From: cmhaar@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Chris Haar)
Subject: Re: Losing Clubheads
Followup-To: rec.sport.golf
Organization: Northwestern University
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 23:56:36 GMT

In article <715260154.F00001@tdkt.kksys.com>, David.Moore@tdkt.kksys.com
(David Moore) wrote:
> 
> 
> CH>Instead, we used a product called Loctite (sp?) Black Max.  It's actually a
> CH>thread-locking compound, but it has acquitted itself quite admirably in the
> CH>present application.  After two years of golfing, not a single clubhead has
> CH>been lost.  We'll see what long term use does, but I figure if it's going
> CH>to fail, it would have done so by now.  It also has the useful property of
> CH>being readily soluble in acetone, a plus if (like I) you are a bit messy
> CH>when assembling your clubs.  (I must admit, though, I don't know the
> CH>solubility of cured epoxy in acetone.  Anyone else?)
> 
> Shaft epoxy comes off nicely  with  either  acetone  or  Carbo-Chlor
> (grip solvent)---wet or dry.

Thanks, I didn't know.  Incedentally, does anyone know the precise chemical
composition of Carbo-Chlor?  I'd imagine it's a halocarbon or mixture
thereof, but I've never used it.  (Preferring instead hydrocarbon
solvents.)

> As  for  the  Loctite--interesting  idea,  but  how  do  you  REMOVE
> clubheads from the shafts (want to change the shaft or head  without
> destroying  them).  Does  Loctite  break
> down  under  heat?

Yes, it does.

> The temp of epoxy heat breakdown  is  just  50  degrees
> less  than  the  melting  point  of  a  graphite shaft BTW (which is
> good!).  I suspect the Loctite might have  a  high  breakdown  point
> which  might make it a no go for graphite.  Loctite may be OK if you
> never want to change components.

I never thought of the graphite case.  You make a very good point which
sould be taken as a caveat to anyone considering the Loctite route.  I'm a
harcore steel man, for reasons of both price and durability, so I'd never
given graphite much thought.  And steel is definitely more heat resistant
that the Loctite.

> Hey, to each his own. We all  need  to  experiment--who  knows  what
> we'll find?

Good attitude!

> CH>> I  don't even want to think about what a high speed club head flying
> CH>> through the air could do to someone.
> 
> CH>Probably about as much as the ball would have done to the idiot who stood
> CH>in front of your shot.
> 
> Or to the side or back of or...... a clubhead could let loose at any
> part of the swing.

Not to be argumentative, but:
     As I see it, the more likely it is for the clubhead to fly to the side
or back, etc., the LESS likely it is that the clubhead will come free of
the shaft.  The greatest stress (or is it strain?  I always get them mixed
up.) on the epoxy/Loctite/whatever will be at or near the bottom of the
swing and when the head is actually striking the ball.  Thus it is most
likely the clubhead will take the same trajectory as the ball.  On a
mis-hit shot, there is the possibility that the clubhead could be
deflected, but considering the momentum of ~275 g of steel moving at 85-95
mph (I'm no John Daly) v. ~100 g ball (at rest), whatever the trajectory
the head had on separation from the shaft will most likely be maintained
after separation.
     I don't think it very likely that the head would come off during the
backswing (the slowest phase of the swing); similarly, if the head survives
striking the ball, the "centrifugal" force at work trying to separate the
head from the shaft is diminishing at an extremely fast rate.  (Besides,
"follow through to your target" is what I've always heard.  Once again, the
head flies forward.)
     But in the end, you are correct that the clubhead could come off at
any time and in any direction.  There is a finite probability for the
occurrence of any event.

cmh
Vote, dammit!
Newsgroups: rec.sport.golf