Method of manufacturing a bent composite putter shaft
A methodology for obtaining a full carbon fiber reinforced polymer double bend putter shaft wherein the summation of the two bending angles is 9 degrees is disclosed herein. Starting pre-resin impregnated unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymers are sectioned into ply patterns and wrapped on mandrel. The wrapped mandrel is placed in a furnace to elevate the viscosity of the resin for bending on a pipe bender, followed by heating and curing vertically.
1 . A method for manufacturing a carbon reinforced polymer double bend putter shaft, the method comprising:
wrapping a plurality of plies on a mandrel comprising a steel body and an aluminum tip to create a wrapped mandrel, wherein the plurality of plies comprises plus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies, minus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies and zero degree orientation pattern plies;
applying a release film coated shrink wrap tape to the wrapped mandrel to create a shrink wrapped mandrel with an overlap that is secure at one end with a tape;
heating the shrink-wrapped mandrel at approximately one seventy-five degrees Fahrenheit to elevate the viscosity of a resin of the plurality of plies to create an uncured shaft;
bending the un-cured shaft in a pipe bender at a first angle and then at a second angle to create an uncured bent shaft;
heating the uncured bent shaft in a vertical position at approximately three hundred degrees Fahrenheit for at least ten minutes to create a cured bent shaft, wherein the release film coated shrink wrap tape applies approximately 8.5 pounds of force during the curing process;
cooling the cured bent shaft to room temperature and removing the mandrel from a finished composite shaft and reinforcement tip to create a final bent composite shaft;
wherein the final bent composite shaft has a first angle A 2 at a first bend relative to a first straight portion that ranges from 20 to 25 degrees and a second angle A 3 at a second bend relative to a second straight portion that ranges from 12 to 16 degrees.
2 . The method according claim 1 wherein the plurality of plies comprises fifteen plies.
3 . The method according to claim 2 wherein the plurality of plies comprises 5 plus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies, 4 minus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies and 6 zero degree orientation pattern plies.
4 . The method according to claim 3 wherein the 5 plus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies and 4 minus forty-five degree orientation pattern plies are alternately applied to the mandrel and then the 6 zero degree orientation pattern plies are applied to the mandrel.