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Shafts: trimming, sleeve installation

Nippon Shafts
#Cookie

#Cookie

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I looked through some older threads but failed to find what I was looking for. With more and more golfers experimenting with different shafts in adjustable heads, I think a "how to" thread could help many.

Besides grips, I am a newbie at club building and am still not sure if I will do the work myself or take to a local shop. Likely will go the local shop route, but still have some questions I would like answered.

Situation:

I have a Cobra Amp head and just ordered a JDL shaft (.335 tip) and the appropriate Cobra Amp adapter sleeve that fits the .335 tip.

The shaft is coming in uncut at 46" and I want it to play at 45".

Questions:

Does the sleeve come into play when determining playing length?
How much would I actually cut off the shaft to get proper playing length?
Is it recommended to butt trim or tip trim? What is the impact from each?

I have my own guesses/thoughts on some of these questions but am approaching this with no assumptions made. What else is there that I am not thinking of?
 
Cookie you should be able to put the uncut shaft in the adaptor before you trim. Measure from the tip of the adaptor to the length you want. Trim the butt end of the shaft. Do you have a shaft cutter? I use my dremel with diamond attachment when trimming graphite.
 
Tadashi70 said:
Cookie you should be able to put the uncut shaft in the adaptor before you trim. Measure from the tip of the adaptor to the length you want. Trim the butt end of the shaft. Do you have a shaft cutter? I use my dremel with diamond attachment when trimming graphite.
Click to expand...

Good info on trimming/measuring the shaft, thanks!

I do not have a shaft cutter or Dremel (did but the wife broke it). I have cut one graphite shaft using my Dewalt grinder with a thin disc and it worked pretty well.

Considering that I don't really want to use the grinder on a brand new shaft and don't have any epoxy here, I will likely just pay my local shop $10 and make sure it is done right.
 
Cookie, make sure you tell them how you want it measured. In my experience in having it done, a lot of club builders measure differently, or they dont know what to measure at all. I had a bad experience with my J40 last year, and I wear it ended up playing at 42"
 
War Eagle said:
Cookie, make sure you tell them how you want it measured. In my experience in having it done, a lot of club builders measure differently, or they dont know what to measure at all. I had a bad experience with my J40 last year, and I wear it ended up playing at 42"
Click to expand...

Ouch, that's scary. Assuming there is an industry standard is a big mistake I guess.

Sounds pretty easy from what Tadashi said, just slide into sleeve, measure 45" from sleeve end to butt of shaft and then tell them to cut off anything past the 45" mark.

Makes me wonder if I should go 45.5" just to allow room for error and choke down a bit as I tend to do anyways out of habit with the driver.
 
Great thread cookie, I'm deathly afraid of club making. Maybe this will ease my fears of screwing up and ruining good equipment.
 
Jeanthemachine said:
I shortened a graphite shaft using a hacksaw after taping the area I wanted to cut. I think it turned out fine. Is there a problem with this method?
Click to expand...

Good question Jean and one that I would like to see an answer to as well. At this point I am leaning towards hitting up GolfSmith tonight and getting epoxy and a graphite shaft cutter (if they have one). If they don't have one, I will just head to Lowe's and get a hacksaw with very fine teeth, tape it up, and go to work!

I will use Freddie's advice to measure from sleeve adapter end to desired shaft length and go from there. Will likely leave 1/2" on for "safety" reasons and if all goes well I can always pop the grip off and take off another 1/2".
 
Whenever I have a shaft out in an adapter I give the shop the head as well so they can measure the entire club. Just measuring from the adapter usually didn't turn out well for me.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
JF16 said:
Whenever I have a shaft out in an adapter I give the shop the head as well so they can measure the entire club. Just measuring from the adapter usually didn't turn out well for me.


THPing on Tapatalk
Click to expand...

It's also more stable removing the tip with the head on.


TTing
 
JF16 said:
Whenever I have a shaft out in an adapter I give the shop the head as well so they can measure the entire club. Just measuring from the adapter usually didn't turn out well for me.


THPing on Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That leads back to my question of: "how is the playing length determined?"

Is it:

Shaft length before sleeve goes on
Length of sleeve end to butt end of shaft once shaft is actually in the sleeve
Butt end of shaft to floor when installed in head
 
I thought you would want to measure the shaft in the head to get your correct lenght? If you wanted a R11 to 45" you would have to acount for the 1.5" that the head added to the lenght right? Im not sure how much the AMP head adds, I only have the stock shaft, and really never measured it. If you tipped your new shaft and measured from that 45" putting it on the driver head could add another inch or inch and a half...making it a 46-46.5 driver....
 
Jeanthemachine said:
I shortened a graphite shaft using a hacksaw after taping the area I wanted to cut. I think it turned out fine. Is there a problem with this method?
Click to expand...

Yes, because its a fiberest (if that's a word) material, you may not see it but can end up with linar fractures. You should always use some type og cutoff wheel. Hacksaw is fine for steel shafts.

Sent from my DROID X2
 
prep the tip of the shaft, slide on the adapter, screw in to the head and then measure it. Then I would unscrew the adapter and glue that thing on. When it's cured, measure again and cut with either your grinder, dremel, or chop saw.

The other thing you can do is this....

Do you want it the same length as your other shafts for that driver? If so just line them up and mark the shaft where you need it cut. That's what we did when we prepped all of those B Asha shafts for the tour van stop. Ask buckjob, he saw us get a small handful of shafts ready in a very little amount of time.
 
Great stuff Dean, thanks for that! Recommendations for shaft tip prep? Never done that before.
 
mcook77 said:
Questions:

Does the sleeve come into play when determining playing length? the shaft tip sits approximately 1" inside the sleeve. you would measure from where the sleeve tapers to a thinner diameter.
How much would I actually cut off the shaft to get proper playing length? you would cut the shaft itself to the desired length before you epoxy the sleeve on the tip.
Is it recommended to butt trim or tip trim? What is the impact from each? definitely cut off the butt end. cutting from the tip end, you run the risk of actually making the tip a bigger diameter & it alters the swingweight pretty drastically while also making the shaft more stiff.
Click to expand...

hope this helps! I just reshafted my old R11 over the holidays & it was A LOT easier than I anticipated.
 
mcook77 said:
Great stuff Dean, thanks for that! Recommendations for shaft tip prep? Never done that before.
Click to expand...

Sand it lightly. Want some abrasive to grip the epoxy.
 
mcook77 said:
Great stuff Dean, thanks for that! Recommendations for shaft tip prep? Never done that before.
Click to expand...

you just want to sand the paint off of it. Lightly do it with some sandpaper. Don't need to go crazy with it.
 
Thanks for all of the great info everyone! Will be giving this a go myself hopefully over the next 2 days or so as everything arrives. Will report back how it goes.
 
good luck buddy. It's pretty easy. You know how to get a hold of me if you need to
 
mcook77 said:
That leads back to my question of: "how is the playing length determined?"

Is it:

Shaft length before sleeve goes on
Length of sleeve end to butt end of shaft once shaft is actually in the sleeve
Butt end of shaft to floor when installed in head
Click to expand...

Playing length is determined from the entire club. The way I look at it, whatever part of the adapter is not visible when the club is assembled doesn't count towards playing length because the hosel of the head makes up that length. Butt of the shaft down to the center of the club face where it hits the floor is playing length.


THPing on Tapatalk
 
How difficult is it to remove an adapter without causing any damages? I would love to remove the Zstar adapter on the stock shaft and try to use it on another shaft. Do I just try a low heat with a heat gun and pull as gently as possible?
 
Cookie, you will love doing this. I didn't do my 910 because I hadn't messed with the adapters yet. But a few years ago, I did build my old man a driver and it was a pretty fun process to go through. A Dremel would probably work just fine to cut the graphite, but if you don't have access to one, a hacksaw with a fine tooth blade will be fine. Just wrap where you are cutting in a few wraps of masking tape. That guards against fraying the graphite fibers when you are cutting. That's how I have always done it and I only use the Dremel to cut steel shafts. A fine grit sand paper will be all you need to prep the tip. Something to rough up the tip so the epoxy gets a better bond. The biggest problem I ever have is setting the ferrule at the correct depth. But The Golfworks has a handy little tool to help with this, I have just yet to invest in one. Once you do one, you will wonder why the hell you ever paid anyone to do this.
 
Howzat said:
How difficult is it to remove an adapter without causing any damages? I would love to remove the Zstar adapter on the stock shaft and try to use it on another shaft. Do I just try a low heat with a heat gun and pull as gently as possible?
Click to expand...

With graphite its pretty difficult if not almost impossible without a puller. Reason being, the adapter, just like if it were just a driver head, MUST come STRAIGHT off. Any twisting whatsoever, even a small bit, the graphite can split and fray during removal rendering the shaft basically useless. With steel, no puller necessary, with graphite its a must IMO to be safe. Even then when I was learning I still ruined a couple of shafts even with my puller.
 
Howzat said:
How difficult is it to remove an adapter without causing any damages? I would love to remove the Zstar adapter on the stock shaft and try to use it on another shaft. Do I just try a low heat with a heat gun and pull as gently as possible?
Click to expand...

I would take it to a shop to have it removed...


Just tap it in, just tap it in.
 
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