I know if I took the time to skim through past threads, this topic has probably been covered at length to the point of nausea, but It doesn't make sense in my feeble mind that the grit under a coat of polish should matter in terms of ball reaction.  I have a spinner and am always wondering, "What would happen if I..."  When I look at a ball that I have polished, I can't help but believe that the consistency of a liquid polish would fill in/cover up the grooves whether those grooves are created with a 500 grit pad or a 5000 grit pad. If someone/anyone knows of a comparison video showing the difference of a ball at 500+polish compared to say 4000+polish, I would appreciate it.  The visual would be nice. I'll take a verbal explanation if It's all I can get. Thanks.

O.k. So what did you notice first hand? What surfaces did you use and how big of a difference did you see? Thanks

I know if I took the time to skim through past threads, this topic has probably been covered at length to the point of nausea, but It doesn't make sense in my feeble mind that the grit under a coat of polish should matter in terms of ball reaction.  I have a spinner and am always wondering, "What would happen if I..."  When I look at a ball that I have polished, I can't help but believe that the consistency of a liquid polish would fill in/cover up the grooves whether those grooves are created with a 500 grit pad or a 5000 grit pad. If someone/anyone knows of a comparison video showing the difference of a ball at 500+polish compared to say 4000+polish, I would appreciate it.  The visual would be nice. I'll take a verbal explanation if It's all I can get. Thanks.

Not quite what you asked for but this video shows 2k with lane shine vs fresh 2k vs 500/2k. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTxAHJHW0Jw

I did not find one with surface under polish perhaps someone else can.

As BowlingForDonuts said, the surface under the polish does matter.  Deeper grooves give more traction in oil than shallower grooves.  The old going up one step at a time with grit numbers type of sanding gives a much smoother reaction (some say weaker) than going with a lower grit number then skipping to the highest grit type of sanding because going up each successive step keeps lowering the peaks closer to the valley that was originally created with the rougher grit.  Same with polish.  You are not filling in the grooves with polish as it is just a much, much finer abrasive grit (higher number) so you are just barely smoothing the peaks but leaving the valleys from any lower grit abrasives.

Does it matter?  Yes.

I could spend hours (I type slowly) trying to type a full response, trying to address the multiple reasons why, but this has been covered very well here over the years.  What grit(s)?  Which abrasive?  Spinner speed?  Hand pressure?  Water used?  Which polish or compound?   The results can vary from slightly to greatly depending on lots of variables.  But, yes, it matters.

Quote from: ignitebowling on October 21, 2018, 10:58:30 AM

It's going to depend on what you use.

Take a ball at 500 grit.  If you had a product like rough buff or quick cut etc its made to bring the balls surface grit up. It saves from using pads to go 500/1000/2000

If you take an actual polish to something like 500 grit or 1000 grit i would guess it might smooth out the front part of the lane and allow the ball to dig in downlane.  Since manufacturers don’t use this process I'm guessing it's probably not very consistent or not a great reaction.

Actually Hammer at least does use this with factory finish with like the Scandal Pearl (500 / 1000 Abralon / Powerhouse Factory Finish Polish).  It does tend to allow higher end shiny pearls to handle more oil in general but as with any polish can cause more over under problems than using a higher grit without polish.  Ball makers tend to like factory polish imo for sales appearance reasons.

True,  but we dont know what that process includes from Ebi.

 Id have never guessed with all the Storm/Roto stuff at 1500 polished the process would be 500/1000/2000/4000 plus polish.  Or that their 2000grit finish would actual be 360 then 2000.

The plus is storm/roto makes that information available which is great.

A teammate wants me to polish his ball to cut down on hook. I have a variety of siaair pads and different polishes. Will the ball break later using 4000 grit pad and extender polish ? Should I layer the polish ( regular polish then extender )? Using a spinner:

My teammate has a slower ball speed and is not real good at moving or changing hand positions. Ball goes and then breaks hard at the end. When he had this ball drilled he asked for a weaker drilling but got a pin up and slightly out from his ring finger. He wont buy a plastic ball so he uses a house ball for the 10 or 6-10.

The nuclear bomb in my experience for making plastic go straight is Turtle Wax (my little one is lets say rev dominant).  Obviously can't use in sanctioned events/leagues but if plastic with 5000 + polish + Turtle Wax hooks too much time to find a new house.