I might use the persimmon more this Summer since I had moved to a shorter track to enjoy my Apex and Persimmon woods.
I know by the time the rain start to fall, I will pack up the persimmon and the blades until next season.
Question for all of you guys whom have done a lot of the persimmon restorations.
If the driver as no visible damage , just a little wear from put into play, and the fairway woods have a little more wear because of the turf contact.
No repair needed.
What do I need to do after cleaning them and drying ? My father used to give it a coating of polyurethane after lightly sanded it down..... I can't find the brand he used. It was a very thick material and took more than a couple of days to completely dry up.
What do you guys do if no major repair is needed to keep your favorite persimmon in top shape ?
I had a couple of the drivers which I felt were out of commission after 4-5 years and a couple of restoration. They also felt a little lighter in weight after the material aged and dried up a little.
I often heard the horrifying story of changing temperature and moisture level are detrimental to natural wood products. How long is the playability of persimmon woods before it'll suffer more chance of damaging during normal play.
Seasonal changes, especially humidity or moisture, is the biggest threat to persimmon woods are really any wood product, ie, guitars, wooden furniture, etc. The most important aspect of preserving a persimmon wood is keeping moisture from penetrating the head. If the polyurethane finish on your clubs are complete, showing just a little surface wear, then you could just leave the clubs as is. If there is any evidence of the poly wearing down to the wood you will wan to reseal them with a dip in polyurethane or a spray.
At the end of the season there is nothing wrong following your old mans lead and giving a light sanding and a dip in polyurethane. I’ve found that the Minwax Oil Modified Polyurethane is very similar to the dipping poly offered by Golfworks back in the day. It can be found at Lowe’s. A light sanding, even a wet sanding with 600 grit wet/dry paper will suffice. Don’t sand too deep that you go through the poly into any decals.
Personally, I like the look of a sprayed Polyurethane finish as it doesn’t look so thick. I do all my restorations using Minwax spray polyurethane.
Have you removed the sole plates and face inserts of your persimmon woods and reaffixed them with epoxy? That is a must to seal moisture from the head as moisture can enter along the edge of the soleplate if they aren’t epoxied.
If you keep the wood sealed from moisture there is no reason you woods shouldn’t be around for your great-grandkids to play.
Thanks for the sharing which kind of Polyurethane you preferred.
I also use the Minwax, but not sure if it is the oil modified. I'll check to see if I'll need to get a new kind. Also will explore the use of a spray can.
Yes I had removed sole plate from more recent production years like, the Cleveland Classic from the Late 80's and Early 90's but never touched an older one. fearing the wood might Crack from the disturbance. Hence, I seldom play an real vintage wood. I have a set of Ben Hogan Speed Slot ( think it might be the personal model with the colored decal lines ). This set is more worn and needs attention before I put them in play.
I bought this set on the auction site a few years ago and was thinking of playing them but, because of the condition I hesitated in hitting golf balls with them before a full restoration. All original , the grips are hard and needs replacement. another reason why I did not touch them. Want to keep as much original as possible. Had done a few which I got from the Thrift Store. a few had hairline crack inside the cavity of the head so those are goner.
Old sole plate screws are either easy to remove or tougher than pulling a tooth, because can't apply brute force.
Still trying to figure out a way to take out those old screws which been plastered with layers of polyurethane through the years. Any tips ?
I’d start by using a sharp point to clean out any poly and dirt from the screw heads. I use a dentist probe I got from Amazon. A set of 5 is $5 or so. Then, make sure you use a proper Frearson screwdriver or bit. A philips can work but a frearson will minimize the risk of stripping the screw and will allow you more twisting force. I use the #1 frearson bits from Green Boat Building. You can get them here. https://www.greenboatstuff.com/sstfrdrbi1to.html
Old poly shouldn’t stop the screw from coming out, but epoxy sure will. Use a torch or heat gun to heat up an old philips head screwdriver tip and insert it into the screw head. The head will heat up and eventually break the epoxy bond. It may take multiple tries.
Thank you for a detailed reply. Using a heat up Phillips screw driver head to conduct heat to soften the epoxy is a great idea for old and dried up wood products.
There were always a few very stubborn screws and sole plates which never want to leave their place.
I'll also need a work bench style magnifying glass these days, that is on the shopping list.
This is not related to the seasonal maintenance for the persimmon golf clubs.
I had recently came in with a set of Ben Hogan Persimmon Speed Slot. The heads are in decent shape and painted black.
My question is, has anyone removed the OEM black paint on the persimmon head ? Did it leave any "shadow" of the paint color on the wood or did the color of the paint came off clean ?
I remembered someone said the paint was to cover up the less desirable wood grain pattern, is it true ? Or was the black paint has some mystical power ?
Ben Hogan had his first favorite driver which was a black MacGregor made for Byron Nelson. The MacGregor sent Byron two new drivers , Ben took the one Byron rejected and it turned out to be his winner. It was a black persimmon driver.
So, I'm looking at this set, which I could just do a little polishing and seal it up with polyurethane or, I could take it apart and try to remove the black paint during the Winter months. Without my power tools, it'll be all hand labor so it should occupy some of my time.
However, I had never taken the black paint of the woods ( persimmon or laminated heads ).
Any advice from thos of you whom had done it would be appreciated.
The answer in all my experience (6 clubs, Spalding and Wilson) is yes, the black color will remain. It's not a problem if you're going to make it black again, but if you want blonde from black youre going to need a ton of sanding. I think they may have used black grain filler or something at the factory
That's what I suspected.... thanks for confirming it.
I'll figure out what kind of paint to use on the Hogans. These have the peel off sticker for emblem, I might trace it with a craft knife / tool to engrave it before I take the paint off.
It'll give me something to do over the Winter months.
I'll go get a head gear with magnifying glass built in for the tracing. Think Harbor Freight or the craft store have something like that.
BTW, thank you James, for taking the time to answer my questions regarding the persimmon heads came with black paint.
I did some search on found out the persimmon woods could take on the stain or paint color into the wood grains. You're right about might have to sand off a thick layer of wood to take out the shadows of the color.
Now. I'm rethinking of perhaps just to sand off the head slightly and paint and poly it so Icould take them out next Spring.