shafts I am using I need .5 SW points between my clubs that are 3/8" in length gaps and .233 in the ones that are 1/4 in gapping.  Now since my scale is not exact(non digital) I end up getting it close and finalizing with foot powder and lead tape on the range.

[Chip Strokes 6,751]

my u500 2 iron has a 100g shaft, which is a big step down from my iron set which has 135g shafts. i’ve been slowly adding lead tape to get to a point where i can feel the head through my swing 

 

[NRJyzr 1,237]

4 hours ago, Chip Strokes said:

my u500 2 iron has a 100g shaft, which is a big step down from my iron set which has 135g shafts. i’ve been slowly adding lead tape to get to a point where i can feel the head through my swing 

 

This is definitely worthy of the Big Stu stamp of approval.  IMHO of course.

Somewhere in his writings, Dave Tutelman proposed an idea for adjustment when making big changes in shaft weight.  If you are playing club X at a good swingweight for you, and you go to a lighter swingweight, his idea is to take 1/3rd of the shaft weight decrease and add it to the clubhead.  In your case, that means adding back about 11-12 grams.

I've been adapting a form of this as I've changed shaft weights in my irons and drivers.  Ongoing experiment 

Edited September 15, 2021 by NRJyzr
because grammar!

[CRW 223]

The pictures in this thread are going to give me nightmares. 
 

For all you sickos that are into this vice:

https://instagram.com/leadtapechronicles?utm_medium=copy_link

[chisag 17,679]

... Whenever possible I try and blend in the lead tape with the cavity like on my KING Tour irons. If not possible I just slap it on the back trying to ride lines. My Bobby Grace 6330 has it on the sole as I like a clean look at address with my putter. 

 

 

[JohnSmalls 6,762]

29 minutes ago, chisag said:

... Whenever possible I try and blend in the lead tape with the cavity like on my KING Tour irons. If not possible I just slap it on the back trying to ride lines. My Bobby Grace 6330 has it on the sole as I like a clean look at address with my putter. 

 

 

I forgot how sweet that Bobby Grace looked at address!

[cwbart 6]

Yes sir, love me some lead tape.  Best invention since the Vardon Flyer!   

[bens197 11,723]

This thread is awesome. 
 

Anyone else load up their 1997 Great Big Bertha with some tape?