How Steel Golf Shafts Are Made
There are two primary ways to manufacture steel golf shafts. One is called "seemless" construction; the other is "welded tube" construction.
For a brief explanation of each method, we turned to Tom Wishon, a noted golf club designer, inventor, and founder of multiple equipment-makers including Wishon Golf. Wishon is the author of numerous books about golf equipment, including The New Search for the Perfect Golf Club and The Right Sticks: Equipment Myths That Could Wreck Your Golf Game (affiliate links, commissions earned).
(See also: How graphite shafts are made)
How Seemless Steel Shafts Are Made
A seamless steel shaft starts life as a large cylinder of solid steel. The cylinder is heated and pierced with a special machine, turning the solid steel log into a large, thick-walled tube. Over a series of stretching operations on very specialized machines called draw benches, the large, thick tube is gradually reduced in diameter and wall thickness to become a thin-walled steel tube five-eighths of an inch in diameter.These shaft "blanks," as they are called, are then subjected to a series of squeezing operations that form the individual sections of diameter reduction called the "step-downs" on the shaft. (This is what is shown in the video above.)
How Welded-Tube Steel Shafts Are Made
A welded tube construction steel shaft begins as a flat strip of steel that is coiled and welded into a tube. The welding procedure is quite different than what most people are used to seeing.Through what is called high-frequency welding, the two ends of the coiled strip are literally fused together without the presence of a second, different material as in the case of most welding. A special machine then removes the excess metal from the outside and inside of the welded tube in a procedure called "skiving." Once formed, the tube is stretched down to the required 5/8-inch outer diameter in the same procedures used in the forming of the seamless steel shaft, with the step-downs formed in the same manner as well.
Regardless of the method used to initially form the blanks and step-downs, steel shafts are finished in the same way: They are heat treated, straightened and then nickel-chrome electroplated to prevent rusting.
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