Ricki Fowler who’s doing very well in this weeks British Open is the flagship promoter of Cobra Golf has all their clubs in his bag. As in every industry most of these designs or prototypes may never make it to the market so golf companies and in particular are using 3D printing bureaus to help speed up the development cycle and reduce cost, keeping away from traditional techniques.
Cobra starting using 3D printing in 2004 and by using a service bureau it enables them not to be tied down to one technology as if often the case if you purchase an in-house machine. The design team like to use Polyjet technology by Stratasys as they see the advantage of fine feature detail capture that Polyjet machines give. Once the part is printed it is hand painted by the 3D printing bureau to give a ‘shop finish’. This product is then sent to the marketing team for further review.
Before 3D printing, prototypes were made using a master pattern that would take weeks or even months. Cobra having their 3D printing service bureau in the same city get a very quick turn around and can review their 3D printed part very quickly. After this iteration they can progress to the next stage or make further changes tweaking the design slightly.
It seems without doubt that Cobra are a huge fan of 3D printing and will continue to develop their products with the help of their local 3D printing service.
Not wanting to sound like Bianca but . . . . Come ON RICKIEEEE
