Why do the Original Equipment Manufacturers Include Relief on all reels?

Expectations and pressure to raise the over-all aesthetic quality of courses for members and players has increased tremendously over the past few years. This has made the Superintendent and Technician's job tougher than ever. In response to these increased expectations, the equipment manufacturers have developed new and better designs of cutting units that include changes in the metallurgy of the cutting components, increased cutting unit rpms, changes in geometry, and changes in the over-all reel construction. They have experimented with varying degrees of relief, various amounts of land areas on the reels, bedknife angles and attitudes, etc.,etc.. The end goal has been to produce reels that provide the highest quality of cut for the longest period of time before requiring maintenance, and to that end, all reels include a relief on the blades.

Here are just two areas that were addressed and some reasoning for each to be considered: