JOHN VERY tough to do because the 6/4Ti that many of the head makers use for their driver heads has a very high hardness, in the order of HRC 38 to 42. So engraving machines to do this would have to use special cutting bits which are able to cut into such a high hardness metal.
Not all Ti driver heads are made with the sole made from 6/4. Typically if you see a Ti driver head that is selling on a head only basis to clubmakers for $75 or less, you are looking at a head in which the sole (and crown) is made from what is called CP grade titanium, not 6/4. CP grade is much cheaper, much lower in strength, and is also much lower in hardness, so engraving on a CP grade sole piece would be much easier to do than on a 6/4 alloy sole piece. Next reason is because most Ti driver soles are made so their wall thickness is not typically more than 1.0mm, some even a little less than that. To cut into that thin of a section, depending on the size and length of the letters in the name and where on the sole this was done, could bring about a weaker point on the sole. When name and logos are put on the sole of a Ti driver head, most typically these are done by stamping, not by engraving. This is so when the stamp hammers the letters into the sole, the thickness of the sole under the letter is still the same. In other words, no metal is cut to make the sole thinner. What you might want to investigate would be laser etching. If done in an area of the sole that does not bang into the ground when the club is hit, it will last and can be done so it looks cosmetically ok. TOM -----Original Message----- From: owner-shopt...@mail.msen.com [mailto:owner-shopt...@mail.msen.com] On Behalf Of j...@clubmaker-online.com Sent: Thursday, October 28, 2010 9:44 AM To: shopt...@msen.com Subject: ShopTalk: Marking titanium drivers I've seen personalized putters with hand stamped initials, is it possible to do this on the sole of a titanium driver head? Some sort of etching process? -- John Muir skype: jhmuir AIM: golfcas...@mac.com 810.923.7396 http://clubmaker-online.com http://gripscience.com clubmaker.mobi golf equipment updates at http://twitter.com/golfcast sponsored by Aldila Voodoo http://aldilavoodoo.com -- Shoptalk ** Sponsored by the new Aldila Voodoo. Learn more at http://aldilavoodoo.com/ -- Shoptalk ** Sponsored by the new Aldila Voodoo. Learn more at http://aldilavoodoo.com/
