Q:  How do you get the ferrule to match the hosel closely enough to not see the epoxy?

A:  There are two tricks here. The first is in making sure the ferrule matches closely before you epoxy. This means you need to have extra ferrules as spares in case you goof one up. Ferrules aren't perfect, and neither are hosels, so occasionally you'll have one that just doesn't seat correctly.

The other trick is to use black epoxy. Many epoxies today already are colored; it used to be up the clubmaker to use "paste dispersion" to color it, but it's simpler to just use the commercial clubmaking epoxies that are already colored black.

If you're careful in fitting the ferrule to the hosel, and use black epoxy, you'll be hard pressed to even see the epoxy at all, and it gives a very nice finish. Then it's only a matter of finishing the ferrule with a belt sander with a linen belt, and some acetone.

Q:   How do you hold the head in place when you align the shaft to the clubhead prior to epoxying?

A:  You need something to create friction between the clubhead and the shaft. I use monofilament fishing line tucked into the end of the shaft and extended the length of the hosel up the shaft. Different test lines will fill different voids between shaft and hosel. Once I have the shaft and head lined up properly, I use small pieces of masking tape to create alignment marks, like so:

[Note: Take special care to keep the tape far enough away from the hosel/ferrule junction that you don't smear any epoxy on it when wiping off any excess during assembly. If you smear epoxy up to the tape you can't remove all of it without removing the tape, which eliminates one of your alignment marks!]

The fishline trick is also useful for fixing the head in place to examine the frequency of a club before I finish it.

Q:  How do you trim golf shafts?

A:  For steel shafts, I often use a tubing cutter (with the special hardened wheel) as you see sold in the component catalogs. It's a nice clean cut, easy to use, and automatically eliminates the burr on the end of the shaft.

For graphite, I use a Dremel-type tool (mine's Ryobi) with a nylon cutting wheel. While you can use this method to cut a shaft without wrapping it with masking tape first, it's better to use the tape, in my experience.

I also use a larger cutoff wheel for both graphite and steel.

Q:  How do you remove a grip so you can re-use it?

A:  I use a grip removal tool such as is sold by Golfsmith (others have used small rods with the ends rounded off to do the same thing). Click here to see how that works.

Ordinarily, when replacing grips I just cut them off, but if I'm checking a club to determine the frequency for matching purposes, I need to remove the grip. Using the above method, I can remove and replace an OEM grip or almost any grip for that matter. The exception (there is always an exception, isn't there?) is any grip with an underlisting, like Winn grips or the new Lampkin Dual Density grips.

Q:  How do you measure the length of a club?

A:  There are, unfortunately, probably a half-dozen ways to measure a golf club. One of the most accepted methods, though, is to place the club in playing position with the sole squarely grounded. Then place a metal ruler behind the shaft, down behind the heel of the clubhead (like this). The length is indicated to the end of the grip cap.

Tips

Tip: One problem with aligning shafts is keeping the shaft in position as the epoxy cures. I solve that by using a small amount of Golfworks "QuikCenter" shafting flakes sprinkled on the shaft's epoxy immediately prior to inserting the shaft into the hosel. This creates just enough friction between shaft and hosel walls that the shaft will stay where I orient it.

[There's a side benefit to using beads/flakes I've discovered. I always prep the insides of hosels by using rolled-up sandpaper on an arbor; it creates scratches inside the hosel that epoxy fills and more easily grips. Think of the little fingers on velcro gripping the loops; it's similar. The beads/flakes act like little fingers adding to the strength of the bond as they stick down into the scratches. I've found it's harder to remove shafts from heads I've done this with, which means the shaft is even more secure than it otherwise would be.]

Tip: A good way to tell if the epoxy is cured is to place any leftover epoxy on a piece of cardboard or grip-tape backing and set it near your curing clubs. When that epoxy is cured, so is the epoxy in your clubs. It's recommended that you wait 24 hours with regular epoxy before you hit the clubs.

If I use 24-hour epoxy I accelerate the curing process by placing a trouble light near the hosels of the clubs and positioning aluminum foil or pie pans as reflectors on the other side of the clubs. This raises the temperature of the hosels to around 100 degrees, and it cuts the normal curing time about in half.

Update: I've been using the 30-60 epoxy sold by Golfsmith in the syringes. It comes already colored black (which I like), and cures to a playable strength in about 2 hours. Its gel time is about 20 minutes, which means usually I need to mix two batches to complete a set of clubs. But it sets up quickly, cures strong, and allows me to finish clubs that day, rather than having to wait overnight. The full cure does take more than 2 hours, but I've tested it in a club I hit 2 hours after epoxying and it was fine.

I'd recommend this to anyone. Yes, it's more expensive, and it's much easier to use if you have the syringe gun, but I'm sold on it.

Tip:   I always leave the cellophane wrapping on clubheads while I build them (see the above picture showing alignment tape). It prevents dings and other marks and ensures I am presenting the best product possible. There's no reason to remove that wrap until the entire clubmaking process is finished.