Ok, I have an oppurtunity to get my 76 Wilson Staff irons re-chromed locally here in Australia. I have seen photos of this gentleman’s work and I’m very impressed amd I will be going to see him on Saturday to have a first hand look. His work has a life time warranty too apparently.
There is nothing wrong with the Staff’s at the moment, I played them this morning (and apart from the first hole which was nothing to do with the clubs and I refuse to talk more about) I hit them beautifully, they are a really lovely club. They don’t look too bad for their age either but I do want to get rid of all those nicks and gouges from the leading edges especially. I’m tossing up between a shiny chrome finish (as per original) or a satin chrome finish (to reduce glare and give it the kind of look I like).
Anyway all of that is neither here nor there. My question is this, should I pay an extra $200 and get some new True Temper shafts installed at the same time?
The re-finisher is strongly recommending that I do (he hasn’t seen my clubs and is just judging by how old I told him they were) however I’m not so sure. These red band (stiff) Wilson shafts look in really good condition, the shaft bands with serial numbers are all intact, they were recently re-gripped, I’m hitting the ball really well with them and I suppose I can always re-shaft at a later date.
So do 34 year old shafts lose anything in terms of flex, kick, performance, etc? Should I stick with them after the re-chrome?
Hi Steb, ask for David Fearns 02 9130 1981, located in North Bondi, tell him you got his details from Anthony with the Wilson Staff’s.
Personally, I think I’m going to go with the satin chrome finish, red/black ferrules and keep the same Wilson shafts which all have new Lamkin Crossline grips anyay. I just have to get approval from the boss a.k.a the wife.
Great to know, and I will do when I get some cash coming in.
From when I had a look into it before, I remember some people using IronFactory place found the rechroming started flaking off. Might be an idea to ask David about it. Also that your original clubheight weights will be restored (or even increased to something preferable).
He offers a lifetime warranty no questions asked so I’d assume that chrome flaking off would be covered by this, I’ll chat to him more about it.
I have had a few deep and meaninful conversations with him about swing weights, he says they weigh before and after and that the change in weight is marginal at best. I’m not totally convinced but he has emailed me a heap of before and after photos and the work is so good that I’m willing to go in and see him and ask him some more questions about the entire process.
I would suggest that you should re-shaft 1 club, like a 5-iron and just make sure they keep the old shaft. This way you can try out the shaft, see if you like it. If you don’t, just change out the shaft with the old one. If you do like it, then you can feel confident in getting the rest of the set re-shafted.
I had my Irons re-chomed from the Iron factory when they where located in Escondidto, CA. Theyd relocated to Colorado where Jim is setting up shop for now. He backs up his work! My irons were chipping and the chome was commng off. I called Jim and he was more then happpy to redo them for me. I re-shaft them with KBS and I hit them for the first time in months.
Things that you should do before send them out.
Get the swing weight of all your clubs
if you pull your heads weigh the heads
weigh your shafts
when i did mine I did not do any of this stuff. I had a friend assemble them and swing weight came out to c9 which is to light. I had to but plug weights in the bottom of the shafts to get them back to my D4 swing weight.
I am very pleased with the way the Iron Factory did my clubs and would do them again if needed, I like the way they looked before and after i will post pic if any one would like to see them before i reall get back to hitting them.
