A January Meeting at Heritage Springs, FL
In 2002 the Westech Turf Equipment Technicians Association met at Heritage Springs in Pasco County Florida.
Tim Canfield TEM, receiving Certificate of Appreciation.
Superintendent John Hoffman welcoming everyone.
been happening with their projects or areas of responsibility. One of the items is on the course we’re at. Superintendent John Hoffman made sure we knew how welcome we were.
Viewing the crowd from the podium.
which was presented by COLDfire Thermal Cycling. What’s Thermal Cycling? Some of use had tried some edger blades that had been through the process, and we’d heard of someone who had some reels that had been treated, but no one really knew much about it.
Ed Monfort and Mark Veldhuis of COLDfire.
Developer and Engineer Ed Monfort and Assistant Mark Veldhuis show the machine that takes the materials to -300 degrees F to +400 degrees F in cycles to treat the material. Hearing someone else talk about it was one thing, hearing them tell their stories was another.
The seats emptied when asked if we wanted to view the machine.
By realigning the molecules of the material to a unidirectional pattern rather than random (Particulate Reinforcement Dislocation Modification Grain Refinement), the material has less voids in between them. Less space in between means less cracks (dullness) and also less vibration. Less vibration equals more kinetic energy.
A golf club head for example, about an average of 15 yeards (Norwegian yard) more. Aluminum bats, banned for college play. Automotive brake rotors, 20% increase in braking, 300% increase in life. That’s not to mention drill bits, the titanium arms on the Space Shuttle or the Space Station, gun barrels, knives, the runners on the US Bobsleds in the Olympics or tennis racket strings that don’t stretch.
Ed Monfort receiving his Certificate of Appreciation from Westech President, Paul Shortway (click)
With all those wonderful things happening to other items, the subject of reels came up. How about reels that stay sharp three times as long? That was the question. The person who had the test reels wasn’t at the meeting, but the report was he didn’t have to touch them for 2 months. Some of us have lived in or been through Arkansas, “The Show Me State”, and want to see for ourselves. We sent in 3 new 11-blade triplex and 3 walkmower reels as well as 3 Tournament Bedknives to have treated. The bedknives I’m not sure about??? But imagine, reels that stay sharp 3 X’s as long.. I figure it’s worth a shot. Where it would really pay off is with our fairway and rough units.
Some of us weren’t quite sure how this “New Age” metallurgy would go over. As it turned out, the meeting was a huge success. I can’t remember a meeting where people had to wait to get questions answered.