Toura Golf Irons Build Test: 2024 Forum Review

[JRDuck40]

4 hours ago, ejgaudette said:

This has been an amazing follow and love seeing the creativity folks are bringing to this test. @azstu324 that work to get the MGS logo on there is so cool and not something I ever thought as something folks at home could do. @JRDuck40 has me wanting to paint some shafts to add a nice pop of color to the clubs. Keep the amazing content coming.

It wasn't all that horrid to do. Just time consuming is all. But I find this as my zen. Love to mess around in the garage. Just need to add a few more layers of epoxy / clear coat to ensure the paint locks in. I gave it a scratch test this am before I left for the office and there was a little stick / chip that come off near where I would install grips. Hopefully that adheres a little better the longer it sits. Also, we finally have some dry weather today. I'm going to have them bake in the sun for a few hours and hopefully that helps cure the paint a little more. 

Now just need to get the heads stamped, paint filled, installed with ferrules, install grips and start the real fun part. GOLFING!

[JRDuck40]

10 hours ago, azstu324 said:

Ok made some really good progress today. Got all the heads etched and 3 fully blued (black). I actually re did the 1st 2 and they came so much better! The 3rd is currently in an oil soak for the night. I hope to get 2 more blued before I call it a night, then the remaining 2 tomorrow. Thennnnn I have to figure out my paint fill scheme and figure out if I can actually pull that off. Thinking Copper MGS emblem and silver club #. I'm still undecided if I want to paint the Spy #. 

I apologize that I haven't yet posted my intro to building video yet. I decided that I actually want to get to the part where I'm actually ready to build so that may be this weekend. So far though, everything's coming along as planned. 

Stu... this is so legit cool. We will need to do a video chat so you can teach me this. I'd love to do this to some wedges / irons in the future. Some legit craftsmanship going on here. 

[David Leighton Reid]

On 5/7/2024 at 9:33 AM, ctg44 said:

it's looking like David and I will be fighting for 3rd place in this build contest! 

After seeing this amazing customization, I am just hoping for an honorable mention!  

[Northern Monkey]

Gents this is awesome so far. You’re doing a fantastic job and the results are incredible. I can’t wait to see them all finished 

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, JRDuck40 said:

Stu... this is so legit cool. We will need to do a video chat so you can teach me this. I'd love to do this to some wedges / irons in the future. Some legit craftsmanship going on here. 

So I plan to do a walkthrough of the bluing process on my last head but I'd definitely be down for a video chat too once this is all over. It's definitely a learning curve that I'm figuring out as I go. The great thing is that you can redo anything that doesn't quite turn out as expected. 

The BIG question is durability. It looks great but it will be interesting to see if it holds up as good or better than PVD. IMO PVD is the industry low standard for black coating so I'm hoping for that at the least lol. 

[azstu324]

33 minutes ago, David Leighton Reid said:

After seeing this amazing customization, I am just hoping for an honorable mention!  

Hey man IMO a clean and proper build is just as impressive as all of this fancy mumbo jumbo. 

This is just me pushing myself WAY past my comfort zone. There's no better way to learn something quickly and correctly than under pressure like this. It's both educational and completely terrifying at the same time. My next hurdle will be the paint fill, which I've done plenty of, but nothing with this kind of detail. Worst case is that I leave everything black.. but that would just be too easy

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, JRDuck40 said:

It wasn't all that horrid to do. Just time consuming is all. But I find this as my zen. Love to mess around in the garage. Just need to add a few more layers of epoxy / clear coat to ensure the paint locks in. I gave it a scratch test this am before I left for the office and there was a little stick / chip that come off near where I would install grips. Hopefully that adheres a little better the longer it sits. Also, we finally have some dry weather today. I'm going to have them bake in the sun for a few hours and hopefully that helps cure the paint a little more. 

Now just need to get the heads stamped, paint filled, installed with ferrules, install grips and start the real fun part. GOLFING!

Yo this is next level for me! I'm really curious how the paint holds up after shaft flexing and pulling in and out of the bag. 

Are you using any specific kind of paint? 

This whole thing has been pretty friggin awesome! 

[JRDuck40]

1 minute ago, azstu324 said:

Yo this is next level for me! I'm really curious how the paint holds up after shaft flexing and pulling in and out of the bag. 

Are you using any specific kind of paint? 

This whole thing has been pretty friggin awesome! 

Nothing too special. Did the primer base coat and then hit it with this stuff. Rust-Oleum Satin Protective Enamel. I'm also hitting it with a top coat of clear coat enamel as well to lock it in. I'll probably do at least 3 to 4 passes of that. Hit it last night and with all the moisture in the air the shafts kept falling from the hanging. I'm going to get them strung back up later on tonight to hit them a few more times before I start the process again. I currently have them all outside drying as it is beautiful out and temps are going to be in the 70s today in MKE. 

I'm doing all of this process to hopefully have them hold up for a while VS having to re-paint a ton of times. My biggest concern right now is grip install. I may sand the butt ends down as well to ensure that I have a clean and slip free surface to have the grip tape to adhere to. 

Fun times

JRD

[JRDuck40]

1 hour ago, David Leighton Reid said:

After seeing this amazing customization, I am just hoping for an honorable mention!  

Everyone is doing an amazing job. Can't wait to see the finished product. The heads and ferrules shipped will be great looking no matter what you guys do! 

JRD

[David Leighton Reid]

I just posted an update in my main post.

UST Recoil 95 shafts painted....check.

Toura CB heads paint fill.....check

Next step is to start assembly!

[azstu324]

1 hour ago, David Leighton Reid said:

I just posted an update in my main post.

UST Recoil 95 shafts painted....check.

Toura CB heads paint fill.....check

Next step is to start assembly!

Love the repaint on the shafts! Did you have that in mind before we started or was that "inspired" by our shenanigans? I love that we're pushing each other to turn out the best possible versions of what these things can be! This is by far my most favorite MGS testing to date! We're all truly putting in hard work for the rewards and I think that's pretty fantastic! 

Edited May 9 by azstu324

[David Leighton Reid]

1 hour ago, azstu324 said:

Love the repaint on the shafts! Did you have that in mind before we started or was that "inspired" by our shenanigans? I love that we're pushing each other to turn out the best possible versions of what these things can be! This is by far my most favorite MGS testing to date! We're all truly putting in hard work for the rewards and I think that's pretty fantastic! 

Thanks Stu!  Actually, yes, you guys inspired me to do something extra.  
 

Here’s a sneak peek…..the heads have been installed.  

Edited May 9 by David Leighton Reid

[JRDuck40]

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

[Josh Parker]

38 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

Brutal!

[Willie T]

43 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

Uggggghhhhh!  Have had it happen on non-golf projects in the past….yup, sand it smooth and refinish….

[JRDuck40]

I was damn near ready to drop gasoline, light a match and watch it burn. I WAS SOOOO PO'd. 

But after thinking about it. It just means MORE content for you all. So win / win... And more time in the garage. 

My wife is such a patient human being. Too bad it's Mother's Day this Sunday. I'll be in the garage honey. Lol 

[ctg44]

23 hours ago, David Leighton Reid said:

After seeing this amazing customization, I am just hoping for an honorable mention!  

Ya know, just being selected in the first place was enough of an honorable mention for me at this point!  I'm hoping to provide the MGS family a complete picture of data from a ton of simulator time, since I don't have quite the tools or skill sets either of JR or Stu have.  I know I'm have a lot of fun with this process, and I just hope the readers are having as much fun following along with us.  I'll have an update on some more Toura CB iron testing today, and tomorrow, I'm burning a little of my 16 hours of flex time and hitting the actual golf course for the first time in over a month (at least our home course anyway), so I'll so my best to have my son take some video on the course and will work to get some on-course data with my SwingU  app to share.

[Northern Monkey]

2 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

[TJ Hall]

2 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

NOOOOOOO!!!!!

[azstu324]

Update:

Was able to get all of the club heads finished. I've got a bunch of videos covering the bluing process that I need to edit and combine. Some of the heads might need to be run through one or two more times as they just didn't get the deep black that I'm looking for. If I was going for something like a very dark bronze they would definitely look cool. This has been a very fun and educational process and definitely something I would encourage anyone to try out. I would even consider doing fewer runs through the process to go for a bronze look but in this case I want a pretty rich black. 

I'm hoping to have the video put together and uploaded in the next day or so. My ultimate goal is to have all of the heads completely finished including paint fill by this weekend and then take the day off mother's Day (as is required for all husbands everywhere lest we be stricken down and infected with the plague ) then the real fun begins next week when I start the build process. I'm hoping to have the clubs fully built out and ready to play and test by the end of next week. 

 

[azstu324]

3 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

Man that hurts in my soul! I feel for you

[TSauer]

3 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD

That is no bueno... 

Just curious, did you ever think about going with heat shrink, similar to what Shaft Wraps does? 

[ctg44]

Gratuitous self-promotion....I posted a few updates, and several links to more shot data and photos of my final build in my main thread here:
 

Thanks to everyone for joining along in our project!

[JRDuck40]

7 minutes ago, TSauer said:

That is no bueno... 

Just curious, did you ever think about going with heat shrink, similar to what Shaft Wraps does? 

I did not. That's not a bad idea if the paint is not working out. Thanks for the tip!

[ctg44]

Just now, JRDuck40 said:

I did not. That's not a bad idea if the paint is not working out. Thanks for the tip!

Also, if you can't get a gloss paint to stick, you might be able to get a high-bond primer to stick and remain durable, but you'd be left with a matte coating.  In the last hour or so while waiting for my boss to finish another meeting and while editing my post, I've been thinking about your problem, and I've had to use this before on tools when I used to work for my Dad's mechanical contracting company.  Anything shiny would eventually peel off, but we could usually get a matte primer coating to remain pretty durable long-term on all kinds of metal surfaces.  Sanding with a rougher paper and making sure there's no residue or grease is going to be another key for you, as I'm sure you're aware.  

I also used this for a recent project at work where we had to redo a emergency radio broadcast tower after a tornado, and needed to ensure it was rust-proof in 1 shot.  We used the steel-gray version.  Unfortunately, there's no white, but you could go with this in black and that could look SOOOOOOO good too with these irons.  Yeah, that's a big change, but this stuff is very (VERY) durable) and won't likely be affected by bag chatter at all:  https://steel-it.com/products/polyurethane-aerosol?variant=33139291390061

[TSauer]

14 minutes ago, JRDuck40 said:

I did not. That's not a bad idea if the paint is not working out. Thanks for the tip!

No problemo! I just checked their site for the plain colors, only $7 a pop. Of course, you may be able to just buy a big roll somewhere and trim it how you please. Here's a link in case you decide to ditch the paint. 

Shaft Wraps

[JRDuck40]

29 minutes ago, TSauer said:

No problemo! I just checked their site for the plain colors, only $7 a pop. Of course, you may be able to just buy a big roll somewhere and trim it how you please. Here's a link in case you decide to ditch the paint. 

Shaft Wraps

 

38 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

Also, if you can't get a gloss paint to stick, you might be able to get a high-bond primer to stick and remain durable, but you'd be left with a matte coating.  In the last hour or so while waiting for my boss to finish another meeting and while editing my post, I've been thinking about your problem, and I've had to use this before on tools when I used to work for my Dad's mechanical contracting company.  Anything shiny would eventually peel off, but we could usually get a matte primer coating to remain pretty durable long-term on all kinds of metal surfaces.  Sanding with a rougher paper and making sure there's no residue or grease is going to be another key for you, as I'm sure you're aware.  

I also used this for a recent project at work where we had to redo a emergency radio broadcast tower after a tornado, and needed to ensure it was rust-proof in 1 shot.  We used the steel-gray version.  Unfortunately, there's no white, but you could go with this in black and that could look SOOOOOOO good too with these irons.  Yeah, that's a big change, but this stuff is very (VERY) durable) and won't likely be affected by bag chatter at all:  https://steel-it.com/products/polyurethane-aerosol?variant=33139291390061

You guys rock! Thank you for the suggestions. I'll dive into this a little later on tonight when I have a minute to investigate. 

[TSauer]

44 minutes ago, ctg44 said:

Also, if you can't get a gloss paint to stick, you might be able to get a high-bond primer to stick and remain durable, but you'd be left with a matte coating.  In the last hour or so while waiting for my boss to finish another meeting and while editing my post, I've been thinking about your problem, and I've had to use this before on tools when I used to work for my Dad's mechanical contracting company.  Anything shiny would eventually peel off, but we could usually get a matte primer coating to remain pretty durable long-term on all kinds of metal surfaces.  Sanding with a rougher paper and making sure there's no residue or grease is going to be another key for you, as I'm sure you're aware.  

I also used this for a recent project at work where we had to redo a emergency radio broadcast tower after a tornado, and needed to ensure it was rust-proof in 1 shot.  We used the steel-gray version.  Unfortunately, there's no white, but you could go with this in black and that could look SOOOOOOO good too with these irons.  Yeah, that's a big change, but this stuff is very (VERY) durable) and won't likely be affected by bag chatter at all:  https://steel-it.com/products/polyurethane-aerosol?variant=33139291390061

Going to echo this as well. I don't recall what your prep work consisted of @JRDuck40, but if you end up sanding them all down and restarting, you might hit them with some Rustoleum Self-Etching primer. When I painted my golf cart a couple of years ago, I used that on the aluminum supports before putting on my top coat and they have held up great over the years... and let me tell ya, I'm in the woods a lot 

[JRDuck40]

1 minute ago, TSauer said:

Going to echo this as well. I don't recall what your prep work consisted of @JRDuck40, but if you end up sanding them all down and restarting, you might hit them with some Rustoleum Self-Etching primer. When I painted my golf cart a couple of years ago, I used that on the aluminum supports before putting on my top coat and they have held up great over the years... and let me tell ya, I'm in the woods a lot 

Sanded, cleaned and hit with primer before paint. I'm assuming the high gloss epoxy along with the moisture in the air caused the run / flaking on the paint. 

Thanks for the suggestion though! 

JRD

[Shrek74]

4 hours ago, JRDuck40 said:

**UPDATE***

 

There are SOOOOOO many 4 letter words that come to mind. I will keep that to myself for the time being.  

As previously mentioned, I was planning on hitting the shafts with a clear coat epoxy. I did this yesterday evening after I returned home. That, along with the humidity because it will never stop raining this week apparently, caused the flaking you see here. I will be hitting the shafts with the belt sander and RE-PAINTING. 
Onward. :.( 

JRD