Forging:  
A Time Proven Method of Club Production
Jeff Jackson, Dynacraft Golf

Typically golf clubs may be made via one of two common processes, casting and forging.  Casting, quite simply, involves pouring molten metal into a mold to produce a golf club head.  Forging, on the other hand, involves taking a piece of malleable steel and subjecting it to a series of steps in which the club is literally pounded into shape by a combination of stamping dies and hand operations.  Forging is a much more labor intensive operation than is casting; this, in addition to raw material and plating cost, is a key reason that forged clubs are noticeably more expensive than most cast models.

Forging was the only way iron heads were made until the early 1970's.  Investment casting, due to technology and cost constraints did not become a popular way to make clubs until the mid-1970's.  (Carl Ross and John Riley of Lynx were key players in the transition of golf manufacturing from forged to cast clubs.)  All of the classic MacGregor and Spalding irons were forged, as were the famed Wilson Staffs, among others.  It took skilled craftsmen many hours of hand work to complete work on a forged head.  Forged irons were - and still are - considered to be precision instruments.

It has been only in the past few years that forging has been used as a method by which to make titanium wood heads in addition to continuing to be used to produce iron heads.  Forged titanium (ti) heads are usually made in 4 pieces.  The body (crown and back) and sole are forged from 100% , or "pure", ti.  Pure titanium is a softer form of titanium compared to the 6-4 ti that is used to produce the face and hosel on forged ti metal woods.  The 6-4 alloy of titanium is too hard to be forged easily; its 6% aluminum and 4% vanadium additions make it noticeably harder and more costly than pure ti.  When making forged titanium wood heads, the same processes are followed for the body and sole as are followed when forging irons.  The pieces are then welded together to make the actual finished wood head.  

Why the big mystique about forged clubs?  One, all of the hand operations lend an aura of "uniqueness" to each head.  The fact that forged clubs are made from softer steels leads some players to believe they feel softer when they strike the ball.  (Actual player tests have proven this not to be the case though.)  All forgings until the 1980's were blade style forgings; better players are able to "work" the ball with blades as compared to cavity backs.  As forged irons are chrome plated; the "look" of the club makes them be perceived as expensive products.  Most tour players, until just this past decade have extensively favored forged head, adding to their mystique.  Plus, since forged heads are more expensive than cast heads (labor, raw material cost, plating), they are perceived as being "better" as a result!  In all actuality, a ball struck with a forged head and a cast head will yield identical results.  

Let's examine some facts related to forged and cast heads.  Forged heads are softer than are cast heads.  Metal hardness is measured on what is called a Rockwell Hardness Scale.  Higher letter/number designations indicate harder steels.  Carbon steels, which are the types of steels used in iron forgings, rate a Rockwell Hardness of B85. Stainless steels used in castings have a harnesses of C20 for 431 stainless and C35 or 17-4.  6-4 titanium rates at C35, with forged ti about 15-20 points lower.  While machines are able to discern these hardness differences, actual golfers are not sensitive enough to tell the difference.  Many players may say that they can surely tell a club is forged versus cast, but what they are most likely feeling is the head design rather than the metal composition of the head.  If two identically-designed heads, one cast and one forged, are hit by even the best players in the world, they will not be able to consistently tell the difference in head material.

Now that we know some specifics concerning forged heads, let's examine the forging process itself for a moment. The first step in forging, known as "rough forging", involves taking a solid steel tube approximately 2" in diameter and 5�" long and heating it to 1200 degrees Celsius.  The specific sizes of the steel ingots will vary with the club head number being forged.  That is the sand wedge ingot will be larger than the #1 iron ingot.  These heated ingots are then pressed into their rough shape by a series of 1/2 ton or heavier mechanical presses.  These presses stand nearly 15 feet tall and exert a tremendous force (and noise!) on the soon-to-be club head.   

The club heads they form are as a result of forging dies.  Forging dies are hand-made negative image blanks that approximately duplicate the actual club head shape.  The dies are approximately 20% larger than the actual size of the finished club head to allow shaping in later steps.  While the freshly pressed rough shape is still red hot, a second press, similar to the first one, cuts any flashing (excess metal) from the head, now making it look much more like a golf club than a metal rod.  At this point though, it is still difficult to discern the actual club head number or design.  It isn't until this point that  it is certain the product will be a golf club head of some type.   

After this twice-pressed head cools for a few days, it is chemically cleaned to remove any dust, dirt or oxidation that may be present on the head.  The cleaned head is heated again, this time to 800 degrees Celsius, and 1/2 ton presses apply their force to the head, yielding what is considered to be a raw forging.  A raw forging is a slightly oversize version of what will be the finished head.  The back and face shapes are evident, but no markings are yet in or on the head.  It is clear at this point what the finished shape will be - whether it will be cavity or blade, the width of the sole, etc.  It is not exactly clear what the head number of the raw forging will be, but through measuring this can be determined.  (Actually, as part of the 1/2 ton press stamping, the die used to stamp the head does have a small identifying mark on it, but it is not visible without a close look at the head.)  

The raw heads are weighed and must meet a tolerance of +10/-0 grams over a certain weight specification.  Any underweight head will be rejected.  The raw forging typically has an overall weight of almost 70 grams over what the finished head will be.  This is due to there being a large amount of material being removed in the shaping of the finished head.  Often excess weight is ground from the faces as the raw forgings are thicker in the face than will be the finished heads.  A later step will ensure the faces are ground to their final flatness.  Material is never welded to the raw forging to achieve a certain weight or shape, but is always ground away to make an exacting finished club head.  

The next step in the forging process involves the use of a metal working lathe.  The hosels of the forgings are precision lathed to a specific outside diameter.  This diameter also provides a reference point for future hand grinding operations.  The grinding of the crotch area of the head as well as the heel area must blend with this correctly sized hosel.  The hosels are then bored by drill presses to exact depth and inside diameter specifications.  There are some forging foundries that actually forge the head as one unit and the hosel piece as one piece and then weld them together prior to this lathing step.  In any event, at the completion of this step, the club head now has a hosel that will accept a shaft.

Many hand operations, by among the most-skilled workers in the foundry, follow these hosel preparation steps.  Every #5 iron is to look like every other #5 iron - a very tedious and exacting process that requires tremendous repetitive skill.  Faces of the heads are now pressed and ground flat into their finished specification.  The weights of the clubs are reduced through grinding to their final weight spec.  Head shapes near their finished look as workers meticulously grind angles, radii, leading and trailing edges and other specs on massive sanding belts spinning at over 10,000 rpm.  Club weight is checked and re-checked during the grinding process.  If too much weight is taken off, the head is rejected.  Gram weight scales and actual head samples are beside each worker to ensure accurate weight removal and head shape.  Keeping the head shapes precise while at the same time maintaining weight tolerances is a difficult procedure.     

The sole of the club is stamped next.  Numbers are stamped on the toe and the manufacturer's name is typically stamped on the sole as well.  Face lines are now put into the club face by another stamping machine.  To accomplish all of the stampings, a jig must be made for each individual iron.  Once it is secured in the jig, the worker will roll-stamp or die-stamp the engravings into the head.  The cavity or back stampings are done next, in the very same manner.  The presses that stamp the engravings into the head are not nearly as large as those responsible for the head's raw shape.  They look like drill presses, but with stamping dies where the drill chuck would typically be located. 

Lofts and lies are checked and set at this point.  Each manufacturer provides the foundry a precise set of specs for all parts of the head.  Most often, an exact set of heads is used as a guide to make all future production.  This ensures that every head will look as it should, from one production run to the next.  A final quality control operation is now done to be certain the head's shape, weigh and specifications are correct. 

It's on to the finishing process now that the forging itself is completed.  Visually the heads look perfect except that they lack any finish coating.  As an initial finishing step, the heads are placed in machines called tumblers.  These tumblers, which contain various grits of plastic and/or rock material, look much like your grandmother's old time washing machine.  The heads move about in the tumbler by means of a gentle agitation that smoothes out any irregularities that may remain on the raw head.  This process takes anywhere from a couple of hours to an entire day, depending upon the type of head being tumbled.  (Cavity backs take longer to ensure a consistent finish along the inside of the cavity.)

After removal from the tumblers, the heads are polished by hand with very fine paper, nylon, linen or fabric belts and are then buffed to a semi-high luster.  This finish is not perfectly smooth, but is very close to it.  (A perfectly smooth finish will prevent chrome from adhering during the plating process.)  Chrome plating is applied to the heads in a two-three part process.  Typically 10-15 microns of nickel is applied under 5 or less microns of chrome.  Certain companies may also use a layer of copper as part of the plating process.  The plating process involves dipping the heads in a chemical bath that is electrically charged.  This process, known as electroplating, bonds the nickel or chrome to the head for a long-lasting finish.  These shiny heads look stunning as they are removed from the electrostatic bath.   

After plating the head is masked (The areas that are to stay shiny are covered with an electrical type of tape.) so that the score line area can be sandblasted.  If the head is a cavity back model, the cavity may be sandblasted or painted as part of this step as well.  As a final finish step, the engravings are paint filled and the head is given one last inspection.  From start to finish, each club head is forged at least 4 times, ground 14 times and inspected nearly 20 times.  The work is done by 15 or more machines, nearly two-dozen workers and numerous forging dies and patterns.  The forging process is an intensive, time-consuming process, not only from the point of view of its many manufacturing steps, but from a quality control standpoint as well.  A forged club is definitely a precision piece of golf equipment - more so than most golfers will ever appreciate!