Why a milled face

[bbthorn]

Why a milled face on putters? That is just opposite of what I would think. I can't imagine the reason anyone would want to impart spin on the ball, but I could be just dumb!

[ago33]

The theory is if the face is perfectly flat, there is a chance the ball will come out wrong based of the way the putter hits the dimples on the ball.

Honestly it's most likely people coming up with excuses for missing the clutch 5 footer

[High Plains Driver]

My opinion: marketing, plain an simple.

We are putting a dimpled ball across grass and dirt in varying weather conditions. Whether or not the face of my putter is milled is waaaaayyyyy down the list of my concerns.

[mike_dmt]

I have thought the exact thing for a while now. I see the YES! putters, and agree that a chance to impart "overspin" on a ball could be advantageous.

That is considering a plain or inserted face "skids" the ball for inches.

I see the SC's and Betti's have more of a cross cut or hex mill on them..


I would like to hear the putter and face designers weigh in.

[High Plains Driver]

...and I haven't seen any real world measurements, but I would guess that any slight change in spin is absolutely insignificant.

[mike_dmt]

IMO 99% of us don't play on pristine greens to start with... I can roll what feels like a perfect putt, only to see it bobble in a ball mark or simply off of the shaggy greens we play on.

Still want a little insight though

[bbthorn]

I have seen players hook or slice a putt when they have a bad path thru the ball. First noticed it in a scramble. One player hit a putt that broke a bit then the next player hit the same line only to have it go straight. Which got me to wondering why not a flat smooth surface.

[High Plains Driver]

Do some reading on some of the studies on putting. A ball cannot have hook or slice spin. After the initial skid, there is no left, right, or backspin.
As in the full swing, the ball starts off very closely to where the face is pointing. The path can have it go a little left or little right of where the face is pointing, but once it stops skidding and rolling end over end, it goes straight (unless grain or slope moves it.)

[Vintage1976]

[quote name='mike_dmt' timestamp='1448934605' post='12665264']
I have thought the exact thing for a while now. I see the YES! putters, and agree that a chance to impart "overspin" on a ball could be advantageous.

I would like to hear the putter and face designers weigh in.
[/quote]

Every time I see that hemispherical circle on a YES! putter I wonder if hitting toe or heel would have like a "Gear Effect" thing where there is actually an overcorrection due to a lack of Bulge. It's probably just as [i]RighttoLeft[/i] said though. I mean, could you really need to hit a putt hard enough to impart that much side spin anyway?

[jimjc]

Just another case of conspicuous consumption, spend the money and then come up with why milled putters are better. More putts have been made with simple Ping Ansers than any other putter in history. There are no facts why a $350 milled putter is any better than a used 15 year old anser that costs $20.

[nitram]

Plain and simple, sound. Sound equals feel for most. Milling makes it sound softer.

[Mad_Lobber]

[quote name='bbthorn' timestamp='1448933875' post='12665194']
Why a milled face on putters? That is just opposite of what I would think. I can't imagine the reason anyone would want to impart spin on the ball, but I could be just dumb!
[/quote]

Milled putters do have a different sound and feel. Go out and roll some with both and see for yourself. A lot of it is up to personal preference. Do you want a soft putt with the insert, or the feedback and feel of the milled?

[bladehunter]

More likely more putts made with a 8802 style blade than an actual Ping anser. Anser style maybe. But actual anser. Not so much. I've played more rounds than I can count and have yet to play with anyone rolling an older anser. I know they are out there. But not everywhere like blades used to be. Or like mallets etc are now

[bladehunter]

The true answer to the OP question is for a perfectly flat surface. A cast putter that isn't milled has a lot of room for having face imperfections that could potentially cause misdirected hits. So to be precise faces were milled flat. Same reason any surface on an engine or transmission is milled. Trueness. Without it you are at the mercy of the quality of the mold.

[DeCuchi]

[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1448940263' post='12665700']
The true answer to the OP question is for a perfectly flat surface. A cast putter that isn't milled has a lot of room for having face imperfections that could potentially cause misdirected hits. So to be precise faces were milled flat. Same reason any surface on an engine or transmission is milled. Trueness. Without it you are at the mercy of the quality of the mold.
[/quote]

^
This, and sound/feel.

[Buzzkill]

For looks.

[TCZ]

The milling on my Monterey is significantly deeper than on my Futura X5. The Monterey feels softer/is quieter.

[matchavez]

Remember the physics of a bell / tuning fork... smooth polish, curves, and all things that retain resonance and vibration. Now consider crumpled aluminum foil; it's the opposite.

Most putters are to some degree a "bell" if they are forged. Thus, the PING name/legend, etc. Milling primarily gets rid of imperfections on flatness... but the depth to which you cut in ridges will effect the acoustics. The deeper the cut, generally, the less resonance and the more scattered the force is within the putter head.

As for inserts, the Ping TrueRoll insert is amazing. it compensates for off-center impact by being "springier" in the amount that would be otherwise lost by being off-center. Those ridges are very different than milling. It's technically a really cool achievement, and it seems under-appreciated. But I digress...

[matchavez]

[quote name='bbthorn' timestamp='1448933875' post='12665194']
Why a milled face on putters? That is just opposite of what I would think. I can't imagine the reason anyone would want to impart spin on the ball, but I could be just dumb!
[/quote]

Oh, and milling won't on its own impart spin, of course. Milling can "hold" the ball a fraction longer on the face, and even cause it to turn more than a completely flat face. However, a completely flat face has its own problem. Water is an adhesive, and its bonds are broken by stretching it out. Ever fill a glass slightly over the top with water to see the meniscus? That ability to remain bound together would have more of an adhesive effect on the face of a truly flat head. With such a truly flat head, you'd have a lot more twist during a humid round than a dry one. If it catches a dimple with an air pocket, you might even notice.

It's all just minuscule, but it's for the same reasons you have milling on your irons, and roughness on low-spin drivers. Crazy, right?

[2putttom]

milling = control.

[cardoustie]

milling can look cool as well

But I vote sound and feel

[jimjc]

[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1448940035' post='12665692']
More likely more putts made with a 8802 style blade than an actual Ping anser. Anser style maybe. But actual anser. Not so much. I've played more rounds than I can count and have yet to play with anyone rolling an older anser. I know they are out there. But not everywhere like blades used to be. Or like mallets etc are now
[/quote]

You live a secluded life I see them everywhere:~). I guess you could say copies, lord knows everyone makes copies but remember Ping made millions of them and putters that were not named anser per se like Pals etc.etc. Back then Ping took over the market in putters with Ansers. Blades haven't been played in numbers for a long time but of coarse blades were the only putters if you go far enough back, Ping changed it all with the Anser.

[MBA-J]

Putter faces were milled to ensure a flat surface. The mill marks were left behind to sell the angle of marketing it as a "milled face putter." When early milled putters were released, many folks complained of shoddy workmanship if the mill marks were left behind. Now, due to different mill patterns and depths, it's more branding and "feel" than anything.

 

[NRJyzr]

I was going to chime in, but there's no point; these two posts provide the answer.



[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1448940263' post='12665700']
The true answer to the OP question is for a perfectly flat surface. A cast putter that isn't milled has a lot of room for having face imperfections that could potentially cause misdirected hits. So to be precise faces were milled flat. Same reason any surface on an engine or transmission is milled. Trueness. Without it you are at the mercy of the quality of the mold.
[/quote]
[quote name='MBA-J' timestamp='1448987318' post='12667178']
Putter faces were milled to ensure a flat surface. The mill marks were left behind to sell the angle of marketing it as a "milled face putter." When early milled putters were released, many folks complained of shoddy workmanship if the mill marks were left behind. Now, due to different mill patterns and depths, it's more branding and "feel" than anything.

[/quote]

[jimjc]

[quote name='matchavez' timestamp='1448984796' post='12667012']
[quote name='bbthorn' timestamp='1448933875' post='12665194']
Why a milled face on putters? That is just opposite of what I would think. I can't imagine the reason anyone would want to impart spin on the ball, but I could be just dumb!
[/quote]

Oh, and milling won't on its own impart spin, of course. Milling can "hold" the ball a fraction longer on the face, and even cause it to turn more than a completely flat face. However, a completely flat face has its own problem. Water is an adhesive, and its bonds are broken by stretching it out. Ever fill a glass slightly over the top with water to see the meniscus? That ability to remain bound together would have more of an adhesive effect on the face of a truly flat head. With such a truly flat head, you'd have a lot more twist during a humid round than a dry one. If it catches a dimple with an air pocket, you might even notice.

It's all just minuscule, but it's for the same reasons you have milling on your irons, and roughness on low-spin drivers. Crazy, right?
[/quote]

It's more than minuscule, it means nothing, the first couple blades of grass or even the tiniest dip or the uncontrollable movement of your hand or body with the wind or any of other many outside forces negates anything a MFG. can do, there's no proof surrounding milling doing else than separating one from his money.

[jimjc]

[quote name='bladehunter' timestamp='1448940263' post='12665700']
The true answer to the OP question is for a perfectly flat surface. A cast putter that isn't milled has a lot of room for having face imperfections that could potentially cause misdirected hits. So to be precise faces were milled flat. Same reason any surface on an engine or transmission is milled. Trueness. Without it you are at the mercy of the quality of the mold.
[/quote]


Your analogies of car engines and transmissions couldn't farther from reality. Engines are precisely built as a mechanical device so they don't blow up. Clubs are for hitting a ball to a enormous area, there is no good reason to build a club to anything close to accuracy of a engine.

[jimjc]

Well I decided to go down into my basement and check out my 41 putters some going back to the 70's. Titleists. Pings Clevelands, Yes, Taylormade, Callaways, Bettinardies to name just a few. A few are forged most are cast a few milled.

I took a drafting ruler that is extremely flat and put it on the faces of all my putters top, bottom and angled and guess what when held to a light I could see no unevenness at all. The cast were just as flat as forged or milled. So much for milled.

[NoTalentLefty]

Feel.

[attachment=3051204:ImageUploadedByGolfWRX Mobile1448990321.243823.jpg]

[balbowski]

[quote name='jimjc' timestamp='1448989410' post='12667310']
Well I decided to go down into my basement and check out my 41 putters some going back to the 70's. Titleists. Pings Clevelands, Yes, Taylormade, Callaways, Bettinardies to name just a few. A few are forged most are cast a few milled.

I took a drafting ruler that is extremely flat and put it on the faces of all my putters top, bottom and angled and guess what when held to a light I could see no unevenness at all. The cast were just as flat as forged or milled. So much for milled.
[/quote]

The difference for me is sound and feel. A softer but yet more responsive feel on a completely milled head, both because of the milling on the face but also the material. The metal used on a milled putter is different than the metal on a cast putter. Do you not notice any difference in feel between all those different putters you have?

I can putt fine with either, so it is not a performance issue, purely feel and preference.

[Tim Sherwood]

I just switched from a white hot insert putter to a Yes putter with the C Grove. Considering the grooves on the Yes look about as deep as the grooves on a wedge, I was very suprised by how soft it felt. It doesn't feel very soft if you miss the middle and it makes a horrible noise compared to the white hot. In summary, I don't think either will help me to hole more putts but the C Grove is more interesting to look at. *thumbsup*