Improvements in the Manufacture of Golf Clubs.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 29th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 3rd Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Golf Clubs.
I RALPH HENRY CHRISTOPHER NEVILE of Crown Lea, Malvern, in the
County of Worcester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
"
The clubs or implements at present used in the game of golf may be divided
into two classes namely those in which the head or portion with which the ball
is struck is made of iron or other hard and heavy metal and which are technically
called iron clubs, and those in which the head is made principally of wood but is
weighted with lead, some of the clubs having a thin brass or iron sole piece to
protect the upper or wooden part of the head from damage by striking on hard ground.
The shafts of both classes of clubs being made of wood. My invention relates
principally to an improvement in the second class. It is generally known that a
wooden club head strikes the ball in a pleasanter or as it is technically called
a "sweeter manner than an iron club and I find that an aluminium surface
strikes the ball in a manner closely resembling wood. Instead of the wood
weighted with lead I propose to use for the head of this class of clubs either
pure aluminium or an alloy consisting chiefly of aluminium but mingled with
small quantities of other metals to. increase its hardness & elasticity without
materially increasing its specific gravity in such manner as may be found in
practice to be most suitable. In this way I obtain a club head which when
made of solid metal may be of similar shape & balance and of a size not much
inferior to those at present in use without any increase of weight. If it be
desired to make the club head of fully equal size & appearance to those at
present in use I either form the head entirely of aluminium or its alloys as above
described and form a recess in some part of it, either a hollow entirely within
the head or by the removal of some external part in such a manner as to present
the same appearance when viewed from above in the act of "addressing the
ball" (as it is called technically) while preserving the usual weight of the head
or I form the head partly of the metal & partly of wood or some other light &
suitable material such as cork or gutta percha. This latter portion may be
attached to the metal externally in any convenient manner & position or a recess
may be formed in the metal into which the lighter material may be inserted &
secured therein in any convenient manner. It being understood that the aluminium
or alloy used is intended to replace the wood as the striking place in the club
heads at present in use & that the use of wood or other light material is only to
decrease the average specific gravity of the head & thus enable it to be made of a
greater cubic content than would be possible were the whole head formed of metal
while retaining the same weight, whereas in the wooden clubs at present in use
the wood is used as the striking face & the metal, usually lead, is only used for
I however sometimes
the purpose of increasing the specific gravity of the head.
attach to the front of the head a face of leather, gutta percha or other suitable
material either by cementing or screwing the same to the metal or by forming a
recess within the metal for its reception thus forming a face similar to the leather
face now sometimes affixed to wooden clubs. The wooden heads of the clubs of
the 2nd class are at present usually united to their shafts by a spliced joint but in
my invention I can use instead any of the ordinary socket connections of a metal
club head to its shaft thereby obtaining much greater strength & little or no
liability to a fracture of the head of the club by striking a ball with the part of

page_text: the club nearest to the splice technically known as the "heel." Ordinary wooden
clubs are much deteriorated by use in wet weather the wood absorbing the moisture
& getting soft & rotten on the face but the metal heads made in accordance with
my invention are free from this defect & if wood is used in conjunction with the
metal it can be much more efficiently protected from the wet by varnish or other-
wise as it is not used for the striking face. I also propose to use aluminium or
alloys of aluminium with other metals of suitable specific gravity for forming the
heads of clubs of the first class for the use of persons such as ladies & youths
desiring club heads of equal size & appearance to those at present in use but of
lighter weight, or I can use an aluminium head backed by iron or other heavy
metal to replace the ordinary iron clubs.
I usually prefer to form the aluminium heads by the process of casting but I can
also form the heads by any other process suitable for working the metal such as
stamping or forging if found more convenient either in the case. of the pure metal
or its alloys. The faces of the club heads may be left as they come from the
mould or stamp or may be machined or worked in any desired way. I generally
find it an improvement to roughen the surface somewhat either in the process of
formation of the head or subsequently with horizontal lines such as would be caused
by a coarse file.
1st: Tinhteanth day of Novamhan 1202
R. H. C. NEVILE.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Golf Clubs.
I, RALPH HENRY CHRISTOPHER NEVILE, of Crown Lea, Malvern, in the
County of Worcester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The clubs or implements at present used in the game of golf may be divided
into two classes, namely, those known as iron clubs in which the head or portion
with which the ball is struck is made of iron or other hard and heavy metal, and
those in which the head is made principally of wood but is weighted with lead,
some heads having a thin metal sole piece to protect the wood from damage by
striking on hard ground. The shafts of both classes of clubs are made of wood.
My invention relates principally to the second class of head.
Instead of making the head of wood weighted with lead, I use for the head
aluminium or an alloy consisting of aluminium with a small proportion of other
metal to increase its hardness and elasticity without materially increasing its
weight.
The head thus made may be similar in shape, balance and dimensions to an
ordinary bead without any great increase of weight, and, if it be desired to have a
head of the same size and appearance as the ordinary head without any greater
weight, I form a recess in its rear side which may be filled in with wood or other
suitable material such as cork, gutta percha or the like. I sometimes attach to
the front of the head a face of leather, gutta percha, or other suitable material,
either by cementing or screwing the same to the metal or by forming a recess
within the metal for its reception thus providing a face similar to the leather face
now sometimes affixed to wooden clubs."
The wooden heads are at present usually united to their shafts by spliced joints,
but, according to my invention, I use an ordinary socket connection such as that of
a metal head to its shaft, thereby obtaining much greater strength and less liability
to fracture when a ball is struck with the heel of the club or part nearest to the
splice.

page_text: Ordinary wooden clubs are much deteriorated by use in wet weather, the wood
absorbing the moisture and getting soft and rotten on the face, but the metal heads
made in accordance with my invention are free from this defect.
can
I also propose to use aluminium or alloys of aluminium with other metals, of
suitable specific gravity for forming the heads of clubs of the first class for the
use of persons such as ladies or youths desiring club heads of size and appear-
ance corresponding to those at present in use but of less weight; or
use an aluminium head backed by iron or other heavy metal to take the place of
the ordinary iron clubs. The faces of the club heads are preferably roughened.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side view and Fig. 2 is a plan of a
golf club head according to my invention.
It is made of aluminium or an alloy consisting chiefly of aluminium for the
purpose of obtaining great strength combined with lightness, and it has formed in
one with it a socket A in which the handle or shaft can be secured. In some cases,
in order. to decrease the weight of the head, I make it with a recess in its rear
side as indicated by the dotted lines B, which recess is preferably filled up with a
piece of wood, cork or other light material secured by screws inserted from below.
The striking face C is preferably roughened as shewn, or it might be faced with
leather or like material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A golf club head made of aluminium or an alloy thereof and having a socket
for the shaft integral with the head, substantially as herein described.
Dated this 20th day of January 1894
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.