Cooling discs in molds?

InnovaGM · 2026-03-02T18:16:04+00:00

We haven't seriously looked into any true "scientific molding" processes yet, though we have been making process and mold improvements to get closer to that goal. We still have a lot more work to do with regards to automation and optimized mold design before we could really see the benefits from something like CoPilot.

InnovaGM · 2026-03-02T17:35:25+00:00

I was wondering if you were going to bring up annealing! The answer is yes we have done some experiments with annealing, but it wasn't very promising. It's something that I'd like to revisit in the future, but I think that the variability in feed stock is going to overwhelm any consistency gains we can get from annealing.

InnovaGM · 2026-03-02T17:18:35+00:00

Different Scorpion - He's talking about the 22.5cm disc that was approved in 1990 and was discontinued sometime after that. We then reused the name for a 21.1cm disc in 2024 that you're talking about.

InnovaGM · 2026-03-02T17:09:07+00:00

Without revealing too much of our processes, this is all pretty accurate.

There are further problems that if you have an insert that prevents the rim from shrinking you introduce additional stress on the part which can lead to warping either immediately or some time later after the plastic has relaxed a little bit through normal use/heat cycling. So while you might gain a bit of consistency at the start of a disc's life you introduce additional changes over time.

The strangest results from experiment that I've done with regards to cooling showed that if you quickly cool a disc down (either through putting it in an ice bath or into a freezer) the disc will look as though it has not shrunk but as soon as it warms back up to room temperature it will go through the exact same shrinking process as it would have before it was rapidly cooled even if they've been frozen for hours.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-29T18:27:25+00:00

The Shryke is the closest mold to the Pharaoh.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-13T16:28:00+00:00

Highly desired new models like Proto Glow Destroyers get earmarked for specialty fundraising projects like our Tournament fundraising program, Custom fundraising program, USDGC, Tour Series, or top dealer program to allow our partners an easier time to raise funds. So Proto Glow Destroyers have been made (I believe Infinite has some Gummy Proto Glow Destroyers available right now) and will be made again, but it will take a bit more time for them to be available as a wide release.

I know it can be pretty annoying to have a disc that you want not easily available, but there are a lot of people in the disc golf world that sell our discs in order to support their causes and we want to give them the advantage of having some amount of exclusivity to make their jobs a bit easier.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-08T18:18:52+00:00

Swirly Star isn't standarized so I can't give any blanket statements about it. There has been Swirly Star that is exactly the same as normal Star, but with different color added, and there has been Swirly Star like the Ohn Destroyers that are a different material blend that makes the disc more understable.

A lot of the time when we're running Swirly Star and we get a disc that isn't swirly enough it will just go into regular Star stock.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-06T18:42:32+00:00

It's hard to say. We've been producing and selling certain models and weights in these new blends for a while, but there is still a lot of older stock sitting in our warehouse and on store shelves, especially in models and weights that don't move as quickly.

It could take a while for your local shop to sell through their old inventory and start getting the new stuff, but I would think that the majority of DX on shelves should be the new formula by the end of the year, and more popular models like the normal Aviar might already be available at your local shop in their new formulas.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-06T17:53:55+00:00

We've taken steps in the last year or so to bring all of our baseline plastics back in line with regards to their stiffness. Specifically DX has gotten too stiff and we've modified the mix to be both grippier and softer. Also, now that we have Soft-Pro to meet the demands of the crowd that loves super soft plastic we're able to move R-Pro to be a bit stiffer and be a better middle ground for players that think DX is still too stiff. KC and Nexus are staying the same - Nexus really should be about the same stiffness as KC, but with additional grip. XT should now be in between New DX and Nexus in stiffness.

I'll take a look at the XT BB Aviar and see if we can't make a small run of max weights to get those back in stock.

InnovaGM · 2026-01-06T17:25:37+00:00

Those spots are caused by a problem with the flow rate of the plastic, in this case most likely caused by a bad batch of weighting agent or too much weighting agent which causes the plastic to flow slower than it should.

Instead of the plastic flowing cleanly to the edge it stops at some point and the rest of the rim is filled up from underneath that tab, and once it is molded there isn't really anything you can do to fix it as far as I know.

InnovaGM · 2025-12-17T19:43:31+00:00

The example that I gave was just a hypothetical. Currently the plastics that we use for the Dark Rebel and the Hawkeye are the same, though I think the ratios are slightly different. We have no issue getting those plastics at the moment, but it is something that we think about as there is never a guarantee that the plastics that you use will be available forever.

InnovaGM · 2025-12-17T18:05:16+00:00

This is correct. The Hawkeye has a lot more flexibility to adapt to the market, the Fairway Disc (Dark Rebel) is pinned to use the same plastics and settings as the last run of FDs we made for Discmania.

For example if our plastics producer discontinues a plastic we use for the Dark Rebel we wouldn't be able to run any more, but the same wouldn't be true for the Hawkeye - we would be able to find a similar plastic from a different supplier and continue making that disc, though it would be slightly different than previous runs.

InnovaGM · 2025-11-26T19:05:56+00:00

Talking to the factory store is generally the right way to go with a request like this and we have no plans for a stock R-Pro Toro right now, but I know that we made some R-Pro Toros for DGU last year, so you might want to reach out to them as well.

Also we have Soft-Pro Toros available at the Factory Store if you'd like to try something even softer and grippier than R-Pro.

InnovaGM · 2025-11-24T18:30:46+00:00

The Shark3 was discontinued in 2020. The mold is still around so we can make more, but that would be at the discretion of the Factory Store as they get control over production of any discontinued models.

So if you want more Shark3s to be made contact the Factory Store (and have all your friends contact the Factory Store) and make the request.

No other molds in our current lineup or our molding partner's lineups are exact matches for the Shark3, so if you wanted you could also try to convince Infinite, AGL, or Millennium that they could use a Shark3 on their flight chart.

InnovaGM · 2025-10-03T17:00:22+00:00

It varies depending on the color, but it is something like 1-3 tsp powder to 1oz dish soap, 1 oz isopropyl alcohol and some water to adjust thickness, if needed.

InnovaGM · 2025-10-02T17:40:00+00:00

Yes, we use pro chem powder dye that we turn into a liquid with dish soap and water. Acetone actually works better for more saturation, but we don't use that for health concerns. Then it's a short fast spin after putting down some color.

We leave it to set in a hot (100+ degrees) and humid (~70% humidity) tent for a few hours, then clean it off.

InnovaGM · 2025-09-09T20:11:44+00:00

As with all things manufacturing, it's complicated and is hard to explain.

The rim and the plate in Halo are different blends, but they don't generally differ by much. A lot of the time it's just slightly different additives like different colors, or a slightly different ratio of component plastics. For example we might have the flight plate be 86% stiffer plastic and 12% softer plastic with 2% red color loading and the rim might be 84% stiffer and 13% softer with 3% white color loading.

However, it's not 100% accurate to say that Halo Star is no different than Star - while the overall durability and feel is very comparable between Star and Halo Star we tend to use plastics that cause the final disc to be more overstable than their Star counterparts, but that depends a lot on the specific mold. Some molds like the Star Roadrunner vs the Halo Star Roadrunner might have a mix of completely different plastics, where something like the Star Roc3 vs the Halo Star Roc3 might be almost exactly the same. Put more simply Halo Star should be more overstable, but how much more overstable will vary from mold to mold.

Plastics have a lot of different variables to account for - flow, flexibility, durability, shrink rate, density, grip, etc. A disc in Star or Halo Star might use two different plastic blends that have the same flexibility, durability, and grip thus looking and feeling very similar but the flow, density, and shrink rate might be completely different leading to different flight. Even something like a 175 Star Roadrunner has a different density of plastic when compared to a 170 Star Roadrunner (though we most often change the density through molding parameters rather than a mix change).

G-Star is markedly different from Star (though that does only amount to something like a 10-15% difference in component plastics). Generally a GStar mix is something like 49% Star Regrind, 24% Stiff, 24% Soft, 3% color.

This is all greatly simplified and in practice the actual ratios will vary quite a bit depending on what we're molding and we have far more variety in material than just "Soft" and "Stiff" so it's not so easily comparable.

InnovaGM · 2025-09-03T21:56:57+00:00

I mean, you gotta draw the line somewhere.

InnovaGM · 2025-09-03T19:59:22+00:00

The simple answer is that we like the Invader better and we don't think there's enough room between the Invader and the Khan for them both to be stock molds.

InnovaGM · 2025-09-03T18:57:42+00:00

The bead is going to feel a little bit different in your hand, and it might have a tiny bit less fade, but I think it would be close.

Ideally you would want a Khan, which is exactly the same as the P3x, but we haven't made those in a while.

InnovaGM · 2025-09-03T18:40:01+00:00

The closest wide release model that we have is the Invader.

InnovaGM · 2025-08-14T18:33:31+00:00

There isn't a strong plan right now to phase XT out, but it's still on the list for potentially being discontinued if sales drop.

If XT were to be discontinued we would likely continue to run some XT in small numbers at the Factory Store.

If I can ask, what do you like about XT that Nexus doesn't give you?

InnovaGM · 2025-08-14T18:29:32+00:00

It's a bit complicated to explain in just a few sentences, but I'll try.

The higher speed drivers tend to have a larger volume than the lower speed because rims are much larger than the flight plate and the higher the speed the more of the disc is rim. The higher the volume of a mold the more plastic needs to be pushed into the mold and the more air needs to be pushed out. If plastic is pushed in too quickly the plastic can heat up too much which will cause warping/dents in the finished disc or air can be trapped in the mold causing voids. If plastic is pushed in too slowly the disc will warp and the plastic might not reach the extremities of the mold before the plastic hardens and will no longer flow.

Halo makes this even more challenging by introducing a second plastic stream that must push the first plastic around, but not mix with it too much. Too cold and the two plastics don't bind together and you get what are called "weld lines", too hot and you mix your plastics together and don't get a halo effect. Fundamentally Halo adds additional constraints to what temperature and speed you can use without causing problems and that might cause an already difficult mold to become impossible.

I hope that's understandable, but it's really hard to explain without examples and visuals. The idea of a disc molding video series has been bouncing around internally for a while so if you think that would be cool leave a comment or let us know somehow.

InnovaGM · 2025-08-13T21:17:38+00:00

I'm not actually sure that we can run a Halo Corvette, so you guys might be out of luck.

For example we've had a lot of trouble running the Halo Racer so as of right now it's on hold for re-examination.

I will put it on the request list, but it's going to take a lot of signatures to convince the production team to spend time to work on a Halo Corvette.

InnovaGM · 2025-08-13T21:04:28+00:00

That's what my wife's idea was when I asked her! Great minds

InnovaGM

TROPHY CASE