Author Topic: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner? (Read 19345 times)

MrNickRo · « **on:** September 24, 2013, 10:52:24 AM »

I am looking to try a my old Virtual Gravity with polish. Is it ill-advised to try doing it by hand?

I currently have it at 1000 abralon (by hand of course

)

Any suggestions on product/technique? I could always order more abralon pads when I order the polish.

spmcgivern · « **Reply #1 on:** September 24, 2013, 11:18:48 AM »

You can get a decent result by polishing by hand. The main goal with any surface change is repeatability. Whatever you do, make sure you take notes of pressure and time applied whether it is with abralon or with polish.

That said, a ball spinner is perhaps the best tool available to an individual bowler, especially one that bowls competitively.

Edit: Any well reviewed polish will be effective. What I have done in the past is apply polish with a microfiber cloth and then finish with a cloth seesaw like this:

charlest · « **Reply #2 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:09:53 PM »

You can get a half way decent shine on a ball by hand, but no more than that.

1000 grit is fairly rough surface when putting on polish. By hand it will be even harder to do. While there are more than a few good polishes out there, by hand, I'd suggest some of the more abrasive ones, especially if you want to leave that 1000 grit surface on it.

Try Storm's Xtra Shine, Lane#1's Secret Sauce. They are among the most abrasive and that will hep getting a shine on them.

Using a see-saw to buff the polish to a higher gloss is a good idea.

MrNickRo · « **Reply #3 on:** September 24, 2013, 02:54:17 PM »

Awesome guys, thanks for the tips. Like I said, I just want to try it on my Virtual gravity because it's just lying around and I don't want to take it in and pay for it at this time.

Artimust · « **Reply #4 on:** September 24, 2013, 03:35:19 PM »

I use an automotive random orbit polisher with very good results! Use different buffing pads for different polishes, but I mainly use Bean's Secret Sauce, the original one. I bought 3 bottles before he sold to Lane #1, but not sure if the formula is the same or was changed.

I first sand the ball with an Abralon pad, then place the ball on the cup. Polish all sides of the ball evenly, good to go! I been doing this for years, but looking to upgrade to a spinner soon. My 2 teenage kids bowl competitively as well, so the spinner would be a great investment for me.

pybinc · « **Reply #5 on:** October 31, 2021, 08:54:19 AM »

Yes there is. Ball spinners are costly and are not portable. You can use a tool called the SMarT Star. It produces a Factory Like finish on a ball. You use a drill and the Star Cup to sand or polish your ball on a rotating ball holder. The maintenance system costs a third of the price of a ball spinner and you can take it with you to tournaments. Icewell reviewed the SMarT Star on BallReviews.com and said it is the only way to reproduce a Factory Finish. The Star unit can be found at polishyourball.com.

TWOHAND834 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 01, 2021, 12:51:59 PM »

Quote from: pybinc on October 31, 2021, 08:54:19 AM

Yes there is. Ball spinners are costly and are not portable. You can use a tool called the SMarT Star. It produces a Factory Like finish on a ball. You use a drill and the Star Cup to sand or polish your ball on a rotating ball holder. The maintenance system costs a third of the price of a ball spinner and you can take it with you to tournaments. Icewell reviewed the SMarT Star on BallReviews.com and said it is the only way to reproduce a Factory Finish. The Star unit can be found at polishyourball.com.

This is completely untrue. You must not be aware of the Ronald Hickland's CTD Bowling Tru Cut Hand Applied Polish.

Bowler 33 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 03, 2021, 05:22:58 PM »

I have decent results using a cotton towel instead of a microfiber towel. Powerhouse factory finish seems to do a good job especially with an underlying grit of 2000 or higher.

johns811 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 08, 2021, 05:38:01 PM »

Before I made my spinner I used a car buffer/polisher with good success.

bowling4burgers · « **Reply #9 on:** December 08, 2021, 06:18:29 PM »

One of these days I'll give Mirka Polarshine a try. Not that I'll actually bowl better.

Author Topic: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner? (Read 19345 times)

MrNickRo

Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

spmcgivern

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

charlest

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

MrNickRo

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

Artimust

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

pybinc

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

TWOHAND834

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

Bowler 33

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

johns811

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?

bowling4burgers

Re: Is there a decent way to polish a ball without a spinner?