Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-15
MAKING OF GOLF BALLS
Ten Millions the Output of the Past
Year.

From the London Chronicle.
How is a golf ball made? How many
Of the players. after an enjoyable round
of the links. and a successful effort
against an opponent of about equal skill
can tell? How few have seen the build
ing up Of the ball, upon the quality OF
which depends SO much of the success
achieved?
How they are made, in a general kind
of way, many player knows Some have
learned a little Of the great secret by the
somewhat expensive method of cutting
one in half. at is just an outer shell
filled with little pieces of rubber tape.
chopped into inch lengths" one has heard
1t said. But 1t Is nothing of the kind.
On the contrary, 1t is created from
more or less solid core, perhaps one
sixth of the finished ball in size, and Is
then gradually built up by the winding
of a continuous length of rubber scarcely
a sixteenth of an inch wide, and almost
transparent In consistency. This lies So
close that nothing can arise to hinder
the formation of an exactly rounded ar
ticle. fit to be placed on the green with
full assurance that chance will have
nothing to do with the result Of the all
important stroke for the hole.
Perfection of shape. endurance of the
coloring. all the solidity, resistance and
resiliency consistent with the purpose for
which 1t Is intended are required. Only
the finest Para rubber Is used. The rub
Der has been worked with the aid OF
heat on rollers into a plastic state, and
rolled out into sheets that are mounted
on iron drums. Then comes In the human
care and accuracy. AS the drum re-
wolves one sees the cutter place his knife
against the rubber, and in few revolu-
lions the sheet has been sliced into tapes
that can be removed In what looks like
hanks of yarn for weaving.
Clever young girls next take the tapes and
operation OF building up the actual ball
preparatory to its encasement. Trans
ference from the bobbins to the core
brings into play a particularly interesting
domination Of human skill and mechanical
ingenuity.
When the ball has been rolled to the
gauge size 1t has only to be forced into
cast-steel molds. made to a thousandth
of an inch. In which the outer shell OF
gutta percha is, SO to speak, clamped on
to them and sealed, and the process OF
actual manufacture is completed. All
that remains Is to strip of the ex-
crescence squeezed out by the hydraulic
presses. and to apply the four coats OF
paint. with the spot beloved OF SO many
players, and the ball is ready to answer
accurately the slightest tap or the heav-
lest blow that the player may deem
necessary for the achievement Of his i'm.
mediate object
The painting is a curious process to .
layman. the pigment being applied BY
girls. who roll 1t In their hands, dis
tributing 1t with perfection OF result
that no other material than the human
skin has been found to produce.
Ten millions Of golf balls every year
are made. What becomes of the old
ones? That also has been asked thou
sands OF times by those who have found
the 'lost-balr' bill becoming a very
serious item. Many Of them come back
to be made up again. Not into the "bes'
OF aIp' grade articles, but to be WORKED
up for the cheaper varieties that enable
golf to be justly described as one Of thu
great democratic games OF the worlds
playing fields.
And when the last has been said for tie
old balls that can be uttered with truth.
there is still the possibility of useful work
in other forms Of rubber employment.