Post by cloran on Dec 8, 2010 11:02:42 GMT -5
I was reading an older article on mygolfspy.com from Jeff Sheets of the Sheets Design Group (posted April 13, 2010). I then jumped over to check out their site. I was fascinated to read all the behind the scenes stuff that Jeff details in the "Past Projects and Designs" section of their site. Really cool stuff.
Jeff designed the more blade-like versions of the often overlooked "Top-Flite Tour" irons, the '99 Hogan Apex irons (the first set produced by Spaulding after the purchase of the Hogan company in '97), and most recently the 2010 MacGregor VIP irons and ROTA putters.
[He is also the guy who made this picture as part of his study of the Hogan iron history and design tradition]
One part I found particulary interesting was regarding his design of the Snake Eyes 600B/C/XC forged irons. Jeff has been Golfsmith's Chief Technology Officer since 2002. Aparently all of his previous forged designs had been done through Endo in Japan. The '99 Hogan Apex blades are Endo forged for example. Mr. Miura himself had offered to have this new design (snake eyes 600) forged at one of his "botique" factories, wow... but aparently this design had to be shown to a forging factory in China first, VirageTech.
Long story short, VirageTech beat out Endo due to their new technology and equipment... here's a quote from the site:
"This was a new process that had not been commercialized by any other manufacturers. The multi-stage forging operation resulted in an extremely tight molecular compaction of the carbon steel for a solid yet soft feel in each club. Four years later other large OEMs would following behind with this same forging process."
This was in 2004. Does anyone know when Mizuno coined the phrase "grain flow forging?"
Check out Jeff's site. It's amazing what happens behind closed doors and how things are developed, designed, and ultimately manufactured.
Who'd have guessed that the Snake Eyes 600 irons would be forged as well, if not better, than Mizzy-Tittleist-Nike, etc. So much for the "component vs. OEM" debate.
Jeff goes on to say that to this day he plays the next generation of the Snake Eyes 600s... the 675. They use a softer steel than the 600s (1030 for the 675s, S45C for the 600s) and are forged with the same process.
Jeff also designed the 40th anniversary set of irons for Golfsmith, the G40 and G40+. I owned a set of the G40 and loved them! They were cast, but made of 8620 carbon steel and I was still able to bend them 6* flat with no problems. Jeff made the design in less than 5 minutes... lol.
Jeff also put up pictures and details of some of the designs that didn't make it to the marketplace... pretty neat. "doomed & duds" section.
HERE'S A LINK TO THE ARTICLE I WAS READING. IT DESCRIBES THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACTION THAT LEAD TO THE DESIGN OF THE '99 APEX IRONS:
www.mygolfspy.com/1999-hogan-apex-blades/
Jeff designed the more blade-like versions of the often overlooked "Top-Flite Tour" irons, the '99 Hogan Apex irons (the first set produced by Spaulding after the purchase of the Hogan company in '97), and most recently the 2010 MacGregor VIP irons and ROTA putters.
[He is also the guy who made this picture as part of his study of the Hogan iron history and design tradition]
One part I found particulary interesting was regarding his design of the Snake Eyes 600B/C/XC forged irons. Jeff has been Golfsmith's Chief Technology Officer since 2002. Aparently all of his previous forged designs had been done through Endo in Japan. The '99 Hogan Apex blades are Endo forged for example. Mr. Miura himself had offered to have this new design (snake eyes 600) forged at one of his "botique" factories, wow... but aparently this design had to be shown to a forging factory in China first, VirageTech.
Long story short, VirageTech beat out Endo due to their new technology and equipment... here's a quote from the site:
"This was a new process that had not been commercialized by any other manufacturers. The multi-stage forging operation resulted in an extremely tight molecular compaction of the carbon steel for a solid yet soft feel in each club. Four years later other large OEMs would following behind with this same forging process."
This was in 2004. Does anyone know when Mizuno coined the phrase "grain flow forging?"
Check out Jeff's site. It's amazing what happens behind closed doors and how things are developed, designed, and ultimately manufactured.
Who'd have guessed that the Snake Eyes 600 irons would be forged as well, if not better, than Mizzy-Tittleist-Nike, etc. So much for the "component vs. OEM" debate.
Jeff goes on to say that to this day he plays the next generation of the Snake Eyes 600s... the 675. They use a softer steel than the 600s (1030 for the 675s, S45C for the 600s) and are forged with the same process.
Jeff also designed the 40th anniversary set of irons for Golfsmith, the G40 and G40+. I owned a set of the G40 and loved them! They were cast, but made of 8620 carbon steel and I was still able to bend them 6* flat with no problems. Jeff made the design in less than 5 minutes... lol.
Jeff also put up pictures and details of some of the designs that didn't make it to the marketplace... pretty neat. "doomed & duds" section.
HERE'S A LINK TO THE ARTICLE I WAS READING. IT DESCRIBES THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACTION THAT LEAD TO THE DESIGN OF THE '99 APEX IRONS:
www.mygolfspy.com/1999-hogan-apex-blades/
