Wedges

In the seven decades since Gene Sarazen invented the sand wedge and used it effectively to win the 1932 British Open, a lot has changed from the product of his crude soldering and hammering. Nevertheless, today's classic-looking models would be recognizable as sand irons by players from any era. In fact, with many new wedges being designed to show their rust quickly, it's clear the aged look is in.

The need to boost production during World War I led Böhler to build a new facility boasting six 30-ton furnaces in 1916. In that year, the company expanded its rolling mill as well. Following the war, Böhler began developing new products, such as blank welding wire, introduced in 1926. Welding consumables then became an important part of Böhler's operations, particularly after the company developed a new type of welding wire, called core wire, in 1927.Uddeholm added to its growing steel empire with the creation of a new steel mill at Hagfors in 1873. The Hagfors mill added a rolling mill in 1882, and Uddeholm expanded into the tool steel market, producing steel products for tool and die machinery. Under subsidiary Uddeholm Tooling, the company grew into a major global tool steel producer. By 1886, Uddeholm began experimenting with newly developed methods for producing cold-rolled steel at Munkfors. That facility then became specialized in the production of steel strips, and grew into one of the world's largest producers of thin and ultra-thin steel strips. In 1905, the Munkfors site constructed a dedicated cold-rolling mill. The boost in production enabled Uddeholm to begin targeting the foreign market, especially the booming U.S. market. Among the company's most prominent customers was the fast-growing Gillette company, which specialized in razor blades.TITLEISTPINGThe micrographs of Figure 1 show the effect on the as-solidified joint microstructure of fairly minor variations in silver and copper content in the neareutectic Sn-Ag-Cu solder alloys used to make the joints. The rather coarse tin dendrites in Figure la, with an SDAS of about 6-10 mun, can be compared to the extremely fine tin dendrites in Figure lb, with an SDAS of about 2 pm. Also, the tin dendrite pattern associated with Sn-3.7Ag-0.9Cu of Figure Ic has a very similar spacing to the tin dendrites associated with Sn-3.SAg. 17 In contrast, the solidification morphology associated with Sn-3.6Ag-1.OCu in Figure Id does not appear dendritic, certainly not with any extended tin dendrites. Moreover, Figure lb is distinguished from the others in Figure 1 by the Ag3 Sn"needle" phases that project from the upper intermetallic layer into the soldermatrix, as confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) in the SEM.Four lofts, $129 each/$499 for set. Milled face and grooves; a different groove shape for each loft is intended to optimize spin. www.pelzgolf.com 800-833-7370.Depending on whether one is traveling in an automobile during a commute to work or in an aircraft on a long distance trip, the consequences of premature electronic joint failure can be either inconvenient or disastrous. Thus, electronic joining methods must become more robust and tolerant of extreme operating temperatures and high stress levels. Some current high-temperature automotive joining demands have been met by Sn-Ag eutectic solder (Te = 221degC), where the soft second phase of traditional Sn-Pb eutectic solder (T^sub e^ = 183degC) is replaced by a hard intermetallic A On phase to impart strength and creep resistance.' A more general drive toward such lead-free solders now has begun to mitigate the threat of ground-water pollution by lead toxins, where leaching of Sn-Pb solders in discarded electronics could play some role.23 Recent lead-free solder development programs promoted by electronics trade organizations appear poised to make broad replacement of Sn-Pb solders a reality.4,5Two years after the launch of the Stjärnfors forge, another forge appeared in Munkfors, built by Johan Bjesson. The Munkfors site grew into one of the country's major iron and steel producers. Uddeholm acquired the Munkfors mill in 1829.Böhler's own history reached back even further than that of Uddeholm. The earliest part of the Böhler group stemmed from the opening of a hammer forge in Kapfenberg, part of the early Austrian empire, by Arnold Taubenprunner in 1446. The Kapfenberg site played host to an important center of the Austrian empire's steel industry, developing into a modern steel mill by the mid-19th century. That era also saw the arrival of a new range of competitors, one of which appeared in 1854, with the founding of a hot-rolling mill in Bruckbach on the river Ybbs by Josef Liebl. The Bruckbach site launched production in 1855.Six lofts, $130. Features multipurpose "mid-bounce" sole. www.pinggolf.com 800-4PINGFIT.Uddeholm grew into one of the world's leading names in its specialty steel niches through the 20th century. The company also expanded internationally, acquiring steelworks in a number of foreign markets, such as Belgium's Stora in 1978. Closer to home, Uddeholm added AGA AB to its operations in 1985.Böhler played a significant role as an Austrian steel industry innovation leader. In 1900, the company introduced Böhler Rapid, one of the first high-performance, high-speed steels. Then, in 1908, Böhler became the first in Austria to build an electric arc furnace. Whereas that furnace was rated at just three tons, in 1910 the company opened a new hammer forge with a hammer weight of 30 tons.Samples for shear-strength testing and microstructural analysis were made by hand soldering copper blocks at about 255degC in a butt-joint geometry with a 76 mum controlled joint gap, similar to many types of electronic solder joints.' After solder application and a dwell time of 30 s, each sample was slow cooled (1-3C/s) to ambient temperature, simulating the cooling rate in a conventional reflow oven on typical surface-mount solder joints.15

Vokey Oil Can, nine lofts, $125. Heated oxide treatment wears to rusted finish. www.titleist.com 800-825-8500.