Building A Driver

My current driver was not getting it done for me (Ping G20 with stock TFC Tour X-Flex shaft). The key to my game is finding fairways. If I'm in the fairway I'm making birdies. If I'm in the rough it's a different story. I decided to go back to a driver head I've had success with and put a new shaft in it. This is a great way to upgrade your equipment without spending a lot of money. For this build I'm using 24 hour epoxy. Easy to work with and difficult to mess up.

 

 

 

Here are the components all laid out ready to be assembled.

I've chosen the Aldila NV 65 gram X-flex. I like lighter weight drivers I can swing hard with. It was between this and the Grafalloy Prolaunch Red. Both are great shafts for players looking for performance on a budget. This only cost me $40.

The big cheese ladies and gents. The longest drives I ever hit were with the original Cleveland Hibore driver and the stock S flex shaft. I swing hard but I've found I do better with higher lofted drivers. I like to see more carry then roll.

The sound of this driver is absolutely insane, so I decided to add some cotton balls to the head. Great way to deaden the sound without affecting the swingweight. To insert, just tear up the cotton balls and stuff them down with a pick or other pointy object. It's even easier with clubs that have removable weights.

Assembly time. First thing is sand the tip which will help the epoxy bond. I am not tipping this shaft.

With the clubhead in (NOT epoxied yet) measure how long you'd like the club to be. My previous driver was 45'' and that may have been the reason why I was so inconsistent. This will be 44'' when assembled.

Measure twice cut once.

I've masked the shaft here so it is easier to cut. The masking tape will prevent the graphite from fraying.

Cutting the shaft with a hand saw.

Clean cut and the masking tape is removed.

I like to install the grip first then the clubhead. Either way works this just helps me line everything up easier. Applying double sided tape to the shaft where the grip will sit. Make sure the tape isn't too long so it is covered up by the grip.

Filling the grip with solvent. Shake it up and pour over the tape so the grip slides on.

Installed grip.

Mixing up the epoxy. Standard 2 part epoxy with shafting beads to ensure the shaft is centered inside the hosel.

Mix everything up very well. Rule of thumb for the shafting beads is to add 10% of the volume of the epoxy. Not too much.

Lube up the ferrule and push it on to the shaft. Then take the club head and push the ferrule on to the shaft until the shaft bottoms out in the club head. This ensures the ferrule will sit flush with the club head. Then remove the club head, add a bit more epoxy, and insert the shaft into the club head.

Line up the graphics, square the face and we're rolling! Very excited to try this out. I'll be posting the results soon, thanks for reading!