Spining

[Mok]

so what does spining mean?

and how do you spine equipment?

what's the advantages of spining your equipment?

[Nocturnal]

so what does spining mean? and how do you spine equipment?what's the advantages of spining your equipment?
http://www.clubmaker-online.com/gca99.html

And the latest version/enhancement to the spining idea is :eek:
(Vijay uses it, it's gotta be good eh!)

http://www.advancedshaft.com/

[mikejb]

Nice find. So he is using the spinning technology to locate the "sweet" spot of his shafts. To bad they do not have a location here.

[mikejb]

A group of other golfers are discussing (http://www.freegolfinfo.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1099981) this issue in depth. I hope this helps us all.

[Shadow]

A group of other golfers are discussing (http://www.freegolfinfo.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1099981) this issue in depth. I hope this helps us all. Please allow me to add a few more comments about the subject on top of the ones contained in the above discussion on FGI. I am also the FGI member TFOG who took part in the discussion on that forum.

Whether shafts are steel or graphite, they are not symmetrical, because the manufacturing process is not perfect, (see Tom Wishon's comments at the end of my post here ( discussing (http://www.freegolfinfo.com/forums/tm.asp?m=1099981))) or, the cost of making "perfect" shafts would be prohibitive. As a result all or almost all steel shafts are bent, to some extent, and, as most graphite shafts are sheet wrapped versus filament wound, the sheets overlap, or there may be a little more resin in one area over another, so one part of the shaft ends up stiffer than another. Some say that there is a weld seam in steel shafts, again resulting in this part being stiffer than another. We call these areas "spines" which is a misnomer in most cases.

There are imillion dollar machines that will PURE (Golfsmith) your golf shafts, or “Peak Performance” them (ASD) for a good price. ($10 to $15+ per shaft). Of course, you could just but good shafts and not waste your money but then how do you know what a good shaft is? May I please add that just because a shaft is expensive, it does not necessarily mean that it is better. I have seen $100 shafts that are junk, and $10 that are superb.

Many golfers and clubmakers buy or make spinefinders and assemble their clubs according to the three generally accepted ways of orienting the shaft in the club head. The best spinefinder is this one, http://eastexlaw.com/equipment/NEUFINDER-2.jpeg
that about 300 of us worldwide have made. The NF2. When the shaft is placed in the machine it snaps into a position where the most flexible part of the shaft called the NBP-(Neutral Bend Point) faces the ceiling. Theoretically, the stiffest part of the shaft(S1) is 90* from the NBP, although the NF2 indicates that the stiffest part of a steel shaft is 180* from the NBP. I don’t believe it because when I measure the frequency of the shaft on my frequency analyzer, the S1 or “spine” is 90* from the NBP. The truth is that the NF2, while a very nice little machine, actually measures the bend in the shaft and does not necessarily find the spine. The next generation of NF2’s called the NF4, is about to be available to make, and can find the true spine by differential deflection. If forum member TINTIN is listening, perhaps he can explain how this will work.

Similar to the PUREing method or Peak Performance method by ASD, finding the most stable part of your golf shaft is important. The simplest method for we mortals is to secure the butt end of the shaft and attach a laser pointer to the tip end. I put a laser pointer in the end of a drill chuck, and attach the drill chuck to the tip. By twanging the shaft back and forth the light will either oval or move back and forth in a straight line. Oval means unstable, while the back and forth means stable. We keep rotating the shaft in the clamp and keep twanging it back and forth until a stable plane is found. I use my NF2 as a starting point and go from there. If a stable plane is found at one point, then another will be found 90* from the first one. Stability in the shaft means that it will flex and unflex in a consistent manner so if the shaft is installed in a consistent manner also, then the player's shot will also be more consistent. How much? The $64,000 question.

There are a few generally accepted methods or installing the shaft in the club head. (1) the NBP, most flexible plane of the shaft, facing the target or 9 o’clock for a rightie. This is supposed to be good because it means that the stiffest part is at 12 o’clock. As the golfer swings through the shaft and head actually bends down towards the ground(toe droop). If the part facing up is stiffer, then there should be less toe droop and more consistent center of face contact. (2) PUREing and ASD apparently align the most stable part of the shaft, as found on their machines, towards the target or 9 o’clock. This is usually the stiffest part of the shaft so it is the opposite of the above. (3) aligning the NBP of the shaft with the Centre of Gravity (COG) of the club head. This is done by securing the shaft to a bench with the NBP facing the ceiling, epoxying the head on the tip and just allowing gravity(COG) to let the head fall into its natural position.

Now, does doing all of this help? Probably, yes. It certainly will not hurt. How much it helps depends a lot on how good or bad the shaft is to begin with. I use SK Fiber and now Mercury shafts and they are superior shafts and really don’t need to be spined. The other important thing to consider is that because of the public’s increasing awareness of spining and what constitutes a good shaft, that shaft manufacturers are now improving the quality of their shafts and this is great.

As a hobbyist club maker who makes about 20 sets of clubs a year, I “spine” all shafts on my NF2 and generally orient them NBP to target. For this I charge nothing. On the NF2 it only takes a few seconds. Most retail clubmakers may charge a fee for this but not what Golfsmith and ASD charge. Sorry for being so windy.