I was going through my collection of classic woods and my set of 1952 Powerbilt’s really stood out to me. They aren’t in perfect condition, don’t have a fancy insert, etc., but they are beautiful in their original state.
So, do you have a club or a set that might not be pristine but are beautiful in their originality?
You know I'm a PowerBilt sucker. What you have shown us are great instruments that required expertise to play them.
It is SO unfortunate that today, we spew out clubs that "forgive" mis-hits. Learning the proper way to play vintage equipment, IMHO, was what the game is/was all about.
Is there a reason why you have left the driver in it's present state of condition ?
It’s only original once. This is how it looks after 67 years in all its originality. The patina is what makes it special. It’s getting harder and harder to find all original clubs these days that haven’t been dipped in thick polyurethane in the name of restoration/refinishing.
@Powered by Persimmon Understand that. But, are you playing it or collecting and displaying it ?
I thought be better to at least protect it from the elements or from playing is the way to preserve it. And you're right, getting very difficult to find vintage woods in it's original finishing and never gone through a bath of poly urethane. I know my father used to refinishing his persimmon woods every Winter.
The insert still looks tightly fitted. That's a sign of it's been stored properly.
I will play them, but haven’t yet. I’ve had them stored for a couple years and just pulled them out.
You are right, they will need some sort of protection so I think semi-gloss spray poly is the way to go. I will spray them as is to keep the patina intact. And yes, all three clubs the insert and sole plate are so tight I wouldn’t be able to get a exact blade in there, really remarkable after all these years.
The clubs also feature the early vulcanized rubber Golf Pride grips which are really cool.
Beautiful.
What will you do to the grip if any. They do look like hardened and slick to be played.
I have a few vintage golf club with original grips that I've been hesitating to replace them.
Yeah, the grips are pretty firm but they have a little give in them still. I’ll probably give them a try as is but haven’t considered replacing them.
I had tried to take the old grips off the vintage clubs and preserve them but, had not had any success with the process. The aged rubber grips were fragile , even if I did not split them while taking them off the shaft, it's difficult to keep them in good condition to put them back on without damaging them.
I also tried to wipe the old rubber grips down with petroleum products to soften them, but the effect is short term and may cause additional damage to the old grips.
If the leather wrap on the vintage club was not too far gone, I had restored some of them, but the restoration did not warrant frequent usage. Mostly for display if I want the original leather grip to be on the club.
It is, a very difficult decision of whether to put a rare find of vintage golf club into play. Like you said; it will only have the original finishing once.......
I still have a few sets of vintage persimmon woods from the 60's and the 70's. Have the same situation as yours.... original finishing with the original grips. All would need a little restoration , preservation before anyone like to put them in play. Question is, do I want to change the original state of these clubs.
I doubt that I'll see any major financial gain from these clubs in my life time, but my children and grand children might enjoy them or profit from some financial gain. Personally I don't have many old set in the original state like someone I know saved up a storage room full of them.
Totally agree with you if you won't try to restore a nice vintage golf club. I don't even play these older persimmons restored or not, except when it's dry and sunny outside. With my current swing speed, I won't worry about damaging the woods if I use a brand new soft compression golf ball.
The scuffed up cover of the golf ball will mark the finishing no matter how careful I am.
It's like having a priced vintage racer in storage, besides starting it up once in awhile to let it lubricate, does one take it out for a spin ?
So I took the Powerbilt set to the range last night to finally give them a swing. I was first hitting my Wilson Staff persimmon gamers and then pulled out the Powerbilt’s. First thing I thought was wow, these things are heavy. The 3 and 4 woods faces are much taller than I prefer as I like shallow faced fairway woods, and I was hitting low line drives with them. Switched to the driver and again, heavy. I imagined I was swinging Sam Snead’s club or something. The feel of the driver was incredible. The impact felt so heavy and solid I don’t know if I’ve hit another persimmon that felt like this. The heavy swing weight put me right in the slot and I was hitting the ball dead straight with a nice flight. But, with the heavy swingweight I was only getting about 200 yards carry max with it.
After about an hour and a half at the range, the last half hour hitting both sets of woods, I was thoroughly exhausted. I can also feel it today in my wrists and forearms. I went ahead and measured the swingweight of the Powerbilt’s and the 1963 Wilsons. Wilson D-0. Powerbilt D-6!
It was great to take them to the range and get a feel for them as it has made me see how I should proceed with them. I decided to keep them just as is. No clear coat seal, nothing. Just going to keep these exactly as they are and when conditions are perfect, (no moisture or morning dew) I’ll take them out to experience them in their all-original glory.
I like the persimmon drivers with heavier swing weight because I usually up the flex to stiffer one in the driver than the irons and the fairway woods. That was about 40 years ago. Think the Cleveland Classic Byron Nelson model is at D2 with the TTDG S-400 shaft in it.
You might have picked up a set of "player's" persimmon if the shaft flex is stiff or XS with the D-6 swing weight. That'll explain the extra swing weight and the lost of carrying distance.
Didn't see any added exterior weight on the head so the cavity of the head might have some lead in it.
D-6 swing weight is very usual, almost certain that is a custom ordered driver for the swing weight if it had not been modified. Of course, I had not seen enough persimmon drivers to know for sure, but the most drivers I had seen were ranged from D-1 to D-3/4.
The gear effect built into the face is one of the reason why we could keep the drive in the fairway better than the modern shovels.... besides a shorter length.
Just curious.
What shafts are in these bad boys ?
True Temper Dynamic stiff. Looking at the Kaplan H&B book I think I’ve narrowed them down to the 1952 Model 500. It was one of the few models in 1952 and 53 that came with the Dynamic Stifor shaft and Golf Pride grip as well as having a deep face which all these woods have.
I‘m actually really liking these woods. I took them back out again today with my 1953 Mac 259 Byron Nelson’s and hit them better than the first time out. Maybe I will need to seal these up and play them.
Nice vintage for the persimmon, early 50's .
I have a couple Byron Nelson by Cleveland Classic with the TTDG S400 in the driver at 43 1/2". Played the driver okay but the 3 wood and the 5 wood with the same shaft proof to be a bit much for me now.
I like these persimmon woods a bit heavy at 43"-44". Oh well, I'll find out next Summer if I still feel the same. Each year is a different venture for me.
Losing some distance with the clubs, so might be adding 4 woods to the bag next season since the 3 wood is getting tougher to get the right trajectory with slower swing speed now.