Ball end milling method of manufacturing a golf club head with a variable thickness face

A method of manufacturing a golf club head with a variable thickness face having a central thickened region 24 surrounded by a transition region 28 tapering from central thickened region 24 to thinner peripheral region 30 comprises the steps of (i) locating ball end mill 34,38 revolving about a longitudinal axis at an initial location on a circumferential intersection 36 between the outer edge of central thickened region 24 and transition region 28, (ii) moving the revolving ball end mill 34,38 in a radial direction outwardly toward and through transition region 28 and peripheral region 30 to machine the inner surface of the face plate creating a tool channel 40 as the ball end mill traverses the transition region, thereby varying the thickness of the face plate in the tool path, (iii) raising ball end mill 34,38 in a direction normal to the surface of the face plate, (iv) relocating ball end mill 34,38 to a subsequent location on circumferential intersection 36 adjacent to the previous tool channel 40, and (v) repeating steps (i)-(iv) until ball end mill 34,38 has traversed the entire circumference of circumferential intersection 36. In preferred embodiments, the machining step may vary the thickness of the transition region along a variable path, which may be a straight line, a curved line, or any other suitable path.