How Golf Balls, Clubs, Carts, & Tees Are Made | How It's Made | Science Channel

Science Channel16 minutes read

Golf balls are made through a detailed process involving rubber, chemicals, and high heat to create cores and outer shells with dimples, while wooden and stainless-steel golf clubs are crafted with specific materials and techniques to ensure quality and performance standards are met. Golf tees are produced from white birch logs, processed into Dow boards, molded into tee shapes, and coated with paint to yield a final product ready for use.

Insights

  • Golf balls are manufactured through a complex process involving rubber, chemicals, and high-pressure molding, creating cores and outer shells with dimples, showcasing the evolution from feather-made to modern rubber-based balls.
  • Golf clubs, whether made from traditional Pimon wood or aerospace-grade stainless steel, undergo meticulous crafting processes, including wax patterns, ceramic dipping, casting, and precision adjustments, ensuring quality and performance standards are met before being ready for use.

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Recent questions

  • How are modern golf balls manufactured?

    Modern golf balls are created by mixing rubber with chemicals to form a hot batter rolled out between steel drums and shaped into slugs resembling large marshmallows. These slugs are then compressed in a mold machine at high pressure and baked at 332°F for 13 minutes to form solid cores. The cores are further processed by pushing melted plastic through tubes into a mold cavity to create the outer shell with dimples. The injection molding system produces four dozen golf balls per minute, which are then cleaned, checked for smoothness and uniformity, stamped with player numbers and company names, and sprayed with polyurethane for protection.

  • How are wooden golf clubs traditionally crafted?

    Wooden golf clubs, rooted in tradition, are crafted from Pimon wood. The process begins with a log being sliced into quarters and shaped using a duplicating machine guided by a Master model. The wood is then carved with slots for plastic inserts and lead pellets to achieve the desired weight. Club heads are refined with sole plates, metal sleeves, and face scoring for spin, stained, sealed, and coated with polyurethane. Shafts are cut to length, wrapped with tape, and fitted with rubber grips aligned using laser guides for proper hand positioning.

  • What materials are used to create golf club heads?

    Aerospace-grade stainless steel is used to create golf club heads. The process starts with wax patterns formed by injecting hot wax into molds, dipping in ceramic material, and hardening with silica sand. The metal heads are then cast in molds heated to 1800°F. After removing excess wax, grinding off gates and runners, and sandblasting for finish, model badges and paint are added. Shafts are attached with epoxy, cut to length, wrapped with tape, and aligned with laser guides for proper positioning.

  • How are golf tees manufactured?

    Golf tees are made from white birch logs processed at a sawmill. The logs are scaled, debarked, sawn into shorter lengths, secured for cutting, and shaped into tees using saws and rollers. Boards are cut into Dow boards measuring 18 inches each, which are then transformed into round Dows through a molding process involving rotating heads. An inspector sorts close to 19,000 Dows per hour, removing defective pieces and setting aside those needing further cutting before they are shaped into tees. The tees undergo tumbling, sanding, painting, and drying processes to create the final product.

  • What is the purpose of dimples on golf balls?

    Dimples on golf balls help reduce drag and increase lift, allowing the ball to travel farther and more accurately. The dimpled surface creates a thin turbulent boundary layer of air that clings to the ball's surface, reducing the drag force acting on it. This aerodynamic effect helps golfers achieve longer distances and better control over their shots.

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Summary

00:00

Evolution of Golf Equipment: Balls, Clubs, Tees

  • Golf balls come in different types, with highly skilled golfers often using wound balls made of rubber thread tightly wound over a core for better control, while most people use two-piece balls with a core covered in dimpled material.
  • Modern golf balls have evolved significantly from early feather-made ones to today's rubber-based balls, which are created by mixing rubber with chemicals to form a hot batter rolled out between steel drums and shaped into slugs resembling large marshmallows.
  • The slugs are then compressed in a mold machine at high pressure and baked at 332°F for 13 minutes, resulting in solid golf ball cores, which are further processed by pushing melted plastic through tubes into a mold cavity to form the outer shell with dimples.
  • The injection molding system produces four dozen golf balls per minute, which are then cleaned by removing excess plastic, checked for smoothness and uniformity, stamped with player numbers, company names, and model types using silicone pads and ultraviolet light, and sprayed with polyurethane for protection.
  • Wooden golf clubs, rooted in tradition, are crafted from Pimon wood, starting with a log sliced into quarters, shaped using a duplicating machine guided by a Master model, and carved with slots for plastic inserts and lead pellets to achieve the desired weight.
  • The club heads are further refined with sole plates, metal sleeves, and face scoring for spin, stained, sealed, and coated with polyurethane, with shafts cut to length, wrapped with tape, and fitted with rubber grips aligned using laser guides for proper hand positioning.
  • Aerospace-grade stainless steel is used to create golf club heads, starting with wax patterns formed by injecting hot wax into molds, dipping in ceramic material, and hardening with silica sand, followed by casting the metal heads in molds heated to 1800°F.
  • The club heads are then processed by removing excess wax, grinding off gates and runners, sandblasting for finish, adding model badges and paint, attaching shafts with epoxy, cutting shafts to length, wrapping grips with tape, aligning grips with laser guides, and adjusting loft and lie angles using computer analysis.
  • The precision process includes weighing the clubs and adding thermoplastic and metal weights to meet specifications, ensuring quality and performance standards are met before the clubs are ready for use.
  • Golf tees, essential for tee shots, were popularized in the 1920s, with white birch logs processed at a sawmill to yield thousands of tees, starting with scaling logs, debarking, sawing into shorter lengths, securing logs for cutting, and shaping them into tees using saws and rollers.

21:08

"From Boards to Tees: The Manufacturing Process"

  • Boards are cut into Dow boards measuring 18 inches each, which are then transformed into round Dows through a molding process involving rotating heads. An inspector sorts close to 19,000 Dows per hour, removing defective pieces and setting aside those needing further cutting before they are shaped into tees.
  • The tees undergo a tumbling and sanding process to smooth their surfaces, with a machine separating good tees from bad ones based on shape. Tees are then coated with water-based paint, dried, and given an extra coat of enamel paint if they require printing, resulting in a final product that can be shiny or matte, plain or printed.
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