Tip Trimming Graphite Iron Shafts (Recoil Proto 125)

[simmi352]

Does anyone have any experience in tip trimming heavy graphite iron shafts like Recoil Proto 125?

 

Will taking 0.5 inch off make it more susceptible to shaft breakage?

 

I know most of you will say hardstep as the preferred option, but I just happen to come across 4 to PW recoil proto 125 F4 and I was thinking about putting it in 5 to GW set that I have.

 

I've tried searching but I don't think I've come across a definitive answer on this topic.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[gdb99]

Taper tip or parallel tip?

 

You don’t want to be tipping taper tip shafts.

[st1800e]

According to their website those shafts are taper tip.  So no trimming taper shafts.  If the deal is that good , use the 5-PW shafts and buy another wedge shaft for your GW. 

[taki27]

2 hours ago, st1800e said:

According to their website those shafts are taper tip.  So no trimming taper shafts.  If the deal is that good , use the 5-PW shafts and buy another wedge shaft for your GW. 

This ⬆️

[gdb99]

4 hours ago, simmi352 said:

Does anyone have any experience in tip trimming heavy graphite iron shafts like Recoil Proto 125?

 

Will taking 0.5 inch off make it more susceptible to shaft breakage?

 

I know most of you will say hardstep as the preferred option, but I just happen to come across 4 to PW recoil proto 125 F4 and I was thinking about putting it in 5 to GW set that I have.

 

I've tried searching but I don't think I've come across a definitive answer on this topic.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

If you put the 4-PW in your 5-GW, you would be soft stepping, not hard stepping. 
It equates to 1/3 flex change, or so. You probably wouldn’t notice, and would be the preferred option. 

[Stuart_G]

7 hours ago, simmi352 said:

Will taking 0.5 inch off make it more susceptible to shaft breakage?

 

For most taper tip graphite shafts - you can usually get away with 1/2" of tipping without compromising the shaft.  Not sure I'd want to go much beyond that though.

 

The problem is that all graphite shafts have reinforced tip sections where the wall thickness is much thicker to handle the higher stresses that occur at the top of the hossel.  It is possible that if you tip trim too much, the shaft section at the top of the hossel will no longer be reinforced.  Unfortunately, unlike parallel tip shafts, the manufacturers do not publish information about how big or long that reinforced section is.   So it's hard to predict how much tipping it can take before the shaft will be compromised.   

 

You wont see a lot of hard data about that here and like the previous answers - people will tend to be more conservative in their advice.    So it's always a good idea to check directly with the shaft manufacturers customer service about how much tipping it can safely handle.    But I do know a few have asked that of UST before and were told that 1/2" would not be a problem.

 

2 hours ago, gdb99 said:

If you put the 4-PW in your 5-GW, you would be soft stepping, not hard stepping. 

 

I'm guessing that's the reason he want's to tip them, to compensate for the soft stepping.

 

Edited July 30 by Stuart_G

[simmi352]

I'll try it straight in first and then see how it feels and go from there.

 

On a side note, I have MMT 105 TX in my 4 iron and that works really well, have demoed 105TX in irons too and that felt stable and couldn't tell it was a 113g shaft as it felt head heavy.

Tried MMT125 stiff and that felt like it had more movement than the 105TX (still stable) but I didn't mind that at all as the heavier and slightly softer shafts does help with smoothing out my tempo.

 

Previously coming from PX6.5 1x SS.

 

Thanks everyone for their response though.

[Nessism]

Tip 3/8".  They will insert fine.  Not a full hard step, but close enough.  

 

BTW, you can still get new sets of those 125 Recoil Proto's for a great price.  Don't pay a whole bunch for used.  Search ebay if in doubt.

[Stuart_G]

6 hours ago, simmi352 said:

I'll try it straight in first and then see how it feels and go from there.

 

If you've never had a chance to test that shaft before, that's usually the best idea.   Once you take some off the tip, there's no way to put it back on. 🙂

 

Just build a single club first and leave it 1/2" long at the butt end, then go test choking up and see how it feels.  If you like it, go trim the butt.   If you think it's too soft, go back and trim the tip.  It's easy to add the taper back by hand on graphite shafts.   Blow on the grip will make it easier to save and reuse if you do go back to butt trim to length.

 

Now if it was a shaft you'd been using for a while in a previous set and know you like it as it is (not soft stepped), then the recommendation might be different.

Edited July 30 by Stuart_G