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Tip trimming question

Nippon Shafts
badolds

badolds

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I am building a 44.5" shaft for my Triton. The shaft is 46" uncut and would play at 47" once installed uncut. The manufacturer's tip trimming instructions say not to cut the tip when installing in a driver. I will be cutting 2.5" from the butt end if I do not tip it. I have heard that a shaft plays a little softer flex wise when it is butt cut.

I am wondering if I should tip it a half inch or so to compensate for making the driver play at 44.5 inch. The shaft is a Graffaloy Prolaunch red which has a stiff tip if that makes a difference. Luckily the Triton has plenty of adjustability to get the swing weight back around D-2 after shortening it an inch from standard length.

Does the manufacturers tip trimming instructions take into account that many people play them shorter than 45.5 -46 inches?
 
Interesting. I have never heard that cutting it from the butt end makes it softer. Club builder I regularly go to always said that every .5” cut from the tip makes it roughly half a flex stiffer.


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badolds said:
I am building a 44.5" shaft for my Triton. The shaft is 46" uncut and would play at 47" once installed uncut. The manufacturer's tip trimming instructions say not to cut the tip when installing in a driver. I will be cutting 2.5" from the butt end if I do not tip it. I have heard that a shaft plays a little softer flex wise when it is butt cut.

I am wondering if I should tip it a half inch or so to compensate for making the driver play at 44.5 inch. The shaft is a Graffaloy Prolaunch red which has a stiff tip if that makes a difference. Luckily the Triton has plenty of adjustability to get the swing weight back around D-2 after shortening it an inch from standard length.

Does the manufacturers tip trimming instructions take into account that many people play them shorter than 45.5 -46 inches?
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From my adventures with shaft installation and tip trimming, I have tip trimmed driver shafts up to 1". To me, it makes the shaft a little stiffer towards the tip but not enough that I notice it too much. I butt trim all my driver shafts to 44.5" - 45". I don't know about manufacturer guidlines. It is just something I play around with when I install a shaft. I will usually install without tip trimming when I feel like I have the right flex and shaft makeup.

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I think manufacturers recommendation will all be different, but generally I’ve seen straight in for drivers, then 0.5” for 3 woods, 0.75”, 1” for subsequent woods.

However, I also think it’s really all about personal preference and profiles, tempo, etc. I’ve hit some drivers that have been 0.5” tipped and they felt better than straight in. Other times, I’ve had to go straight in even with 3 wood shafts because of how beastly the profiles were.

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I tried a Prolaunch Red in a HW 3 or 4 years ago and thought it felt pretty boardy. I believe the tip trimming instructions for a wood of that loft called for 1". Ended up sending it to Captain Frank. You may want to try it straight in at say 45" before tipping it any.
 
the butt section is the stiffest part of a shaft... cutting off a part of this section would in theory make the shaft feel softer, however this is counteracted by having less shaft to flex

although if the Triton really is a 1" BBGM you shouldn't really need to tip cut for a 44.5" install

once again, no standards! I find the easy way to think of BBGM is to remember where the non-parallel section of the shaft starts in relation to the ground. If we have 2 identical heads with 2 identically tipped shafts, the shaft that sits closer to the ground will feel stiffer IF the final install playing length is the same (remember lower bore in relation to the ground means more shaft butt end retained)
 
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Shaft flex is based on the assumption you follow the manufactures trim guide. If you tip it it will be stiffer, if you but trim it will play to flex.
 
ChristopherKee said:
Shaft flex is based on the assumption you follow the manufactures trim guide. If you tip it it will be stiffer, if you but trim it will play to flex.
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I was hoping this to be the case. It is a relief to know I can install the shaft per the manufactures recommendation and not have to worry about removing the adapter and tipping it later.
 
Most shaft manufacturers will have some guidance on how to prep shafts prior to install. usually I've seen some tip trimming is recommended and shouldn't affect the flex at all. it's been a while, but iirc Graffaloy red didnt recommend tip trimming for a 45" driver set up. Going to 44.5" like you want to shouldn't affect it too much.
 
mikeg_74 said:
Most shaft manufacturers will have some guidance on how to prep shafts prior to install. usually I've seen some tip trimming is recommended and shouldn't affect the flex at all. it's been a while, but iirc Graffaloy red didnt recommend tip trimming for a 45" driver set up. Going to 44.5" like you want to shouldn't affect it too much.
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It has a firm tip as it is so I will install it without tip trimming it. I have the UST Mamiya PROFORCE GOLD XX on the way for forum testing so I want to experiment with this shaft before I start cutting on the UST.
 
I have iron heads and will be doing the shafts for them. I already do my grips, so this will be my first set of shafts. thanks you all for the discussion on this
 
You don't tip trim for driver headed, just butt trimm for desired length after you install the shaft, never trim before hand the most accurate way is to install the shaft and then use aruler and Mark your desired length and then cut, make sure your compensate for the butt cap off your grip 1/16 to 1/4 inch

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Thank you all for the help. I installed the shaft with no tip trimming and cut it to 44.5" playing length. With a standard CP2 grip and the same weight bias I was playing before it swing weights right at D-4.
 
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