[ad_1]
Rolls of core materials at Titleist’s Ball Plant III.
Fashionable golf balls are all “stable core” balls, that means there’s a giant rubber core contained in the ball. Stable core golf balls grew to become widespread beginning in 2000 with the introduction and quick reputation of the unique Titleist Professional V1. It was not the primary stable core ball, however at the moment, most elite golfers have been nonetheless utilizing “wound balls,” which featured cores product of lengthy items of rubber that have been tightly wound collectively to create an brisk, bouncy sphere.
“The core is made principally from polybutadiene, an artificial polymer rubber materials,” stated Titleist’s Derek Ladd, the corporate’s senior mission supervisor of analysis and mental property. “Polybutadiene is resilient, that means that it recovers rapidly when a stress is utilized to it [such as an impact with a golf club]. The extra resilient the golf ball core, the upper the power return [ball speed] when a pressure is utilized to it.”
Core molds for the balls on the Titleist Ball Plant III in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. (Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox)
The exact manufacturing methods that manufacturers use to make balls contain many proprietary machines and strategies, however the rubber cores begin off as a combination that resembles cake batter. It’s reduce into small items that appear like D-size batteries and positioned in molds which might be heated and put below excessive stress. The method makes the cores completely spherical and far firmer, however they’re nonetheless bouncy.
Joel Botelho works within the core molding space at Titleist Ball Plant III in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. (Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox)
Two-piece balls are then given a canopy that’s normally constructed from Surlyn or one other ionomer. These polymer supplies have resins and different stabilizers in them which might be additionally used within the dental trade and as sealants.
Titleist balls going by the paint course of on the Titleist Ball Plant III. (Golfweek/Tracy Wilcox)
After the quilt is added, the balls are painted, the numbers and logos are utilized, after which a clear-coat materials is sprayed over the ball to maintain it from getting stained and to assist preserve the graphics in place.
The four-piece 2024 Callaway Chrome Tour has one core and two mantle layers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)
If a producer is making a three-piece golf ball, a casing layer (which can be known as a mantle) is added over the core earlier than an ionomer or urethane cowl is placed on the ball. 4-piece balls might have a dual-core development, with a small core encased in a bigger core, or a dual-mantle design that options one core, two mantles and a single cowl. TaylorMade is the one model that provides a five-piece ball, with the TP5 and TP5x each having one core, three mantles and a urethane cowl.
[ad_2]
Source link
