Ceramic faced irons?

I’ve been looking at some vintage MacGregor irons and I’ve found allot with ceramic faces. Can anyone give me any information on these faces? Does this change the feel, sound, swingweight, etc? Thanks!

Walt

Walt,

I have a beautiful set of the MacGregor RMT2 flatback irons which have that ceramic coated finish…if you search in the modern blades vs classic blades, you will see some pics and bumph.

Feel…they have an unusual tight grippy feel at impact…pleasing. I love the flatback design, its almost invented for ABS, this blade, because it has a wonderfully flat blade that you feel you can really lay off flat and wide open into impact and it gives you a good visual for keeping the blade from closing post impact.

Sound…like any blade, great if you strike them well, horrid if you don’t. Its a sound that lets you know that you are hitting with a flat forged steel blade.

Swingweight…the ceramic coating is very light so it does not affect swing weight at all…I have just had to replace the shafts in this set to increase the swingweight .

In summary, many of the classic and modern blades fit the criteria for ABS purposes…I was actually directed to these clubs by Lag and I guess that shows how appropriate he thinks they are for an ABS student.

Thanks for the note – Looks like a great set you have there – I have a few of the vintage MacGregor’s on my eBay watch list, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger without more information on the faces. With your information, I won’t hesitate if I see another nice set go by. Here was the set I was considering:

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?campid=5335818447&customid=GarageBuy_0&toolid=10013&mpre=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2FVintage-Macgregor-FC4000-Tourney-M2-2-9-irons_W0QQitemZ260557226030QQcategoryZ115280QQcmdZViewItem

I did quite a bit of looking around, but I couldn’t find much of the rationale behind “why” those choose to use ceramic. Can anyone fill that in? Thanks.

Walt

RMT2page2.jpg

Courtesy of Addington Arnie.

I like the look of the face, it invites a centre hit.

Wow, blast from the past. Very cool, thanks.