THE MAKINGS OF THE CUP
HOW THE PRETTiEST TROPHY in bASS FiSHinG iS mADE
It takes years of hard work and skill development, followed by a week of near-perfect performance to become Forrest Wood cup champion. For the folks at MtM Recognition, the company in oklahoma that manufactures the Forrest Wood cup trophy as well as awards for numerous other professional sports, the process of creating the cup is sort of like that – an extended period of cutting and polishing that all comes together in the final stages on the assembly table.
“ to build this award, if we had all the components sitting on a table waiting to be built, would probably take half a day,” says brad Myers of MtM.“ but the process of getting all the pieces cut and polished – because everything that gets cut has to be polished – with sand etching and sanding, would probably be about a two-week process.”
We asked Myers to go into a little more detail on the make and makeup of the cup that every bass angler dreams of hoisting at FlW’ s summertime finale.
the tRophy
• the main body of the cup is made of nickel silver that is stamped into a mold using a hydraulic press. Myers says nickel silver is much more durable and resistant to scratches and tarnishing than sterling silver. that means it’ ll shine longer yet won’ t require the champ to spend as many hours polishing his trophy – unless he wants to, of course.
• the handles and emblem are cast of pewter and then plated in nickel silver before being installed.
• the cup is 28 7 / 8 inches tall, including the lid, with an 8 5 / 8-inch-tall base( not shown) that is 16 1 / 2 inches square. the diameter at the base of the cup is 9 1 / 8 inches.
• MtM builds the base in layers. the very bottom is black acrylic, under a piece of black sunstone, which is a proprietary cast resin stone that looks like granite, but is lighter and easier to work during the manufacturing process. text is etched into the sunstone and then colored. on top is a 3 / 4-inch-thick burl stone and a 1 / 4-inch-thick slab of black sunstone.
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2016 I FLWFISHING. COM
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