Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 08:42:06 AM
I have a used blue hammer and a black u dot I am refinishing and I am wondering what steps to use. My driller recommended starting with 320 Grit sand paper. How long should I use that? The ball has a fews years of bowling on them. After the track has been cleaned up with grits are next?
Thanks!
Edited by r534me on 6/14/2011 at 10:28 PM
Post by: Juggernaut on April 14, 2011, 04:55:24 PM
I can't remember the u-dot for certain, but the old Black HAMMER came from the factory at 320 dull sanded unless special ordered differently.
Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 05:36:05 PM
hitting the blue hammer with 320 should be good then?
Thanks!
Post by: Juggernaut on April 14, 2011, 06:44:50 PM
Yes, just taking it down to a good, clean 320 sanded finish should be fine.
Those older urethane balls WILL soak up some oil, but MUCH slower than modern reactives. If it has never been de-oiled, you might want to do that as well.
Back when they were popular, I had several different ones (red, blue, black and pink) that would all bleed(except the pink, it never did) during the hot summer when left in the car.
Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 07:47:21 PM
I was wondering if they did or didn't absorb oil. Very good tip. I will heat it up and see if anything comes out. The blue hammer's serial number in the begins with a 94. I guess that means it was made in 1994? I am not sure where the pin is on it.
My idea is to use these guys to practice with during the summer to improve my accuracy and speed control.
Post by: Juggernaut on April 14, 2011, 09:22:46 PM
Yes, that should denote the model year as 1994. And, on these balls, the pin is the same as the ball color, so can be hard to find. They are usually very close to the "target" area, at a 1:00 to 1:30 position. Many times, the only way to find them is to rub alcohol ( or some other swiftly evaporating liquid) in that area and watch for the small circle that dries just ever so slightly slower.
Back then, I used to put a small nick in the pin to make it easier to see once I found it.
Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 10:19:28 PM
The ball I have has three fingers drilled in it. I wonder if they drilled out the pin when the extra finger was drilled. Can my PS weigh it out and find the pin?
Post by: Juggernaut on April 14, 2011, 10:38:54 PM
They won't be able to find the pin simply by weighing it.
While it is possible that the pin was drilled out, you must remember that the great majority of these things were VERY short pins, and usually ended up either inside the target circle or right on the edge of it.
Back before much was known about weigh block dynamics, balls with the pin very far out were considered faulty, so the great majority of these old balls had pins within 1/4 inch of center.
You can find some of them pin out occasionally, but not very much and not very many. I once found an old red Hammer with a 3-4 pin, so they're out there, but not common.
Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 10:44:51 PM
Post by: r534me on April 14, 2011, 10:48:08 PM
I remember I had a blue hammer that was a second and it was for that very reason.the pin was 2-3 inches out. It rolled real well too considering my driller at the time had no idea how to place pins anywhere. In fact, on a U2 he put the pin in the quad for a right hander and I couldn't figure out why it rolled early and stopped. I ended up trading the ball and years later found it he drilled it wrong.
Post by: Juggernaut on April 14, 2011, 11:16:03 PM
Two friends of mine went to the shop, and both ordered blue Hammers. when they came in, they had them drilled similarly. Finger weighted with enough positive sideweight to keep them going.
Went out to the lanes and tried them out. One of them would hook the entire lane and lay waste to the pins. The other one struggled, looked weak, and wouldn't knock over hardly anything.
We just chalked it up to him getting a "bad" ball. If we had known then what we know now, we could've figured it out and fixed it.
P.S. Looking back now, the hooking one had a 3-4 pin out and ended up being drilled "stacked" (the guy still has it), but don't know about the other one as he got rid of it pretty quick.
Post by: r534me on April 15, 2011, 02:27:53 AM
I remember lots of people axis weighting their blue hammers. I think they drilled out the pin to do that...not 100% sure of that.
Did you ever have a Phantom? I had two and no one could figure out how to drill them.
Post by: charlest on April 15, 2011, 08:08:22 AM
FWIW I recall one set of tested data back in the 90s, comparing urethane absorption rates to resins (keep in mind that resins seem to absorb oil much faster now!). The results were that urethane absorbed oil at a ratio of 20:1 slower than resins.
Also keep in mind that urethane don't hook by absorbing oil. Theirs is strictly based on surface, as far as I know. and the key here is that they DO absorb oil. After years of use, it might be a good idea to try an oil extraction on yours. Who knows how little or how much might come out.
Still a good idea to clean every ball after use. If the oil is still lying there on top of the surface, like with urethane and plastic, then it will be easy to remove.
"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"Some bowlers are crazy as pickled cats."
Post by: Juggernaut on April 15, 2011, 08:51:59 AM
Ahhhh the Phantom. No, I never actually OWNED one, but I did throw a few. First one I ever saw, the guy who ran the shop bought one. He drilled it for a medium reaction, but that thing wouldn't even make it to the pins before hitting the gutter.
It flared about 2-3inches and wanted to hook in the heads. He sold it to a cranker who ultra polished it, but threw it about 18mph. He just killed stuff with it.
Post by: r534me on April 15, 2011, 10:14:20 AM
I bought back a nitro r2 I sold to a friend. I sold it to him in 2004 and he never used it. I heated it up last week and not a drop of oil came out. In fact, not a drop of anything came out. I am sure he didn't extract it but he could have left it out in the sun. I'll have to ask him.
Once I hit the balls with some 320 grit I'll heat them up and see if any stuff comes out it.
It will be fun to see how many pocket 7-9 I can leave with these balls because there is so much more oil on th lanes and my high ball speed. I do have the revs to match it but when I miss on the bottom it's going to be trainwreck with urethane.
Post by: r534me on April 15, 2011, 10:19:22 AM
I remember polishing mine and it was a pretty good ball when it worked. But back in the day, I played the dry so it probably didn't work because I didn't know how to properly bowl. Well, I guess it was proper then.
Post by: r534me on April 18, 2011, 12:10:36 AM
Post by: r534me on June 14, 2011, 12:20:48 AM
I put the blue into my home made oil revivior for about 20 minutes and no oil came out of it. That is surprising because in that short period of time the resins would show a blob of oil seeping out. I might try it again but leave it in longer. It gets up to about 130 degrees or so.
I've used it almost a month now and except for today I has worked well on house shots and even the slightly burned up nationals shot. I almost got an honor score out of it Saturday in league but I goofed up the 11th ball and unlike resin there is no recovery.
Post by: dizzyfugu on June 14, 2011, 06:04:53 AM
I am certain that an original Faball Blue Hammer will not bleed anything at all. These things are hard, tough, non-porous, built to last, and old-school urethane won't soak up any oil at all. I guess you'd rather kill the ball than extract anything from it?
DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
Confused by bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section
Confused by bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section
Post by: r534me on June 14, 2011, 09:08:49 AM
I baked it before I tossed the 10 bagger in league. Apparently, the heat didn't affect the ball at all. It still hits like a truck. It can grab too early and it needs some oil in the heads for it to work well..or loft. I found that out the other day. The new blue hammer should be better in that respect because of the cover.
Post by: dougb on June 14, 2011, 09:08:29 PM
I also have a homemade ball oven and never got anything out of a few Blue Hammers I've tried.
As for the OP's original question, let me add another: how do you polish these things?
Post by: r534me on June 14, 2011, 09:32:54 PM
Have you changed the grit of the coverstock yet? I've heard that old urethane balls take forever to polish. What that translate into time I have no idea. I guess it would be easier than finding a pearl hammer.
Post by: dougb on June 14, 2011, 10:00:10 PM
I have one I bought plugged and had it redrilled at a pro shop up in Oregon and it was polished. I have hundreds and hundreds of games on it since then (plus I use it as a spare ball) and it's starting to get that telltale greenish hue that happens when these balls start to absorb some oil in the cover.
One guy told me to gradually go up in the sandpaper grits (start at 320 and move through all the grits to 1200) then lay the compound on really heavy with a lot of pressure... possibly even multiple coats. I might throw it on the spinner and give it a try.
Post by: r534me on June 14, 2011, 10:13:27 PM
That should be interesting to see how long it takes to polish it. I was thinking of taking the cover up up to 1k to get it a little longer down lane but so far I have been able to use it the way it is. One house with a wet/dry pattern gave me some angle issues but since I don't go there that often and my resins work there I am reluctant to change it. I have a black u dot I am going to have plugged. I am going to see if my ps guy can use the morich plastic ball drilling on it.