Cleveland Form Forged

arkstorm · August 24, 2006

Is it really forged?

This is a point of contention started in another thread, but someone claimed that Cleveland uses the term "form forged" to mean cast. This does not sound right to me as I always thought my gunmetal TA-1's, TA-3's and 900 series wedges were forged products. Does anyone in the know have a deffinitive answer? Are these products forged or cast?

dlefty · August 24, 2006

Form Forged = CAST, NOT forged.

arkstorm · August 24, 2006

Form Forged = CAST, NOT forged.

This is amazing to me. What is your source for this info?

Gxgolfer · August 24, 2006

I believe it was on Cleveland's site at one time. Its supposedly an improved casting process.

Tigerlurch · August 24, 2006

The reason I researched Cleveland's bogus "Form Forged" marketing is that I snapped a 900 series wedge trying to adjust it 2* up. As soon as I saw the metal inside the hosel, I knew it was cast and started researching. That is when I found out the all of their clubs are CAST. Now the Cleveland website has in their FAQ that ALL there clubs are 100% cast. They don't even hint at any forging process. Pretty bogus marketing if you ask me....

arkstorm · August 24, 2006

The reason I researched Cleveland's bogus "Form Forged" marketing is that I snapped a 900 series wedge trying to adjust it 2* up. As soon as I saw the metal inside the hosel, I knew it was cast and started researching. That is when I found out the all of their clubs are CAST. Now the Cleveland website has in their FAQ that ALL there clubs are 100% cast. They don't even hint at any forging process. Pretty bogus marketing if you ask me....

Agreed!

And totally disappointing too because all this time I thought I knew what forged felt like, yet everytime I hit a Mizuno club I thought to myself, wow this is soft. Now I relaize why.

sandy · August 24, 2006

Do a little more research. Form Forged (or faux forged) is where they take carbon steel (8620 to be exact which is used in many companies wedges and cobras new CBs by the way, are made of) and cast the initial basic shape. That casting is then form forged in a one pass die (as opposed to many many dies like Mizuno, Endo etc. use to form the club from a long square steel billet). So the term form forged comes from the fact that they start with the basic form and give one forged step. After the TA-1 and TA-3 they just went with casting 8620 like everyone else did. There was however very few clubs that were as soft (including the 681/Ts) as the original TA-1s in chrome. There were also very few clubs that felt as harsh as the TA-1s in gunmetal so go figure.

Note that VJ has never given up his 900 (form forged) wedges for the CG-10s etc. Also his CG-1s are made from 8620 not CMM.

arkstorm · August 24, 2006

Now this is getting really interesting. So they were forged, just not from a billet.

I agree with you that the gunmetals felt a little harsh, especially compared to other companies' forgings, e.g. mizuno. But they played pretty sweet.

jrglfr7 · August 24, 2006

I have asked this same question to a Cleveland Regional Rep or manager (something like that), not just a territorial rep, and he said almost word for word what sandy said.

mhccap · August 24, 2006

i have asked this question of two cleveland reps over the years and their response was the same that they were a "very soft cast". they are as described in the above posted...definately a casting, i too have seen some snap while bending...mind you i was not the one bending them...i have only snapped one clubhead while bending and that was a taylor made tour preferred...in that case i told the member if i bumped it more than 2 degrees it was 90% possible it was going to snap and he ok'd it and it did

mhccap · August 25, 2006

these are straight from the FAQ page on Cleveland's website:

Q: Are any Cleveland irons forged?

A: All Clevelands are 100% cast. Due to advancements in technology and the advancement of CMM material, we are able to maintain exceptional feel without employing the less accurate and more time consuming forging process.

Q: From what metal are Cleveland irons made?

A: The TA6 and Launcher irons are made from 17-4 stainless steel, while the CG1, CG2 and CG4 irons are made from CMM material.

arkstorm · August 28, 2006

these are straight from the FAQ page on Cleveland's website:

Q: Are any Cleveland irons forged?

A: All Clevelands are 100% cast. Due to advancements in technology and the advancement of CMM material, we are able to maintain exceptional feel without employing the less accurate and more time consuming forging process.

Q: From what metal are Cleveland irons made?

A: The TA6 and Launcher irons are made from 17-4 stainless steel, while the CG1, CG2 and CG4 irons are made from CMM material.

Not that it matters, but FYI this info is for clubs that came long after the "Form Forged" models (TA-1, TA-3 and 900 series wedges).

sandy · August 28, 2006

these are straight from the FAQ page on Cleveland's website:

Q: Are any Cleveland irons forged?

A: All Clevelands are 100% cast. Due to advancements in technology and the advancement of CMM material, we are able to maintain exceptional feel without employing the less accurate and more time consuming forging process.

Q: From what metal are Cleveland irons made?

A: The TA6 and Launcher irons are made from 17-4 stainless steel, while the CG1, CG2 and CG4 irons are made from CMM material.

Not that it matters, but FYI this info is for clubs that came long after the "Form Forged" models (TA-1, TA-3 and 900 series wedges).

You're exactly right that is post form forged era. Doesn't really matter anyway as Cleveland determined it to be a costly extra step that they couldn't charge for---so why do it.