WYOMISSING, Pa., USA – January 10, 2005 – An alloy originally designed for critical aerospace applications should work well for golfers and golf club designers on perpetual alert for a new material that could elevate player performance and satisfaction on the golf course.

Carpenter’s new Custom 475™ stainless is a premium melted, precipitation hardenable (PH) stainless alloy designed to achieve about 290 ksi (2000 MPa) ultimate tensile strength, high hardness (up to 55 HRC) and good toughness and ductility when peak aged at 975°F (524°C). Its strength is comparable to that of Carpenter’s well known AerMet® 100 alloy, which has been used in the landing gear of carrier-based Navy jet fighters, parts in space shuttles and Formula One race cars, and other vital components.

In addition to having the ultra-high strength of Carpenter AerMet 100 alloy, already used successfully for golf club face plates, Custom 475 stainless now provides the corrosion resistance typically offered by stainless steels. This attribute translates into a brighter, more attractive finish with high, long-term resistance to the atmospheric corrosion found on most golf courses.

The new stainless steel is the latest addition to the company’s family of TourAlloys® for golf. From a functional standpoint, the alloy’s very high strength should allow the club designer to produce a thinner face plate that is lighter, larger and capable of higher energy transfer at the point of impact with the ball. The thinner insert is expected to give the designer wide latitude to shift some saved weight to improve overall club performance - such as moving the center of gravity, changing the launch angle or making the club more forgiving.

The alloy can be supplied from the mill in various conditions including overaged or solution annealed/refrigerated, ready for a one-step hardening treatment. As-supplied hardness is approximately 42 HRC when overaged and approximately 33 HRC in solution annealed/refrigerated condition.