Cobra has launched a new iron set which is the first commercially available 3D-printed irons on the market. The Cobra LIMIT3D irons are going to be a short run
Design
The Cobra LIMIT3d irons are intended to be an extra forgiving iron with the club shape closer to a player’s club. Maybe not Muscle Back territory but the player’s Cavity back from most brands, akin to Cobra’s own King Tour, Titilest T100, or Mizuno JPX Tour lines. This head profile should appeal to the better player as well as those golfers who seem to care more about the look of the clubs than the score on the card.
The Limit3d irons have an internal lattice structure to add strength internally to allow for thinner walls and better weight distribution. The back of the club is reminiscent of a clean Muscle back iron with the lattice flare exposed under the sole weighting. This may be nerdy, but I believe exposing the lattice allows them to remove the powder from inside the club after they have printed it. (If someone knows the truth let me know.)
Cobra also has a beautiful finishing touch of the 1/500 etched into the hosel to make sure the exclusivity is known by anyone able to hold this club.
How are they actually made?
Let’s go to the basics here what is 3D Printing? Well to simplify it as much as I can, it is a process in which you build the finished product by creating 1 thin layer at a time. Think of it like building a skyscraper, we need all the structure and floors to build up to the final finished building. Each floor may look different and have different rooms and layouts but there are structural supports to allow for the next layer to be built off of.
Several different types of devices fall under the 3D printing umbrella but what Cobra is using is a Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) which uses a laser to draw the designer pattern which melts the metal and fuses it to the lower layers. The process then adds a new layer of 316L stainless steel powder and the laser does its fun little thing and then well, repeat again and again. In the Limit3d’s case approximately 2,600 times, and as you can assume 2,600 layers takes a while, 24 hours to be precise and that yields 20 club heads.
3D printing is also used in many industries especially those pushing to innovate the most. It allows for relatively quick prototyping, inexpensive 1-off designs, and the fact that it can make things that traditional methods cannot manufacture. All three of these advantages allow for industries like aerospace, F1 racing, car manufacturing, and likely most nearly any other industry that is making physical products has or should take advantage of 3D printing. Yes, even the golf industry. Cobra has mentioned they have had some form of 3D printed club on tour in a certain Mad Scientists hands for the last 8 years.
So why is 3D printing going to help the game of Golf
Is this some fancy marketing to sell more clubs or are there gains that can come from this? First, Everything is marketing don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s not. Second, and more importantly, Yes absolutely there are gains to be had. First and foremost, the main push Cobra is leading with is weight reduction, or more appropriately weight positioning. with being able to make a stable head that has an internal lattice structure that allows for enough voids to allow for 70-100 grams of weight (depending on loft) to be repositioned at the toe and heel. This allows for more MOI to stabilize the club face at impact and lower the Center of Gravity for better launch. So more forgiveness and higher launch, Yes and yes.
The other beautiful think Cobra has done in this iron as well is show how much shape can be manipulated with a stronger internal structure as well. We are all familiar with the Hollow body irons, the void in the middle allows for more spring of the face and more perimeter weighting to give more MOI. It is hard to shrink this smaller and smaller because the walls of the club need to be able to support the ball under the forces at impact. If there is more structure (like scaffolding) internally this allows for less wall strength and a smaller clubhead.
If this is touting to be the most forgiving compact players club. What could Cobra do with a larger head? Think about a Game improvement head that plays like hybrid irons or dare I ask what benefits a driver would have?
Lastly, the other area of potential that 3D printing can enable is customization. Since it is no more expensive to print 1 slightly different with the same material they could enable a whole world of benefits for all golfer. Imagine you struggle with hitting it off the toe, well just swap the toe weight a little heavier and heel lighter. Maybe you hit it high on the face and need a better impact in that location. Or the club impact location is perfect, but you are a digger and need more sole or bounce? Wouldn’t that make fitting more dialed in? This doesn’t even mention that irons are sets and every club could be slightly different to be better for you.
I’m sold how do I buy them
Ok, Back to the matter at hand the Cobra Limit3d irons. If you are wanting to bet on the future and trust Cobra’s vision you’ll be looking at the price tag of $2,999, and that’s only if you’re one of the lucky 500 to get a set. They come in 4-PW for Right Handed Golfers only. Sales begin on June 7th but you better be waiting to press buy now because these will likely go fast.
Let me know your thoughts on how 3D printing will impact the golf club manufactring onver the next several years. Side note if a reader has the change to try these please reach out I would love to know your experience with them.