Some Additional Tips On Long Nose Golf Clubmaking

Here are a few additional random tips to pass on if you want to try your hand at making feathery or gutta percha era long nose golf clubs. Many of the tips are based on methods described by J.H. Taylor in The Book of Golf and Golfers, by Willie Park, Jr in The Game of Golf as well as from my own observations.

• When looking at the butt end of the shaft with the clubface toward the target, the grain of the shaft should run left to right (generally towards the target) rather than front to back.

• Attention to grain direction of the clubhead is important. Here is what J.H. Taylor described in the Book Of Golf And Golfers in 1899:

The clubheads at the bottom show a top view of the clubhead. Quartersawn stock results in grain running from face to rear. Quartersawn end grain clubfaces (C) are less likely to have crushed fibers, just as an end grain mallet or butcher block is more resistant to crushing. But quartersawn heads are more likely to split along a growth ring than A and B. Hitting a small block of wood with a hammer contained in a vise is much easier to split when hitting it on the end grain than on its face. But the face crushes more readily. A compromise with the grain running diagonally into the face works best as in clubhead A. Taylor says to avoid patterns like clubhead B since the toe is prone to splitting, with the short length of grain near the toe not buttressed by wood behind it.

• The shaft is rubbed with boiled linseed oil. After drying, rub, then quickly wipe off some liquid asphaltum. The asphaltum will produce those black lines in the grain that one sees on hickory shafts as well as the amber hue. Pitch, derived from pine used to be applied on shafts in the old days, but it is very difficult to find. Mineral-derived asphaltum is very similar in both appearance and function to pitch. It closes the pores to reduce water damage. One or two thin coats of shellac (thinned 50% with denatured alcohol and applied with a lint-free finely woven rag) finish off the shaft. Liquid asphaltum can be purchased from Dick Blick's Art supply online. Raw solid bitumen has also been described instead of asphaltum, but I have no idea where to purchase bitumen. I wear rubber gloves when applying asphaltum. 

• The scare joint should be at least 4" long, preferably 5 -6" to allow for a better gluing surface. Longer scares have more surface area for gluing. A 4" scare/scarf will suffice for a putter.

• Many long nose clubs had a subtle, or not so subtle, hooked shaped clubface towards the toe.

Hook-shaped clubface.
The grain direction is not ideal for this clubhead.
The curved grain lines should flow toward the clubface.

• The pegs through the ram's horn are angled back away from the face. 

Angle back the peg holes.
To shape the cavity for the horn, hand tools or a trim router will do the job.
A trim router with a fence is handy on difficult grain.

• The round Microplane tool has served me well in shaping the clubhead. It hogs off material quickly. But, a good quality hand-stitched rasp works even better if you can afford one. Wooden spokeshaves are also invaluable for shaping the sole and top of the clubhead as well as the area around the scare joint after gluing

Shaping tools. The wooden spokeshaves and the Microplane (third from the top) are invaluable.

A Putter

Willie Park, Sr

Illuminated letter "H" by Thomas Hodge from Golf, The Badminton Library