How Steel Shafts Are Made

[GolfSpy_X]

There are two primary ways to manufacture steel golf shafts. One is called "seemless" construction; the other is "welded tube" construction.

 

A seamless steel shaft starts life as a large cylinder of solid steel. The cylinder is heated and pierced with a special machine, turning the solid steel log into a large, thick-walled tube. Over a series of stretching operations on very specialized machines called draw benches, the large, thick tube is gradually reduced in diameter and wall thickness to become a thin-walled steel tube five-eighths of an inch in diameter. These shaft "blanks," as they are called, are then subjected to a series of squeezing operations that form the individual sections of diameter reduction called the "step-downs" on the shaft.

 

A welded tube construction steel shaft begins as a flat strip of steel that is coiled and welded into a tube. The welding procedure is quite different than what most people are used to seeing. Through what is called high-frequency welding, the two ends of the coiled strip are literally fused together without the presence of a second, different material as in the case of most welding. A special machine then removes the excess metal from the outside and inside of the welded tube in a procedure called "skiving." Once formed, the tube is stretched down to the required 5/8-inch outer diameter in the same procedures used in the forming of the seamless steel shaft, with the step-downs formed in the same manner as well.

 

Once formed into the step pattern dictated by each individual shaft design, the raw steel shafts are heat treated, straightened and then nickel-chrome electroplated to prevent rusting.

[xxio]

Which one is a more consistent production method?

[MmmmmmBuddy]

Which one is a more consistent production method?

I woud think that the seemless method would yield a mone consistant product, but I could be wrong.

[TWShoot67]

Which one is a more consistent production method?

 

 

I woud think that the seemless method would yield a mone consistant product, but I could be wrong.

 

It would seem (no pun intended) that the seamless would be the more consistent better shaft in my opinion, but I'm not in that industry and never really checked into it. But as time has progressed to where we use more and more products to make shafts I can see a day where it will all be some form of graphite. Because with a weld there is always a weak point in my opinion. I'm a master plumber by trade and a certified welder as it is a part of my training during my 5 year union apprenticeship before you become a journeyman. Then it's another 2 years minimum to try and pass the Masters test. You have this thing called porosity when you weld which leaves very very small spaces that were/are not properly welded like air pockets or dirt debris getting into the joint. It happens. I don't know how controlled the areas where the welding is being done at any of the finer shaft making plants. I'm sure now the equipment is so high tech that they are all computer controlled and programed. I think it would be nice to see a video of these operations being performed, but maybe that's just me. Then maybe we can interview an actual operator (person) who works these machines. It would also be nice to meet an individual who's say the chief inspector or QC (quality control) as to the tolerances and how tight these tolerances are? Because it seems to me that they just pump these shafts out at some places and there's many that are not properly marked as to flex. Maybe that's a QC area and maybe there's just not enough money to get the shafts dead on but I've been seeing many shafts that are stamped one flex and they are another. I don't want to jump on this industry but I'm glad this topic has been brought up. I don't know how many club builders are in MGS Forum, but I've been noticing many shafts misrepresented in the flex category. Now I've only had maybe had five or ten shafts in my 20 years of golfing that have actually failed during a swing which is good news I would say. But flex specifications suck! Now if I worked or owned a TOUR VAN I'm sure I'd be getting the pick of the litter. Heck there's even one shaft that comes to mind, it's called the TT DG TOUR X7 that supposedly they take 100 shafts and sort to get 10 matching frequency shafts. Now if they do this for the tour why not for us? What gives?

[JohnBarry]

Very interesting read, always take things like this for granted.