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Antique hickory shafts

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StevenT:
I have been a member of PA for a while an mostly just into the knapping side of things. But I do follow the Bows, Arrows and Primitive Skills discussion groups. I will be the first to admit I have not made a bow or any arrows, but I would like to take the skills I have seen you guys use here and see if I can apply them to another interest I have. That would be love of restoring and playing with antique hickory shaft golf clubs. If any of you are familiar with old hickory shaft golf clubs, you know that most of the time, the shafts on these old clubs start to bow or bend. What I want to do in the restoration of the clubs is to straighten the shafts back out. I am thinking I can use the same techniques you use for shaping staves or straightening arrow shafts. I know this is outside the normal primitive archer interest, but it does have some similarities in that the antique clubs are primitive by today's standards, they have hickory wood shafts and I would be shaping the wood.  If there are any objections to me having this thread here, let me know and I will remove it. If it is ok, I would like to continue by getting you guys opinions and ask some questions about heating and bending wood shafts. And for those that mind wonder... my knapping skills and my golf game are about the same in that I have not mastered either, but I sure love trying.

burchett.donald:
     Steven,
                  I would try a heat-gun. Heat till you can't touch and with a pair of gloves and a towel across my knee or leg try to do some straightening/bending. The heat can cause scorched areas so do it slowly. Maybe a gas grill would do and give you a wider swath of heat. Goodluck
                                                            Don

StevenT:
Thanks Don. What I was wondering is about the dryness of the wood. Since this wood is from the 1920's and 30's, the wood is going to be very dry. I was wondering if I should try to add some moister to the wood before applying the heat. I was thinking of wrapping the wood with a fairly damp towel for a couple days to give it a chance to absorb some moisture. I also recall on another thread that someone applied oil to arrow shafts before heating to help prevent scorching, so was wondering it that works. I was also thinking about making a jig like what folks do for shaping a bow limb and using clamps to gently pull the shaft straight and then applying heat while it is clamped. I am looking for a couple old junk clubs to experiment with, but just looking for different ideas or thoughts before I give it a try.

burchett.donald:
   I wouldn't induce moisture. I don't know where you live but the shafts probably have ambient moisture from your humidity level. You could build a jig of some sort but I would try straightening like I would an arrow. Heat, flex/bend and sight down shaft. Adding moisture through damp towels may cause more warpage. Using oil while straightening may affect your final finish unless you are going to leave them that way but it would help guard against scorching. I would use dry heat only. JMHO...   
                                                         Don

turtle:
I wouldn't add moisture unless you are going to steam them. Otherwise the moisture and dry heat will likely cause the shafts to split. As Don stated they are probably acclimated to your relative humidity and not overly dry unless you live in an extremely arid area. So if it was me, i would use dry heat.

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