Spine alignment; What if ????

[downhillslider]

I have this very good customer who came to me with a Nike Ignite 450 with a PINK SHAFT and steel tip. Without actually naming the individual, he wanted the shaft pulled and installed on another head with a new grip. No problem.After cutting the old grip off and removing the tape , I notice a decal on the butt. It's a Golfsmith PURE decal. There are arrows pointing north and south to indicate where the grip should be installed. I take out my trusty and very expensive spine finding gadget anf find the spine. It is @ 3 o'clock if you are looking down the shaft from butt to tip. So far so good. Then it hits me because I' m a lefty, The decal was set up ok for a righty but if this shaft was to be used by a lefty, the decal should be 180* from it's now position. Does anyone know if Golfsmith asks the customer if they are right or left handed ???

[Chieflongtee]

Depends on your definition of spine. If it's residual bend then the results are not correct. GS does FLO the shafts.
http://www.golfsmith.com/cm/display_...ge_num=pureing

So logically the spine and NBp run 90 degrees from each other therefore the spine will run in one axis and the NBP in the other. So it does not matter if you are a lefty or a righty. If you find the spine in a frequency meter and you get spo many cpms you will find the exact same reading 180 degrees for it and of course the same runs true for the NBP.

[jvincent]

When you get a PURE'd shaft it comes with installation instructions.

Here's the blurb from the SST PURE FAQ.

I just received my SST PUREd shafts from Golfsmith. What is the correct way to install them?

On the butt of the shaft, there is an SST PURE Golfsmith sticker with an arrow running down the length of the shaft. When you insert the shaft into the clubhead, the arrow should be pointing straight up. If you think of the hitting direction as 9 o’clock, this means you want the arrow at the 12 o’clock position.

For a left-handed golfer, however, you want the arrow in the 6 o’clock position.

It is important to align the arrow at directly 12 o’clock in the hosel. Do not align it with the leading edge of the clubface.

[Chieflongtee]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SST
I just received my SST PUREd shafts from Golfsmith. What is the correct way to install them?

On the butt of the shaft, there is an SST PURE Golfsmith sticker with an arrow running down the length of the shaft. When you insert the shaft into the clubhead, the arrow should be pointing straight up. If you think of the hitting direction as 9 o’clock, this means you want the arrow at the 12 o’clock position.

For a left-handed golfer, however, you want the arrow in the 6 o’clock position.

It is important to align the arrow at directly 12 o’clock in the hosel. Do not align it with the leading edge of the clubface

This imo opinion does not make any sense at all. If you get the same cpm reading at 12 and 6 which is FLO then it won't make a wee bit of difference whether the arrow is at 6 or 12.

[jvincent]

Quote:

This imo opinion does not make any sense at all. If you get the same cpm reading at 12 and 6 which is FLO then it won't make a wee bit of difference whether the arrow is at 6 or 12.

Yeah, I never really bought into that whole left/right alignment thing.

Assuming I actually get around to it this winter I'll probably disassemble all my clubs and FLO them.

[Chieflongtee]

Yeah, I never really bought into that whole left/right alignment thing.

Assuming I actually get around to it this winter I'll probably disassemble all my clubs and FLO them.

If they are steel shafts don't bother John.

[jvincent]

If they are steel shafts don't bother John.

But what else am I going to do?

Oh yeah, I was thinking of soft-stepping the irons by 1 or 2 steps.

[BC MIST]

An assumption that is being made here is that the spine or NBP is in the same relative position at the butt as it is in the tip section, so the spine, for example, runs straight down the shaft. In playing with a few shafts, finding FLO when the shaft is clamped at the butt is not always in the same position as when I clamp the shaft farther down towards the tip.

My read from the Golfsmith PUREing process is that they find the most stable position and call it 12:00 o'clock and it does not discriminate between a lefty or a righty.

[Chieflongtee]

An assumption that is being made here is that the spine or NBP is in the same relative position at the butt as it is in the tip section, so the spine, for example, runs straight down the shaft. In playing with a few shafts, finding FLO when the shaft is clamped at the butt is not always in the same position as when I clamp the shaft farther down towards the tip.

My read from the Golfsmith PUREing process is that they find the most stable position and call it 12:00 o'clock and it does not discriminate between a lefty or a righty.

I find Flo with the shaft cut to final playing length with the help of my frequency meter. Have you ever done the same let's say with the shaft clamped in the middle of the shaft?

[Big Johnny69]

Pardon my ignorance, but from what I've been told about spining is the following.

Once the spine in the shaft has been found is it not supposed to be placed to point down your target line. And in that case, is not the weakest point of the shaft at 180* from this point (so facing exactly away from your target line)? So if the shaft has been spined for a righty would SST's markings not have to be reversed?

And I have to admit I don't know what FLO means. I've heard it mentioned before but I can't remember what it stands for.

[jvincent]

FLO = Flat Line Oscillation.

If you "twang" a clamped shaft on it's FLO axis it will bounce up and down in a straight line.

[Big Johnny69]

Thank you Mr. jvincent.

[Chieflongtee]

http://www.csfa.com/techframe.htm
Self explanatory

1)
Spine Alignment

NOTE 22: I tried another spine alignment test with some interesting results. A number of clubmakers recently reported very good results with very poor shafts when the spine was properly aligned. These shafts had frequency variations of up to 15 cpm! I checked with my local shaft purveyor and tried to buy the crummiest shafts I could find. Unfortunately their worst shafts were pretty good. I sorted through a pile of them and found two that had an eight cpm variation. One had a weak axis of 250 cpm (other axis at 258) and the other a strong axis of 250 cpm (other axis at 242). I built two identical drivers with both 250cpm axes pointed at 9:00. In one case the strong axis was at 9:00 the other the weak axis at 9:00. I tried a blind test and the weak axis at 9:00 was definitely the preferred alignment.

2)Wobble



NOTE 3: If you get into the hairiest of mathematics you'll find any shaft has two natural frequencies and they are always located 90 degrees apart on the shaft. At one point you will get one of these frequencies and by rotating the shaft 90 degrees you'll get the other. If the shaft is flexed anywhere in between both frequencies will be excited and the two will beat against one another causing the shaft to wobble. The two frequencies in a steel shaft or a filament wound graphite shaft are generally very close such that very little wobble will occur. In wrapped graphite shafts this is not always the case due to the seam and wobbling can be pretty wild. I've seen as much as 12-cpm difference between these two frequencies in some shafts. If a shaft is regular along one axis and stiff along the other how do you install it in the club? It's best to buy good shafts. Again the frequency analyzer is a great quality control device. By the way, that vibratory gyro I mentioned in an earlier Tech Note had its two natural frequencies matched to a small fraction of a part per billion. Like I said it wasn't a cheap device.

[Big Johnny69]

OK, so I got the axis' mixed up. Does anyone know which way SST orients when they spine? Weak axis at 9:00 or strong axis?

And in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, downhillslider was referring to me in the original post. Yes I am using a pink shaft in my driver and I don't care what anyone thinks.

[Chieflongtee]

OK, so I got the axis' mixed up. Does anyone know which way SST orients when they spine? Weak axis at 9:00 or strong axis?

And in case anyone hasn't figured it out yet, downhillslider was referring to me in the original post. Yes I am using a pink shaft in my driver and I don't care what anyone thinks.

Put it in a frequency meter and take different readings by rotating the shaft slowly.(at the same length) You'll find your answer.

[Big Johnny69]

I don't have access to one. Was just wondering if anyone knew from previous experience.

[jvincent]

OK, so I got the axis' mixed up. Does anyone know which way SST orients when they spine? Weak axis at 9:00 or strong axis?

I'll see if I still have the PURE printouts from the NVs I had done and check.