How golf clubs are made
Most iron heads are cast from a wax copy of themselves, wrapped in sand and then melted out.
- stations
- 10
- things upstream
- 87
- raw sources
- 27
- steps from the ground
- 10
The short version
Most iron, hybrid and wedge heads are cast by the lost-wax method. A wax copy of the head is dipped in sand slurry to form a shell, then steamed out and replaced with molten steel. The shell is cracked off, the heads are cut from a metal tree, polished and checked for loft, the logos are painted in, and a shaft and grip go on.
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Inject a wax copy
A computer-designed metal mold, a mirror image of the head, is clamped in a machine that squirts in hot wax. Every head needs its own wax copy.
Goes in -
Trim the wax by hand
Each wax head is checked for blemishes, and a fine file removes stray bits. Any flaw on the wax will show up in the finished steel head.
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Dip the tree in sand
Wax heads are melted onto a wax tree in groups of 14 and dipped in sand slurry. Each layer dries in a cold room and the dipping is repeated five times, until the shell can survive molten metal.
Goes in -
Steam out the wax
The shell goes into a steam oven, and the wax melts out from inside. The top of the tree is shaped like a funnel so metal can be poured in.
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Pour the molten steel
A stainless alloy is heated to 1500 degrees Celsius. The shells, kept at the same temperature, are carried from the furnace to the pouring station, filled, and set on a bed of sand to harden.
1500 °C
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Crack off the shell
The sand shell is knocked away, leaving rough heads still joined to the tree. A metal cutter then trims each one off.
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Polish and sandblast
Heads are polished and the face is sandblasted to give it some grip on the ball.
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Check loft and weight
Loft, lie, weight and hosel diameter are measured against the maker's tolerances and the limits set by the R&A, which governs the rules of golf.
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Paint the logos and score lines
The logos and score lines are part of the original mold, but they must be colored in by hand before the head is ready to sell.
Goes in -
Bond on shaft and grip
A steel or graphite shaft is fixed into the hosel, the socket on the head, with adhesive. A rubber grip goes on the other end, and the club is ready to sell.
Worth repeating
- Premium forged irons start as a bar of mild iron heated to 1200 degrees Celsius, then are struck several times by a forging hammer.
- Each casting destroys its own wax pattern, so every club needs a new wax head.
- A set of 9 irons needs 9 different wax molds, one for each loft.
Back to the ground
Follow every input upstream and golf club starts as these 27 raw sources.
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Sources
Cite this page: "How golf clubs are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/golf-club