I think we have never discussed Grinds on the equipment forum. Recently twoamasters posted about his personal Gerind Scratch irons. I know Two mightr not be in a position to answer this but what is meant by personal Grinds and what are the parameters in play. Any one can chime in.
My take is that the “grind” is related to how the iron gets “finished”. Is the toe square or more rounded. Same with the leading edge… sharp or blunt? Probably has to do with the heel as well… you can grind quite a bit of material off in that area if you like. I just picture a craftsman in front of a grinding wheel, taking the formed but roughed out head and turning it into a masterpiece. 
I wonder if the 80’s wouldn’t be considered the prime decade in terms of manufacturers offering different “grinds”? Ahhh… the good ole days!!
robbo
Thanks Robbo
I guess the effect of taking the heel off will be that you can open the club without raisingthe leading edge.
Robbo, I agree… what happened?
Once upon a time there was an artisan in the back of a golf shop that all the good players knew about, and he would have all these autographed pictures on the walls with himself and all the greats that he did “grinds” for. This shop was not in a strip mall or at a golf course. It was down a dirty alley way between First Street and Main Street, and there was just a tacked up aluminum sign above the door on the backside of a warehouse.
However, this was “the guy” and he knew how to GRIND your clubs to your eye. One at a time. You would spend all day there and pay him a couple hundred dollars to GRIND your clubs.
Now somehow this urban legend… turned into… off the shelf - stock - in the pro shop stuff… that had stamped onto the back of the head “Tour Grind” and this was sold to the public as “the new thing” and soon everyone had a custom set of “grinds” that had never been grinded EVER by anyone.
Good question Lag. I’ve become so disilussioned with the current stuff that I can’t imagine ever using it. Give me $150, an ebay account, and a good clubmaker who can tweak things as needed and life is good.
The thought of using an off the shelf set of clubs (for 800 large or so) seems impossible and idiotic now.
Here is an article about the guy who made my Scratch clubs…had a very successful ‘grinding career’…yet I believe not many people would have ever heard of him
bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= … ICnbyTHHug
I designed the shape I wanted. We start off with a blob of steel, that looks close to resembling a club head,and off you go…get on a grinder with gloves on and grind it down and down and turn and shape it until you get the look exactly how you want it…not how they want it to look.
That’s how I had mine personally grinded. It looks like crap because it is unfinished steel and jagged and rusty…but then the chroming process works it’s miracle and the final result is a work of art
Like Robbo said I had a lot of the excess toe area cut off and squared up for a smaller looking squarer head…I have never liked looking down at clubs with all this shiny metal off to the right side on the outside of the ball. I don’t want to hit the ball on that part of the club,don’t even want to look at it…so"off with it’s head"
Interesting article – I think I’m not the only one who would love to see pics of your finished product when you return and have a free moment. Didn’t Ryan MOore leave Scratch recently - I don’t know much about him other than he’s mostly eschewed sponsors, but the parting surprised me.
Yeah, Moore’s leaving Scratch surprised me also…he got his first win with their clubs, had a great year, was given a 25% stake in the company and then was given an option to buy another 25%…which he did…I guess all that’s gone now.
Not sure why he would jump to Adams…I don’t think they have surplus $$$ to throw around when they have the likes of Campbell, Watson and Langer on staff… plus their gear is just alright on the ‘good gear scale’…give me a set of Scratch’s anyday over that option
I guess he knows what he is doing?
Norman “The Shark” only made about 40 million a few years ago by getting a share of Cobra when they were a fledgling company and he sold his shares of later on down the road…might be a bad decision IMO but time will tell… I think golfers either need to find something they like and play it whether they get paid or not or just collect bonus money…make the money on the course and let the rest take care of itself.
There have been plenty of players jump ship with equipment and lose their game and not be the same again…Janzen, Toms, Duval being more recent examples where chasin the off money course hasn’t helped their game