Manufacturers tolerance levels....

One issue is that there are no accepted National or International standards that govern the form and fit of golf heads and shafts. Each manufactureer sets their own manufacturing standards, as such they could be very wide.

However I would suggest that each manufacturer would have a reasonable quality control system that ensured a degree of repeatability in the manufacturing standards for their own products.

Metal woods will be assembled in a fixture and welded with a multi axis lazer that will have very high levels of standardisation. The casting and forging processes used to manufacture irons will also be such that they are of a repeatable nature. If anything a forging process will be more open to variations in tolerance due to the amount of hand shaping and finishing required.
 
I think there are a number of seperate but related issues here.

  • Manufacturing tolerances - (due to variable quality control)
  • Misrepresentation of loft/flex, etc - (due to marketing)
  • Variations in measuring and labelling loft, lie, flex, etc - (due to lack of standardisation)
A good reason never to buy something that you haven't tried.

An interesting thread and maybe one for GM to follow up. Could be a candidate amongst others for a "Mythbusters" type feature.
 
I'm with Murph on this to a degree and it certainly raises a question of what you are getting delivered if you order a C/F set made from scratch (or at least assembled from components) compared to just bashing a 10.5 degree off the peg driver, thinking its ok and buying that. I've as much idea about engineering as I do about chipping so I'll leave it to you brains out there to decide whether the OP has a valid concern and how much is acceptable tolerance
 
7 hrs later...............well?

Couldnt measure my club as they were busy fitting two guys there. But I did discuss at length with Precision and yes, even Titleist drivers are 1 to 2 degs over stated loft. Because of the macho image, no one will buy a driver at 12, 13 or 14 degs... They also said that very very rarely drivers are under loft, so the tolerance issue doesn't seem to exist.
 
So it's misrepresentation then.

Are we really so Macho and stuck up our own backsides that we won't play with a 13 degree driver when we can spank it out there a mile...?

Hell, if some people will play with a club called Rocketballz.....
 
Are we really so Macho and stuck up our own backsides that we won't play with a 13 degree driver when we can spank it out there a mile...?
Er. Apparently Yes. That's why the RBZ's lofts are 9.5, 10.5 and HL!

Generally,in Golf, loft is your friend - and ego is not.
 
Couldnt measure my club as they were busy fitting two guys there. But I did discuss at length with Precision and yes, even Titleist drivers are 1 to 2 degs over stated loft. Because of the macho image, no one will buy a driver at 12, 13 or 14 degs... They also said that very very rarely drivers are under loft, so the tolerance issue doesn't seem to exist.

If the loft on the club is different to the actual loft, it doesn't mean there is a tolerance issue, just that they put a different number on the bottom. I would be stunned if there was such a big tolerance.
 
Imo this is all a storm in a teacup. Everything has to be manufactured to tolerences. Look at women's clothes ffs. My mrs (and women in general ) prefer buying from shops that label sizes smaller than they are.

Also, when I had my old bedshop, manufacturers were allowed certain tolerances, but they manufactured well within them - threy were used as a safeguard. And they also aimed to be slightly larger than stated rather than under. So the variation might say +/- but it just wouldn't be undersize.
 
It makes me wonder if people are getting confused with the stated loft and the dynamic loft. A lot of clubs out there launch the ball higher than is stated due to them being designed like that. Take the R11s for example I am looking at getting one so done a lot of reading on them. Because of that sole plate that is in the back, weight has been added at the back of the club. So apparently it has increased the dynamic loft, so the 9* is more like a 10* if you have it set to the neutral setting. Also the 10.5* is more like an 11.5*.
 
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i think everyone is getting a bit carried away with this. a single degree is very small. we affect this all the time by the way we hold the club in our hands and the different ways we bring the club back to impact. as amateurs, we very rarely swing the club in the same way twice. we are not robots, so a small degree difference wont make much difference.
 
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