Removing Steel Shafts Which Broke Off Flush with the Hosel

One task a club repairmen may encounter is when a steel shaft has broken off flush with the top of the hosel. There are a couple of ways to solve the problem in order to reshaft the club, but the last resort is to drill the shaft out, as will be explained later. There are only a few tools that will be needed to complete the task. A screw extractor (or easyout), a padded vise to secure the head, hammer, crescent wrench (or vise grip or T-handle), electric hand drill, assorted drill bits and a propane torch.

Steps for Removing a Graphite Shaft Broken Flush with the Hosel

First, secure the head in the vise pads so that the hosel is positioned at an upward angle in which to work on. It may be necessary to drill out any foreign debris that might me in the hosel such as cork, swingweighting material or even dirt. Once completely cleared out, heat the hosel with a propane torch to break the epoxy bond. This may require 30 seconds or more of heat depending upon how old the club is. (Note: Make sure you or no one else is within line with the hosel should the shaft piece project outward from the hosel, safety glasses should also be worn) A heat gun or a heat metal rod inserted into the shaft can be used as well, but will take much longer for the heat to transfer. Should the head be a metal wood, then caution should be made not to discolor any painted or urethane covered portion of the head.

Next, place the appropriate sized easyout into the hosel and forcefully pound it into the shaft with a hammer until it becomes a force fit.

Place a crescent wrench, vise grip or T-handle securely on the square end of the easyout and turn counter-clockwise to loosen the shaft piece. If you are lucky enough because the hosel is parallel tipped or a relatively new clubhead, the broken shaft piece may come right out. However, if the shaft piece fails to come out or slip, remove the easyout and repeat the last step. (Note: Never heat the hosel with the easyout inserted into the hosel as this can change the tempering of the easyout and possibly cause it to break off within the hosel)

Once the broken piece has been successfully removed from the hosel, take it off the easyout and allow it to cool. Do not throw the piece away as you will need to measure the tip diameter to determine the appropriate size for replacement. In certain cases this method may not work as the shaft could be rusted inside the head, it might be a taper tip shaft that has been dimpled and driven in securely (like a lot of older Wilson clubs), or in the remote case a threaded shaft. You can try to soak the hosel overnight or squirt some WD-40 to penetrate between the shaft and hosel to loosen the shaft, then retry the process.

In the event you still cannot remove the stubborn broken piece of shaft, then it might be advisable to drill the shaft out of the hosel. On many older irons, the hosels are tapered. It is difficult to tell this ahead of time as some heads that may be normally come equipped with a taper tip shaft could have been reshafted and rebored by another club repairman. It is suggested that a drill press and some sort of ironhead boring fixture be used as trying to drill out the shaft with a hand-held drill is difficult at best. Because there is the potential that the hosel is tapered, it is suggested that you start out with an undersized drill bit (T-size or smaller). This will help to take a little bit out at a time as well as preserve the tapered hosel.

Repairing steel-shafted golf clubs that have been broken off flush with the hosel can be a crap shoot. In some cases it will take very little effort, while other times you may be working on it for an hour or more. Hopefully this has shown you the in’s and out’s of tackling this procedure in the future.

Related links:

How to Remove a Graphite Shaft Flush with the Hosel