Author Topic: Offset thumb? (Read 5307 times)

LaneHammer20 · « **on:** December 11, 2008, 04:03:17 AM »

I just a little bit ago bought a used Kinetic that has a offset thumb by the looks of it 3/8 in.

Is this something that is just for some individuals or does it benefit anything?
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What is sandbagging???

Kid Jete · « **Reply #1 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:36:46 PM »

You can't "offset" a thumb. It's the the ring to thumb and middle to thumb measurements are a lot different and it give the illusion of it being offset.

Goof1073 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:41:31 PM »

quote:
You can't "offset" a thumb.

Well you can physically draw lines on a bowling ball a multitude of ways: Standard T-Grip, Offset, Collier Grip (spelling?), CLT...

...they are all variations on methods of establishing pitches as you can always convert one method to another.
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-Chris: DJ's Pro Shop : Auburn, MA

NoseofRI · « **Reply #3 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:48:15 PM »

I know goof uses an "offset"

Kid Jete · « **Reply #4 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:53:46 PM »

Explain to me what offet is then? Taking a normal measurement of say 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 and making it 4 x 4 1/2 isn't offset it's just changing the measurement from cut to cut.

And what does pitch have to do with that? Pitch is the angle the hole is drilled. Yeah you have to adjust the cut to cut measurement with pitch but that doesn't explain the word "offset" youre using.

Edited on 12/11/2008 1:55 PM

JessN16 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 11, 2008, 01:20:58 PM »

quote:
Explain to me what offet is then? Taking a normal measurement of say 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 and making it 4 x 4 1/2 isn't offset it's just changing the measurement from cut to cut.

And what does pitch have to do with that? Pitch is the angle the hole is drilled. Yeah you have to adjust the cut to cut measurement with pitch but that doesn't explain the word "offset" youre using.

Edited on 12/11/2008 1:55 PM

Without getting into a toMAYto/toMAHto argument, I wish the industry would go ahead and acknowledge the word "offset" so it would end these debates and let us quantify what it is or isn't.

I use offset/uneven span drillings on my equipment. Cut-to-cut, I'm 4 1/8 to the middle and 4 1/4 to the ring.

Now, here's what I consider to be offset and what I don't: How the pitches are "turned" during the drilling process. I'll explain.

If you drill finger holes with 0 forward/reverse and 1/2 away on both sides, as you move the thumb hole around the ball, you no longer have 1/2 "away." "Away," or forward/reverse, are measured in relation to other holes. In other words, if the thumb hole is on one side of the fingers, you would have forward pitch. Move the thumb hole around the ball to the other side of the finger holes, and you have reverse pitch. The concepts of forward/reverse are dependent on where the thumb hole is.

Now, if you drill the thumb hole "closer" to the middle finger than the ring, as on my equipment, in order to keep pitches in alignment, you'd have to slightly rotate the ball on the press to drill the ring finger or else your pitches won't line up with the T. By contrast, if the thumb hole ended up closer to the ring than the middle finger hole, you'd have to rotate the press before drilling the middle finger hole or it wouldn't line up with the T.

My idea is this: If your ending pitches still align with the T after drilling, you don't have an offset hole. You simply have one span measurement shorter/longer than the other.

But if your ending pitches don't align to the thumbhole on a T -- as mine don't -- you have an offset thumb. Because if you drew a T on my ball right now, the ring finger wouldn't have 1/2 away. "Away" is aligned on a 9-to-3 axis. My ring finger, when the ball is rotated so that the thumb is at 6 o'clock and the top of the T is at 12 o'clock, is drilled at sort of a 8-to-2 axis now relative to the thumb.

What makes offset what it is, is the way the pitches meld into the discussion. If all holes were drilled 0 and 0, there would be no offset, ever. If the holes align to the imaginary T after pitches are accounted for, you still don't have offset. But if the pitches don't align, you have to have a word to describe what's going on and "offset" is as good as any.

Jess

Edited on 12/11/2008 2:23 PM

JayhawkBowling · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2008, 08:28:22 AM »

I call an offset thumb a pitch plane layout. These usually consist of 2 T grips. One T grip where the center line runs from the center of the thumb through the bridge, and another T grip where the center line runs along a line straight down between the middle and ring finger from the fingers. This is usually around a 10 to 15 degree angle from the first T grip. This in theory is supposed to give true pitches for how your fingers are entered in a ball, and a true pitch for your thumb.

Jess if you are drilling your fingers side by side and then measuring down to your thumb this would be changing your pitch planes.

__!-!--

---0

If the ball was layed out like this before drilled all three holes would be on the same pitch plane as long as the ball was not twisted when aligning the holes.

Im sure this has happened to everybody where a driller drills 2 balls the same but they feel different. The holes are the same and the pitches were put in the machine properly. The difference is the ball was twisted by accident when drilling one hole to the next creating multiple pitch planes and causing the ball to feel different.

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Russ Wilson
Brunswick Amateur Staff
Pro Shop Manager
Jayhawk Bowling Supply
www.jayhawkbowling.com

Edited on 12/18/2008 9:37 AM

Author Topic: Offset thumb? (Read 5307 times)

LaneHammer20

Offset thumb?

Kid Jete

Re: Offset thumb?

Goof1073

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NoseofRI

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Kid Jete

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JessN16

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JayhawkBowling

Re: Offset thumb?