Step 4: Clubhead Reset and Re-pin
With the clubhead and shaft refurbished, you can reset and re-pin the clubhead using modern epoxy.
For yesterday’s expert hickory golf clubmaker, a precise fit, the friction of some whipping thread wrapped around the shaft cone, and a hosel pin was all that was needed to keep the clubhead attached and resilient to the constant stress of striking a golf ball. One hundred years later, those of us still playing hickory golf clubs are better off using modern epoxy, just to be sure we don’t break a valuable shaft or airmail a prized clubhead into a pond.
As good as epoxy is for resetting a clubhead, the seemingly archaic hosel pin still plays a role in keeping the head on the shaft in the event of a poor bond. And no, I didn’t learn that lesson until AFTER I launched the head of one of my Tom Stewart 2 irons in the middle of a round.
In this “Hickory Hack,” I share my method for fitting a new shaft to a clubhead, properly resetting the head with epoxy, and crafting and installing the surprisingly still important hosel pin (scroll to the bottom of this post for the video).
*** *** ***
While most of your clubhead resets will use the original shaft, sometimes you may need – or want – to swap in a different shaft. Maybe you find an irreparable crack upon inspection or maybe the shaft has been cut down to accommodate a junior golfer – in both cases, a different shaft is in order.
A different shaft is also one way to address swing weight issues. If you come across a hickory golf club that feels too light or too heavy but the length is correct for the loft, you can tweak the swing weight by replacing the shaft with one of the same length that is lighter or heavier than the original, depending on your swing weight target.
Generally speaking, adding a heavier shaft than the original to a heavier clubhead will lower the swing weight because you’ll be off-setting the perceptible weight in the clubhead a bit by increasing the actual weight of the shaft. This also increases the total weight of the club, though, which may make it feel unwieldy if you’re not careful.
Likewise, if a club feels lighter than you prefer, replacing the original shaft with one that weighs less will generally increase the swing weight because you’ll be making the actual weight of the clubhead more perceptible. The main takeaway here is that when the clubhead has been removed from the original shaft, you have an opportunity to experiment with other shafts and dial in your swing weight preferences.
If you find a better shaft for your clubhead but it doesn’t fit as well as it should on the cone, a patient filing of the cone can remove just enough wood to accommodate the clubhead while maintaining the desired snug fit. If the cone is just a bit smaller than the hosel, remember the lesson of the expert hickory golf clubmaker from 100 years ago and wrap some whipping thread around the cone. The thread combined with the epoxy will usually tighten up the gap between cone and clubhead sufficiently to make a snug fit.
*** *** ***
While some hickory golfers like to use the GolfWorks modern golf club shafting epoxy, I find Gorilla Glue 3,300 psi epoxy works just fine. It’s actually a little stronger than the shafting epoxy and it’s good for outdoor use so it checks the two most important boxes, in my opinion. No matter what epoxy you use, the key is making sure both the cone and inside of the hosel on the clubhead are free from any rust, residue, or loose material that might prevent a strong bond between wood and metal. It’s also a good idea to rough up the cone a bit with a rasp to give the epoxy something to grab.
*** *** ***
Take it from me: even with the chemical connection of the epoxy, you still need the mechanical connection of a hosel pin. If I’m lucky, I’ll knock an old pin out straight enough that it can be reused. Most of the time, though, I need to cut and install a new pin.
You have three options for making a new pin: steel, brass, and aluminum. Steel is the hardest to work with, but will blend in better with the clubhead if that’s important to you. Aluminum is the softest and easiest to work with but harder to source, at least for me. I’ve been using brass because it’s still relatively easy to cut, file, and mushroom, easy to locate on the hosel if I need to replace a shaft, and – above all – I can source it whenever I need it at The Home Depot: a 36-inch length of 1/8” round brass rod usually costs less than $15. If you’re not interested in cutting and shaping your own pins, though, you can buy them precut through Hickory Golf Workshop in Vermont:
