The 2014 Ryder Cup is upon us and Scotland is preparing for the biennial men’s golf competition in 3D printed style. For this year’s event, the University of Dundee and St. Andrews Golf Co. have worked together to recreate a unique 125-year-old golf club from the British Golf Museum in St Andrews.
As a club manufacturer established in 1881, St. Andrews Golf Co. is the last remaining maker of golf clubs in Scotland, responsible for George Nicoll, Tom Stewart, and St Andrews Golf Co., three of the country’s biggest brands. And to pay tribute to and extend their legacy, the company is in the process of restoring historic clubs from the British Golf Museum, starting with the obscure Rake Iron.
The Rake Iron dates all the way back to 1890, developed by an optometrist fed up with removing sand from the eyes of local golfers. To reduce the amount of sand that would fly up in sand traps, the doctor created a novel clubhead with less surface area in favor of large holes. As a first in exploring the recreation of historic golf clubs, the University’s Mechanical & Electrical Engineering department and St. Andrews Golf Co. sought to create an authentic replica of the doctor’s rake iron.
Grant Payne, a graduate from the University’s Product Design program and an employee at St. Andrews, first 3D scanned the ancient iron with a Next Engine 3D Scanner, combining digital images and physical geometries, to render an accurate 3D model of the club, dents, patina, damage and all. Dundee’s Mechanical Engineering department subsequently prepared the model to be 3D printed in metal. The finalized model was transferred over to metal 3D printer manufacturer EOS, which was able to sinter a cobalt chrome replica of the original club over a 29 print process.
Because the resulting print was too strong to be drilled with St Andrews’ traditional methods, the chrome clubhead was handed off to the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) at the University of Strathclyde. Engineers were able to use high-carbide drills to create the hosel, in which the club’s shaft would be inserted. Once ready, the head was returned to St. Andrews, where the club maker fitted it with a hickory shaft and grip.
We are delighted to have assisted in the production of the world’s first metal 3D-printed clubhead. The avenues opened up by combining the latest in manufacturing technology with the traditional craftsmanship practiced by St Andrews Golf Co Ltd are exciting. It was only made possible through our Industrial Partnership with the University and we hope it will demonstrate to people we’re thinking about the future, whilst being considerate of the past.
We are the last true clubmakers, the custodians of the craft, so this was an important project for us to have taken part in, allowing us to ensure that the model was historically accurate. Frankly, without the assistance and expertise of the academics at the University this project would have impossible for us to undertake alone.
In addition, to the Rake Iron, St. Andrews and the University looked into recreating a ‘President’ Water Iron made by James Anderson in 1885. The Water Iron was specifically designed to scoop a lost ball out of the water. The company is looking into recreating numerous clubs of antiquity as teaching aids and to further educate the public on golf. Payne elaborates, “Studying the evolution of golf clubs is one of the best ways of learning about the game’s history. The two clubs we looked at are interesting because they date from a time that was known as golf’s ‘era of innovation’, when the sport as we know it today really came into being.”
Studying the evolution of golf clubs is all fine and dandy, but let’s see the thing hit some 3D printed golf balls!
