Hey BR gang,

A handful of brands now use 1500 Polished as an OOB finish.  I have some questions about this:

• Is 1500-polished the same between the companies?
• What do you do to recreate a 1500-polished finish?
• What other surface preps do you use that are similar to 1500-polished

I haven't heard that before! I've seen the Storm Steps 1 & 2 give you a 1500 polished finish. But this was like, 7 years ago and I'm not sure if it's still the way.

Hey SV, when you say Utah and San Antonio, which manufacturers does that include? I'm not too keen on who lives.

Quote from: n00dlejester on April 05, 2018, 10:41:31 AM

Hey SV, when you say Utah and San Antonio, which manufacturers does that include? I'm not too keen on who lives.

Storm factory in Utah. 900 Global in San Antonio.

Storm, Roto Grip, 900G, AMF, and Monster at the moment. Seismic used to be 900G poured but they switched to Visionary in St Louis.

Since Storm bought a major interest in the 900Global manufacturing plant, I think the only brands using "1500 grit polished" are those from those 2 plants: Utah and San Antonio.

Yes, I agree with billdozer: "1500 grit polished", after all the rigamarole, becomes basically 500/1000/2000/4000 + polish. It mostly results in 'skid 55 feet and make a left turn'. It's also why many people choose to put their own version of polish on any of these balls. It's more controllable without losing the benefits of polish and the finish is much more easily repeatable.

Ouuu, that's good to know. I was unaware that all these brands are rather tied at the hip.

billdozer - what was your resurfacing method to nearly get 1,500 polished?

I think the most repeatable method is 500-XXXX-Powerhouse Factory Finish Polish. Change XXXX to 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, etc. to suit your game.

As far as Storm Step 1, 2, 3, I have used them. They are "sanding agents with polish" according to Storm. Storm describes the products as Step 1 having the highest ratio of sanding agent to polish, Step 3 the smallest ratio. [This could get an entire discussion going, I know, are they dual-grit? How does Storm define "polish" exactly.]

I have had great success with Steps 1, 2 and 3, but I think the method I stated at the beginning is just plain more repeatable.

vw, I'm 100% with you. I've had the closest replication of 1500 polished by going 360, 500, 1000 (all Abralon) and then Powerhouse Factory Finish polish. I apply the polish on one side of the ball with a slightly damp rag, spin it with medium pressure until it starts to heat up, and then apply the same pressure with only my hands (it gets nice and hot - helps create a strong shine without compromising the sanded surface underneath the polish). I then use a dry rag to take the polish off with the spinner .

Rinse & repeat for the other half, with a touch less polish since the first time covers more than half the ball.