Inside the Garsen Workshop: The Space, The Tools, and How We Build Tour-Level Putters
By Jeff Walk, The Garsen Workshop
Ever since the conception of the Garsen Workshop, I’ve been flooded with the exact same questions from golf junkies, amateur players, and gearheads alike: “How do you set up your shop? What tools do you use? What are the exact specs of your equipment?”
You see it in our Instagram Reels, YouTube videos, and other social media, but today we are doing a deep dive into the actual physical space of our home base. I’m talking everything from the specific machinery down to the exact tape, hooks, and solvents I trust every single day to build putters for everyone from high-handicap amateurs to the best players in the world.
Just a quick heads-up: I will give some, but not a full, step-by-step "how-to" rundown on grip installation in this specific blog. If you're looking for those visual walkthroughs, head over and check out the tutorials on our Garsen Workshop Instagram Page. Instead, today is all about pulling back the curtain on the environment, the components, and the machinery that makes the magic happen.
What Is the Garsen Workshop?
Before we talk gear specifics, let's review our vision. The Garsen Workshop isn’t just a room with tools in it; it’s my direct connection to you.
Whether you’re an average golfer looking to shave three putts off your round, a junior golfer climbing the ranks, a putter fanatic, or a touring professional, this workshop is where tour-level execution meets the everyday consumer. I take the exact building, fitting, and tweaking methods utilized on the official tour trucks and showcase them directly to you.
One of the things we pride ourselves on most here at Garsen is being entirely brand agnostic. We aren't locked into a specialty deal with any single OEM. I have the absolute freedom to work with a massive variety of putter manufacturers and shaft brands, from early-stage startups and boutique makers to the major industry names we all know. The Garsen Workshop is our home base outside of corporate headquarters where I can experiment, build, film, and share unvarnished expertise.
This platform has opened up incredible communication channels. Every single day, I monitor our social channels and our dedicated inbox at workshop@garsengolf.com. I receive a massive amount of weekly messages asking for custom grip recommendations, thoughts on unique putter builds, counterbalancing weight strategies, or even the specifics of how many layers of tape to wrap under a specific grip. This workshop was built to give you a direct outlet to a master builder and the Garsen products—something you just won't get from standard manufacturers without paying a bundle for it.
The Physical Environment: Inside the Studio
If you’ve watched our videos, you know the space looks pristine on camera. But if I’m being completely honest, I could always use more space! When you're managing high-volume builds alongside media production, every square foot counts.
The Garsen Workshop isn't just a building bay; it’s a full-scale club fitting studio. On the opposite side of the room, I run a comprehensive simulator bay optimized for fitting and data collection. I do all of my high-end putter fitting and testing using the Foresight GCQuad Essential Putting Analysis software, hitting off premium Big Moss and Fiberbuilt putting surfaces to replicate real-world green speeds and feedback.
When you look around the rest of the room, the walls are lined with staff bags. These aren't just for show. They are packed to the brim with putters from builds we’ve done on past episodes, putters waiting in the queue for upcoming shoots, or ones destined for tour bags out on the road.
I also keep an extensive inventory of raw components on hand to fit any player's profile. Walk over to my component racks and you'll find an array of various putter shafts categorized by performance intent:
Ultra-Premium Performance Elite Carbon/Graphite
Tour Stability (including a prized piece straight from a recent Masters build)
Modern Tour Steel
Heavy-Weight Steel
Specialty/Repair Steel
Standard Steel
Generic/Bench Stock
Generic Specialty
Setting Up a Workshop: From DIY to Heavy-Duty
The workshop can be a very frantic place. Because at times I handle high-volume club building, some of my machinery is catered to pushing things through quickly and efficiently. However, you can absolutely do a lot of this at home.
Whether you want to build a simple workbench in your garage to work on your own gear or handle club maintenance for your weekend foursome and local golf league, a mini-workshop is incredibly achievable.
Here is exactly how I break down the workspace:
1. The Razor's Edge: Hook Blades
Before you can put a pristine new Garsen grip on a putter, the old one has to come off. Do not skimp on your blade. A hook blade is to a club builder what a chef’s knife is to a master cook. You need an incredibly high-quality blade, and more importantly, you need to replace them often.
In my shop, I use the IRWIN brand fixed blade utility knife, with hook blades. They are extremely sharp and will easily cut through any grip I put it up against. If I were to use a dull blade it would require me to apply excess physical force, which drastically increases the risk of hurting myself or deeply scoring the underlying shaft. A razor-sharp hook blade slices cleanly through standard rubber and cord compounds, keeping your hands safe and your workspace efficient.
2. The Gripping Station & Shaft Protection
Regripping is at the core of what I do. If you're doing this at home, a standard workbench vice with a basic rubber vice clamp works just fine to keep the club stable. But in the Garsen Workshop, I use the Quickshaft Clamp by Golf Works.
The Pro Advantage: Unlike a standard rubber insert that you have to crank down manually, a dedicated shaft clamp features an adjustable toggle. It allows me to perfectly calibrate the exact amount of pressure being applied. This is critical because if you tighten a standard bench vice too hard, you can crack or split a graphite shaft instantly or bend a steel shaft. The toggle allows us to clamp steel or graphite securely in a fraction of a second without risk of damage.
The Setup: My station includes a dedicated drip tray. When you're sliding grips on, you need to use a lot of solvent. While most DIYers do this over a trash can and throw the excess away, I recycle mine. I have a hose running from the bottom of the drip tray into an underlying container. I run the captured lubricant through a filter once or twice to remove tape residue or debris, making it clean and ready to use again.
3. The Liquid Gold: Grip Solvent & Tapes
I get tons of questions about what liquids to use during the gripping process.
My Golden Rule: Never use mineral spirits. It might be a few bucks cheaper, but over my years of building, and learning from the absolute best mentors in the industry, mineral spirits simply do not react the same way.
Grip solvent is specifically formulated for rapid evaporation (30–60 minutes) and optimal adhesive compatibility. Mineral spirits are a slower-drying hardware alternative that can leave an oily residue behind, jeopardizing the bond.
I exclusively recommend and use Brampton Grip Solvent, which you can find sourced directly on The Workshop by Garsen Golf Webpage. Modern grip solvents like Brampton are completely non-toxic, odorless, ozone-safe, and flash-resistant. It's incredibly user-friendly.
Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to use a ton of solvent, especially when installing our extended putter grips. The more solvent you use, the more time you give yourself to slide, adjust, and perfectly square the grip before the tape activates and sets. On tour, we can have a putter ready for the practice green in 30 to 40 minutes. If you aren't in a rush, let it cure overnight, and you will never have to worry about a grip slipping.
The Tape: We stock everything on our site from pre-cut double-sided tape strips to massive full rolls depending on the volume you need.
4. Master Level Tape Removal: The Golden Rule of Heat
Once the grip is sliced off, you are left with what most players consider the worst part of club building: old, hardened grip tape. Over the years, I've developed my absolute Rule Number One when it comes to stripping tape cleanly and safely: You must use a handheld blowtorch for steel shafts, and a heat gun for graphite shafts. No exceptions.
Breaking the bond of old adhesive requires heat, but how you apply that heat changes entirely based on the shaft material:
For Steel Shafts (The Blowtorch): Steel is incredibly resilient and dissipates heat rapidly. A quick, controlled pass with a handheld propane torch liquefies stubborn, dried-out tape backing in a matter of seconds. It allows me to strip the shaft completely clean without wasting time.
For Graphite/Carbon Shafts (The Heat Gun): Never, under any circumstance, bring an open flame near a graphite shaft. Graphite shafts are held together by sensitive structural epoxy resins. The intense, concentrated temperature of a blowtorch will permanently melt those resins, destroying the structural integrity of the carbon fibers and rendering the shaft completely unusable and unsafe to use in play. Instead, I use a controlled heat gun to gently warm the tape to a scrape-ready temperature without damaging the underlying material.
Once the tape is properly warmed up, you need the right stripping tool to finish the job. Just out of habit, I’ve resorted to the painful "fingernail pull and scrape" method, but your hands will thank you if you use proper gear. In the shop, I try to rotate through a few distinct options depending on the build:
Grip Tape Remover Tool for Steel Shafts: A heavy-duty, rigid steel scraper built to plow through tough adhesive on resilient steel.
Uneekscraper Grip Tape Remover Tool for Graphite Shafts: Specifically designed with specialized, non-gouging edges that scrape away sticky backing without scratching or splintering sensitive graphite walls.
The Game Changer: I was recently sent a brilliant gadget called the Str8-Strips' Speed Grip Tape Remover. This unique little tool has legitimately cut my tape-stripping process completely in half lately. It lifts old tape cleanly in single passes and is wildly effective for keeping the workflow moving.
5. Alignment Precision
Squaring a putter grip by eye is an art form that you get incredibly good at after years of repetition. But to ensure absolute tour-level precision, I highly suggest utilizing an alignment board.
While you can purchase commercial alignment boards from golf supply outlets, I actually custom-built mine using standard 1x4s squared off. It locks the putter head completely flat and square. I drew precise alignment lines on the board that run perfectly parallel with the sightlines of whatever putter is sitting in it. This allows me to look straight down the shaft and verify that the flat spots or edges of the Garsen grip are mathematically parallel with the putter face. It also makes it incredibly easy when a player requests their grip to be built slightly open or closed.
6. Cutting Down Shafts
There is a massive misconception in golf that shaft lengths are universally standardized. They are not. As we all know, there are plenty of complex rules in golf, but there is actually no governing body rule dictating exactly how an OEM must measure a club. A 35-inch putter from one brand can easily be a quarter-inch or half-inch different from a 35-inch putter from another based on where they measure.
To combat this as much as I can, I use a specialized sliding bench ruler to find our true endpoints: the Golf Mechanix 3-in-1 Bench Mount Ruler.
When it comes to cutting:
The DIY Way: If you are cutting steel, a simple handheld pipe cutter from the hardware store works beautifully. For graphite, you can use a hand hacksaw, but you must buy a specialized blade designed specifically for graphite to prevent splintering.
The Workshop Way: Because I value speed and space, I use a bench-mounted mini chop saw. Specifically, I use the compact Central Machinery 8-Amp 6-Inch Cutoff Saw from Harbor Freight. It takes up almost zero space on my bench. Crucially, I threw out the stock wheel it came with and swapped it for a high-quality, aftermarket Warrior 6” cut-off wheel (1/16” thick, 5/8” arbor, Type 01/41) specifically rated to clean-cut both steel and graphite without fraying.
7. Finishing & Prep Work
For prepping shaft tips and turning ferrules, I run a Central Machinery 1x30 Sanding Belt (another compact, highly efficient find from Harbor Freight). I don't use the version with the 5-inch side disc—just the clean 30-inch belt.
Before applying epoxy to seal a shaft into a putter head, you have to rough up the tip to give the glue something to bite into. I swap out different sanding and felt belts depending on whether I'm prepping raw steel, scoring graphite, or cleanly turning down a custom ferrule.
Take Care of Your Grips
Whether you invest in a heavy-duty setup like mine or keep a simple Garsen Golf Gripping Kit (which includes tape strips, a vice clamp, a hook blade, and solvent) in your garage, you should be swapping your grips at least once a year.
It doesn't matter if you play 100 rounds or 5 rounds physical use isn't the only thing that degrades rubber and synthetic compounds. The intense humidity and extreme temperature fluctuations of storing clubs in your garage or (God forbid) your car trunk will eat away at the materials faster than anything else. In fact, I keep a dedicated dehumidifier running constantly right next to my mass-quantity grip storage racks to preserve their structural integrity.
What's Your Setup Look Like?
At the end of the day, building clubs is a craft, and everyone does it a little bit differently. I've spent years dialing in this space, and it is still always evolving, but I'm always curious to see how other people work.
Hit me up! Drop a comment below, or better yet, shoot me an email directly to workshop@garsengolf.com. I’d love to see your setup or answer any burning questions you have about a specific build, shaft pairing, or strategy you're trying to figure out.