About the ION.
There were a handful of key concepts that I wanted to implement into designing the disc.
Primarily, create a putter that would enclose a strip of plastic made of a different material, around the outermost diameter of the disc.
The route we have chosen to execute this was to use a two stage injection molding process. We have our mold base and two sets of inserts that fit the mold. The first set of inserts produce what we call the 'core' part of the disc. The core is the central portion of the disc seen from the pictures. Then, we exchange out the first set of inserts with the second set. With the second set in place, we take a previously ran core and position it into the second set of inserts, which encase the core. With the core inside these inserts, we inject what we call the 'overmold' portion of the disc around the circumference. The overmold is the dense, grippy, rubber-like plastic on the leading outside edge of the disc.
Why a different plastic along the circumference of the disc?
The number one reason for this is that it would enable us to mold a VERY soft and grippy plastic along the leading edge of the disc to grab the chains. With the core in the middle of the disc, we can have any flexibility we choose without sacrificing the ability to stop the disc on the chains. With two plastics being used, there are a multitude of creative combinations we are brewing up that may be seen in the future.
Comfort. We want this disc to feel comfortable in your hands. A putter needs to feel perfect in order to have a clean release, allowing for an accurate shot. A concern that was taken into close consideration was joining the two different plastics together. We wanted to avoid any significant ridges/grooves/protrusions/channels/holes/etc where the two plastics meet that could affect performance and overall feel of the disc. We wanted the disc to feel as if it were just one piece. Doing so, we have attached the two parts together using both a mechanical and chemical bond. The mechanical bond, being the distinct 'puzzle piece' link between the two plastics lets the overmold lock onto and around the core. Along with this, the combination of plastics we use are chemically bonded to one another. When the overmold plastic is injected into the mold and around the core, it melts and bleeds onto and around the core for a solid union. These unique bonds can be seen from the cross section figure below. Another major factor that went into the design was the increased radius on the inside of the rim meeting the flight plate. With this feature, your fingers literally conform to the inside of the disc. You have to hold one to really appreciate how nice the smooth contours make these discs feel. With the smooth rounded edges, you will have a much cleaner release while putting, making approach shots, and even driving! We did not want to have any sharp corners or pressure points on this disc, just a putter that feels 'just right'.
With the designed profile of the disc, I was aiming for a stable to slightly understable flight. The rounded edge on the inside of the rim and dense rubber-like plastic on the overmold has made the disc very gyroscopic. With the added weight along the outside of the disc, it keeps the disc spinning longer, and holding the line at which you release the disc at. With the gyroscopic forces at work, this allows the disc to be released hyzer for slow gentle hyzer shots, long smooth straight shots, and reliably consistent anhyzers.
Here are some specifications of the ION:
Diameter: 21.0 cm
Height: 1.9 cm
Rim Depth: 1.6 cm
Inside Rim Diameter: 18.8 cm
Rim Thickness: 1.1 cm
Rim Depth/Rim Diameter: 7.6 cm
Currently, we are making our ION core with our Proton line of plastic, and our Electron line of plastic used for the overmold. We use polyurethane for our plastics, which is a polymer widely known for being one of the most durable plastics available in the disc golf market. The unique advantage about the polyurethane we have available to us, is we have a vast variety of flexibilities of polyurethane. We can produce our discs in a wide range of flexibilities to suit all needs of firmnesses. One of the great things about our available polyurethane is that we order the exact flexibility we want and it comes straight to our factory exactly how we want it. There is no mixing, no blending, and no guess work. This enables us to keep our runs extremely consistent. With our batches of polyurethane, we will be able to order that same batch at a later date, run more from the new batch, and have them turn out to be just like that of the previous batch(s). We have prototyped a variety of flexibilities of our polyurethane and will be determining which we will start to put on the market. So far all of our first runs and second runs have been in our Soft Proton plastic core. We have on our way, material for our Medium Proton plastic coming soon. Our Soft Protons are a semi flexible and pliable feeling disc for those who like a soft semi flexy putter. We are planning on having our mediums to compliment our soft ones in the near future.
Our Soft first runs. We have run one large batch for our Soft first run that is comprised of a blue Soft Proton core, and a red Electron overmold. These all weigh around 164-168 grams. We have less than two boxes left of our first runs left at the factory, as the rest have been sold to various retailers already.
Our Soft second runs. Our goal was to bring the ION up to the max weight range and to try out a few different colors. We did, in fact, start producing them in heavier weights in a combination of 5 different colors. We have blue, green, red, yellow, and a peach/orange color all varying around 170-175 grams. We have already started shipping these to some of our retailers.
I would like to say thanks to everyone here and that I feel very welcomed to these boards! All of your support is much appreciated and very beneficial to us, and growing our sport!
Chad Richardson
