CMBD Custom Golf Club Putter Made With CNC Machining
Services
Product Name
Custom Golf Club Putter
Manufacturing
CNC machining
Sandblasting
Material
D2 Tool Steel
Lead Time
11 Days
About The Product Designer
CMBD Custom Putters was established by British engineer Charles Martin-Bassett, to create putters which are fit to golfer’s natural putting strokes, customised to their style, tailored to their feel and engineered to roll. Each is unique but all are designed and built to the highest manufacturing standards and tolerances using only the finest materials.
About The Product
The team at CMBD uses stainless and high-carbon steel to suit the unique requirements of each design. For the club head they decided to use Japanese D2 tool steel. D2 tool steel is a specialty grade of air-hardened, high-carbon steel noted for exceptional toughness, hardness, dimensional stability and abrasion resistance.
Taking A Close Look At The Design
Because they’re professional product designers and engineers, CMBD carefully prepared CAD files ready to go straight into production without the need for a design for manufacturing review. They were after a one-off customized golf putter so using our prototyping service matched their needs well.
Although it may seem simple, the ideal putter is a careful orchestration of features calibrated to control mass distribution to achieve the perfect feel.
Every feature of the club head performs an essential function to its overall performance. The hosel is the place where the club shaft will later be mounted. Its location and angle relative to the face defines the center of gravity and how the club feels in the hand.
The ultimate goal of this design is to create the perfect “sweet spot” for striking the ball cleanly.
We milled excess mass out of the cavity behind the face. This area also provides a large targeting zone for aligning the club head along the line of the putt while striking the ball precisely at the centerpoint – the sweet spot.
Rounding the sole helps the head to ride on the surface of the grass during a stroke.
The sole was designed with a complex, compound curve that is rounded slightly in all directions. It was carefully designed to help prevent the head from digging into the turf during a miss hit. Notice also additional weight was strategically removed from the cutouts in the sole.
Making The Part
It’s critical that the centerpoint is precisely located.
We used precision multi-axis CNC machining to fabricate the entire club head from a single block of D2 steel. CNC machining is fast, accurate, doesn’t require any fixed tooling and is ideal for shaping the complex geometry of the part. We used a specialty endmill to make a bullseye point at the exact center along the top line of the head.
All CMBD putters are engraved with the maker’s mark.
The “CMBD” name was engraved on the face of the putter with another endmill. Note that we’ve switched off the flow of cutting fluid in this image for clarity. Since D2 steel is very hard, all milling work was done slowly, with carbide cutters and lots of lubrication.
Holding fixtures are sacrificial
We made custom holding fixtures which accurately conform to the complex curvature of the body so it’s held firmly during machining. This ensures careful machining as well as safety. These fixtures will sustain incidental tool marks in the course of making the part shape.
The location of the hosel determines the alignment of the club shaft.
The hole for the club shaft must be drilled into the hosel to a precise depth. The hosel angle was calibrated by the designer for the particular stance of the golfer, so that in a relaxed position relative to the ball the club will naturally rest flat on the ground. A good putt is a relaxed putt.
Finished putter with a sandblasted natural finish
After we milled and measured all features, the entire club head was sandblasted to a soft sheen which reduces glare. It can be left in this state or coated with an Armor coating for even more protection and a choice of finish colors.
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Chris Williams is the Content Editor at Michigan CNC Machining Parts, Inc.. He is passionate about writing and about developments in science, manufacturing and related technologies. He is also a certified English grammar snob.