golf club repair

Question
QUESTION: Hi Paul,
how can i remove a graphite shaft from a fti callaway driver it is a mix of composte top and steel bottom.
cheers fran

ANSWER: Hi Fran,

Unless you are experienced, and since you are asking me this question I assume you are not...I would take it to a good club repair shop and let the expert do it.  I'm serious.  It takes experience and the right equipment to do this right.

The way it's done is by using heat.  It takes between 250 and 300 degrees to melt the epoxy sufficiently to pull the shaft.  The idea is to heat the metal (a good conductor of heat) to a point where the outer layer of the epoxy fails.  The epoxy is not a good conductor of heat so the shaft tip does not get hot enough to be damaged.  At the same time, a steady pressure need to be pulling the shaft from the head.  The experienced club repair person will have a powerful spring loaded device to do this.  

The heating process is the key and the experience of the repair person is the difference.  While many shafts can be pulled using a heat gun to heat the hosel, in certain situations you need the hosel heated faster than most heat guns will do it.  A small cutting torch can be used in that situation.  An experienced repair person has a "feel" for both the amount of heat being applied and the speed of the heating process.  It's worth the few bucks they'll charge to do it and they'll do it right.

The last resort is to drill the old shaft out of the hosel.  If you are trying to save the old shaft, this is not an option, of course.

Best wishes,

Paul Dolman
PGA Golf Professional

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Paul thanks for the answer, but would the heat damage or melt the hosel as it is not steel on these drivers.
Cheers Fran

Answer
Hi Fran,

Yes.  Nearly every material has a melting point (and an even cooler damage point where the material begins to break down).  There must be sufficient difference between the melting point of the hosel material and the melting point of the epoxy to use heat.

Good luck,

Paul