Method of forming a supported iron

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a set of golf clubs comprising long irons, mid irons and short irons. Preferably, at least the long and mid irons have a face stabilizing bar and back panel and the face stabilizing bar includes a retainer clip and elastomeric material.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of forming a golf club comprising the steps of:
 forging a body with a face, a topline, sole portion, toe portion, heel portion, and a face stabilizing bar having a face stabilizing bar length between the heel portion and toe portion and a face stabilizing bar top surface facing the topline and a face stabilizing bar bottom surface facing the sole portion;   machining an aperture into the face stabilizing bar from the top surface to the bottom surface,   machining a ledge into the face stabilizing bar;   attaching a weight member and a back panel to the body to form an undercut,   placing a retention clip such that it abuts the ledge and forms a filler volume between the retention clip and the face stabilizing bar top surface;   filling the filler volume with a flowable elastomeric material; and   curing the elastomeric material.   
     
     
         2 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , further comprising the step of machining the aperture to form an aperture width and an aperture length from the heel portion to the toe portion that is a distance of greater than about 50% and less than about 95% of the face stabilizing bar length and an aperture width. 
     
     
         3 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 2 , further comprising the step of machining a face side ledge having a first ledge width and a back side ledge having a second ledge width and an overall ledge length that is greater than the aperture length. 
     
     
         4 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 3 , further comprising the step of forming the elastomer retention clip to a include a channel having a width less than the aperture width and extensions having an overall retention clip width of greater than the aperture width and less than the aperture width plus the first ledge width and second ledge width. 
     
     
         5 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , wherein the retention clip is formed from a non-metal material. 
     
     
         6 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , wherein the retention clip is formed from a metal material. 
     
     
         7 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric material is comprised of a cast urethane. 
     
     
         8 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , wherein the elastomeric material is comprised of a cast silicone. 
     
     
         9 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 3 , wherein the channel has a channel depth and the channel depth is greater than the aperture width. 
     
     
         10 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 9 , wherein the face stabilizing bar has a bar depth and the channel depth is greater than the bar depth. 
     
     
         11 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 9 , wherein the face stabilizing bar has a bar depth and the channel depth is at least 20% greater than the bar depth. 
     
     
         12 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 6 , wherein the retainer clip has a first thickness and the elastomeric material has a second thickness greater than the first thickness. 
     
     
         13 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 12 , wherein the retainer clip has a first harness and the elastomeric material has a second hardness less than the first hardness. 
     
     
         14 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 13 , wherein the retainer clip has a retainer clip length that is at least 10% greater than the aperture length. 
     
     
         15 . The method of forming a golf club according to  claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises forming the aperture at an angle relative to the face such that the aperture is spaced from the face a maximum distance at a top portion of the aperture that is greater than 3 mm and a minimum distance at a bottom portion of the aperture that is less than 3 mm.