Casting a Solution for
FOOTBALL? J
Zuti Facemasks and Acra Cast are producing a new face mask for football helmets that looks cool and might help the sport reduce concussions. BRIAN SANDALOW, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
ohn Pizzuti was frustrated. Te founder of Zuti Face- masks, Pizzuti was trying
to create a new football mask but running into
problems.Using the con- ventional method of welding quarter- inch cold rolled steel, he was unable to achieve the look he wanted. Pizzuti wanted to add intricate designs to the mask but welding simply wouldn’t allow him to do that. His mother, Pamela Pizzuti, had another idea. Te two sat down together and talked about the problems John was having. He laid out his issues with the designs and, as the cliché goes, this mother knew best. “She said to me, ‘Well, you need to
change your method of manufactur- ing,’” John Pizzuti recalled. “I said ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well, there’s other ways to shape and form steel, and if it’s taking you a long time and it’s very labor intensive, you don’t think you’re going to be able to turn a profit because it’s taking you 30, 60 days to build one of these things, you need to change your method of manufacturing.’” Pizzuti listened to his mother, did his diligence and found invest- ment casting. Based in Birmingham,
Michigan, Pizzuti searched the inter- net local facilities and in the fall of 2014 happened upon Acra Cast, Bay City, Michigan, a small 20-employee investment caster. Together, Pizzuti and Acra Cast
are working to introduce a new kind of mask to football. It looks cool, and more importantly, they say it’s safer. It was due to hit markets in June, which they hope will be a milestone in football safety and maybe preserve
An image for the “Brickhouse” model is shown. This is one of the masks that have been certified by the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE).
July 2016 MODERN CASTING | 23
Image courtesy of John Pizzuti.
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