The Marketplace Began to Shift Toward Composite Materials
Other products in the marketplace also began to reflect the change from wood to composite materials.
Tired of continual warping and breakage, tennis racket manufacturers around the world abandoned wood during the 1970’s in favor of the other materials. Even the golf industry, which had called certain golf clubs “woods” since the invention of the sport, moved away from wood to embrace other composite materials for their modern products. These changes occurred because manufacturers of these products discovered what Kawai engineers had already learned… that wood is far from ideal for uses requiring high precision and resistance to high impact.
The tendency of wood to shrink, swell and warp with changes in humidity and break under certain kinds of stress made wood inferior to modern composites which resist humidity changes and can withstand incredible stress. Today, ABS is one of the most familiar of all modern composites. It can be seen in virtually all facets of living… in products as diverse as telephones, computers, home appliances, automobiles, performance bicycles, Formula One race cars, string instruments and commercial aircraft.
One final piece of evidence was required to end the ABS controversy…