All, As embarrassing as this is, I have to admit that after 10+ years of clubmaking (as a hobbiest), I made a complete rookie error, TWICE!!!! Here is my sad tale...
Last season, I decided to build a "super" 3-wood, as I was struggling to hit my 45", 10* loft, Purefit driver. After checking around at what was available, I ordered up a 14* BOM 401cc Slupski and a SK Fiber Tour Trac 90 R flex shaft from Tim Hewitt at myostrichgolf. The goal was to build a 44" driver with a higher loft to help maximize distance from my pathetic 95 MPH driver swing. When the head (and shaft) arrived, it was marked with the actual loft (13*) and the weight (197.5 grams). Since I was VERY anxious to try this baby out, I dry fit the head and shaft together (at full insertion = 2.75"), cut to length, and checked the swingweight (ungripped). It was a surprisingly low D6 or so (can't remember exactly, but swingweight calculator estimated E0-E1 ungripped), so I just popped an 8 gram wood tip weight into the bottom of the bore, and a 4 gram tip weight up the shaft (which left a 1.5" insertion depth), tipped the shaft 1.25", and glued her up. Final gripped swingweight was around D2-D3. I posted here and on a couple of other forums about the low swingweight, but became convinced that it was mainly due to the weight distribution of the SK Fiber shaft. I played the club for about 1/2 the season with very good success, but decided that I would try a different shaft, as the SK Fiber felt a tad soft on aggressive swings. Since I was going to reshaft, and after a small problem getting the head off and scorching the finish a tad, I decided to send the head to CCC for a custom Illini orange and Blue refinish. I looked into a bunch of shaft options, and decided on an R flex Apache/MCC 110 MFS shaft. I ordered the shaft, got it in the shop, and did some testing. I decided on a 2" insertion for the BOM, and then waited for the head. After about 2.5 months (Jim is VERY busy at CCC now), I got the head last night. What an awesome job by Jim, but I'll post about that later with pics. Anyway, I was again VERY anxious to get this sucker together, so I dry fit the club, butt trimmed the shaft to a total length of 44.5", and checked the swingweight to see if I needed to add weight. To my delight, and mild surprise, it was E8 ungripped, which would mean about D8-E0 gripped (BTW, frequency was 257 at 5" ungripped, and 245 at 3.25" ungripped = Brunswick on my GS meter). I plugged the bottom 0.75" of bore with cotton, and glued that baby up. After the epxoy set for about 3 hours (I use Conap which hardens enough to mess with the club in 3 hours), I rechecked the swingweight and frequency (same as before), decided to take a 1/4" off the butt to get to around D6 finished swingweight, and threw on the Sharpro grip from custom golf sales. I was so proud of that baby at that moment, and then I put it on the swingweight scale....... Wait a minute, the finished club wasn't D6-D8 as planned, it was C8!!!!! How the h--- did that happen!!!! It was then I realized that the ungripped swingweight I had measured was D8 NOT E8. Something still did not makes sense, even as the panic of screwing up my totally custom club washed over me. My swingweight calculator had estimated a finished swingweight of D5.5 with a 198 gram head, a 110 gram, 46" raw shaft, and finished length of 44.5", which is why I hadn't thought much of the ungripped reading of E8 (should have been around E6 based on the swingweight calculator). Why was this club so off? It then dawned on me that I have NEVER actually measured the weight of the head!!! What an idiot!!! I work in a scientific field, so I have always just measured my heads on the digital gram scales at work, and haven't bothered to buy my own scale. Since I was in such a hurry BOTH times with this head, I didn't take the extra time to bring the club to work and weigh the head. Also, many of the component companies now put raw weight stickers on the heads, and I have always found them to be accurate in the past. Unfortunately, the only explanation for my problems with this head is that it must actually weigh around 190 grams, not 198 grams. That would explain the low swingweight BOTH times I have shafted this club. Oh well, live and learn, and break out the lead tape (added enough to get the swingweight to D4 now). Moral of the story: Don't be in such a hurry to play your new club that you skip CRITICAL steps in the build process (especially twice)!!!!!
