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Jim,
I'm not a big fan of filament wound shafts in drivers, but if you want
graphite shafts in your irons, I can recommend the $6.30 each/ten Hireko
filament wound Powerflex FW-501 shafts, 81-83 grams, 3.0 torque (I
think) in an R/S combo. Only three out of 10 shafts had spines over
.006", or about 1 cpm, and these were .013", .015" and .016", or about 3 cpm.
They play as well or better, maybe a bit smoother, than my $15 Apache
PM-30+. The Apaches are about the same raw weight and were all
frequency matched at 275 cpm raw and trimmed to recommended increments. I
matched the Powerflex by deflection and trimmed accordingly to +/- .002" (about
1/2 cpm). Color is black with silver flecks and looks very good with a Hireko
ferrule with two silver rings. Shaft graphics are red and white, not aligned
with spine or NBP. Used a black with silver stripe sofftee-style grip.
There are lots of good heads out there. I used Low Pro's $6.95
Tech Power Pro Perimeter because they are a very clean, slightly delofted (46�
PW), low offset, blade-like cavity back which is a look I like and am used to
playing...similar to the Chicago 944 heads which I have on the Apaches. PP lofts
were all very close to spec, head weights not as close...a couple grams plus or
minus, which required some tip weighting. Very good quality for the price,
I think, and feel as good as any forged head I've tried lately. Hireko's Acer
XDS2 Pros have a "Callaway look" and a very good reputation, too. Golf Broker
sells the Pros for $5.55, if I remember correctly. Just find a head with
the specs, steel composition, and look you want. Same for the shaft.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 4:25
PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Expensive vs
inexpensive components
thanks bernie, i pretty much have everything i
need to build clubs, mitchell digiflex,
steel club shaft puller, gs loft and lie machine, scotland loft lie guage and
a gs swingweight scale, not to mention cutoff saw etc, etc... ive been working
for about two years but i wasnt real serious until i picked up the digiflex
and after listening to you guys i have figured out that flex and torque are
the main consideration these days. i am currently working on a set of mars
v1969 and apollo balistik shafts, on my attempt at frequency matching i
hit my target frequency and had only two clubs that were out by 1 cpm. swing
weight was right on at d-1 after i removed some weight from two heads. it
is a lot more time consuming to frequency match a set of irons but the
finished product is way better than any set off the rack at your local pro
shop. could you recommend any components? thanks - Jim
Letourneau ----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003 3:16
PM
Subject: ShopTalk: Expensive vs
inexpensive components
Even if you are a good amateur, I'm not sure you do get what you pay
for when you purchase expensive components...unless you are purchasing the
brand name. With only a few tools, you might be able to build a set of
irons for about $15 a club that will look almost as good and play as well or
better than anything five times the price. But to do it, you need a
swingweight scale, a gram scale and a way to measure shaft consistency and
flex, whether by frequency of deflection. The S/W scale is $50-$90, gram
scale about $25 (digital postal scale) and my DIY Neufinder2 deflection
shaft matching machine about $100. I guess I'd add an inexpensive chop saw
($25-$40) to make trim increments a lot easier.
There are companies which make inexpensive-medium priced shafts, like
SK Fiber, whose specs are dead on and whose performance is excellent. You
can find proprietary shafts from several component suppliers which are
as good and even less money. Some suppliers will hand sort head weights for
you (at least they come very close).
I just finished a set for under $15 a club that plays better for me
than any set I've ever hit at any price. They hit solid, straight and
long. Yes, I knew what flex the shafts had to be to within .025" deflection,
or about 1/2 a flex, I knew the slope that worked the best for me and I knew
the length which gave me a correct lie for my swing. I weighed
everything, adjusted heads ($6.95) for a swingweight of D3 across the
set (came within 0.6 of a point across 9 irons, D2.9-D3.5). Flex of .446" (a
mid-low R on my NF2) was my baseline and all others were matched to it +/-
.002" on a 3/8" slope. I aligned them NBP-COG, though the filament wound
shafts ($6.30 each) were so consistent that they probably didn't need
any particular alignment. (Incidentally, if you haven't tried this alignment
on irons, I highly recommend it. I haven't hit wedges this straight in the
last 10 years...every shot is dead on where I aim it. Now, if I could just
get the distance right....) Grips were a buck...kind of like a Players
Softee...comfortable and good grip in any weather (I use a "cloth-type"
glove), and this type grip is the easiest to put on and take off
of any I've tried.
If you don't need to show off any particular logo, and if you know what
you are buying and where to get it, you can make great sticks for little
money. If you buy highly advertised and hyped brands, you can count on
paying 40%-80% extra for their marketing costs. Funny thing is that in
analyzing the consistency of most of the more expensive components, I find
they often aren't as well made as the inexpensive ones...shafts in
particular.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2003
12:03 PM
Subject: Re: ShopTalk: mars iron
components
In a message dated 10/4/03 11:25:12 AM Eastern Daylight
Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
Hi dan, Ive been hearing a lot of talk about the wishon
components, would you consider them over any other component lines
available?
Wishon heads are "pretty", weights and
other specs. are dead on. Weight ports allow for customizing. Other than
KZG (which cost more) I would highly recommend Wishon components.
There are other "good" components but you will have to do more work on
them to get a really good set of irons out of them. The adage "you get
what you pay for" is very true here. Depends on your building skill and
your inventory of tools.
Arnie
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