the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
I first started making golf clubs back in 1976. I remember the day when making a wood involved more steps than just "epoxy the metalwood to the shaft." I used to buy the blanks. Blanks were rough wood turnings of either persimmon or laminated hardrock Canadian maple. They were not smoothed down and ready to be finished and were not bored for the shaft to fit. They also needed the areas for the face insert and soleplate to be routed out. The first job was to trim and bore the hosel (neck) for the shaft. The shafts at that time were predominately tapered steel shafts so the hole had to be graduated in size from around .270 inches at the bottom to around .297 at the top.
Once the hosel was bored the club had to be sanded smooth. Following the smooth sanding of the club the spaces for the face insert (usually a quarter inch thick block of cycolac plastic) and the soleplate (thin steel or aluminum for the driver and 2 wood and brass for all the rest) were routed. Following that step the face insert and soleplate had to be sanded to the lines of the head so there were no bumps or creases. Then the scoring lines were cut into the face of the club and the entire club fine sanded and steel wooled (rubbed with 0000 steel wool) to prepare it for finishing.
Then the club was fitted to the shaft. Epoxy was used but the head was secured by a long backscrew that went through the back of the heel of the head, through the shaft and into the head proper. Finally came the finish. The wood stain or colored stain was painted on very carefully so as not to damage the face of the club or the soleplate. Once the stain was applied the polyurethane followed. The clubhead was dipped into a large mouth can of polyurethane. The runoff had to be monitored so as to protect against a drip on the toe of the club. The club was dipped four times altogether and each coat rubbed with 0000 steel wool to assure the bonding of the next coat. The last coat was allowed to dry and remain as is.
Finally came the whipping thread. One hundred twenty-two turns of a coated nylon thread that started about a quarter inch above the hosel of the club on the shaft and continued on down the hosel to a point just above the break point between the hosel and the head proper. This gave the club a nice finished appearance and protected the thin hosel from breaking at impact on the golf swing. Quite a difference from "epoxy the metalwood head to the shaft."
Today, Christianity is simplified. Live a good life and worship God. What is lost is the essence of that life. Jesus came to serve and tried to pass that on to His disciples. Following the Passover in the upper room, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. His reason? "I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. A servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him." John 13:15, 16 Serving one another in love is the call of the Christ. That starts with relationships; and there's nothing simple about crafting those.
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
