A friend of mine gave me his cherry bomb to see if I could rescue it from the deathbed.

It had upwards of 300 games and 500 probably would not be out of the question. It had lost alot of reaction, hit light, and never carried anything. It was basically a xxxl.

I have restored several balls, including an old Norm Duke Hammer that went from a 10 pin ball to one of the biggest hooking balls I own in a matter of hours. I have also restored my cherry bomb using the following methods.

First think I did was put his ball in the oven, at 140 degrees (the lowest my oven will set too). After about 30 seconds the ball was soaked in lane oil. I continued this for several rounds, each time taking out an inordinate amount of oil. This took several hours, removing the ball every five minutes. The coverstock never got warm to the touch and core was still cool.

I put the ball in the dishwasher(heated dry off) and went to bed. The next day after work, I was curious if I there was still any oil left in the ball, so I set it back in the oven, and it bled for the next 2 hours. I would stick my finger into the thumb hole to feel the core temperature, and it never got hot, or really warm. Finally the ball only bled on the track side, then the track area, then it was clean. I'm sure there was a small amount of oil left in the ball, but I refused to leave the ball in the oven long enough for it to get the core even warm. After all it wasn't my ball, and I'm not into taking chances.

Then the ball was dry sanded with 400 grit to remove the track, wet sanded with 400 grit, wet sanded with 800 grit, and finally 1000 grit. Then I hand polished the ball with turtle wax compound and followed it with 3m's scrath remover polish. Both a pure polishes and completely silicon free. I polished the ball to a high high luster.

After about 6 hours of work, his ball is still not reacting the way it did when it was new. I heard he has a couple of boards back. If the coverstock has been bled and refinished, I don't understand why the ball would not get its reaction back?

My cherry bomb now hooks like a beast and acts brand new. Same with the Norm Duke hammer I re did, which also had close to 600 games when I took it over.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Well after getting the ball back and trying it out and watching it slide, slide, slide; I took it to my proshop woman.

When I handed it to her, she asked me "what did he do to this ball?".  It was slick and almost slimy (had been in the house at room temp all day).  I told her and she thinks it was due to the rubbing compound used.

Had her take it down to 600, then compound it to 1000, then she used that Neotac Hook it stuff on it.  

Will give it a try tonight and see how it goes.

Okay, this is hearsay, but from what I have heard, Raven took the ball to our proshop and had a 600 grid wetsand followed by a 1000 grit polish applied on a spinner. Then some Neo-Tack Hook it.

Icem told me that while the ball did react better, it still isn't like brand new. I have also been told by people that Plastizer has nothing to do with the hook potential of the ball. Actually I have heard both both theroys.

So what gives? The coverstock has been bled of its oil, and resurfed to remove any minor scratches, and also has its high gloss restored. What would prevent the ball from turning the corner like a new one?

I am cuious to see how the ball responds after the Turtle Wax removal. The 5 minute baking process sounds quite interesting. I may have to try that oe 9in the future.

I had two balls that were going dead -- a Freak (heavy particle) and a Track EMB (light particle). My maintenance on the equipment had been poor -- rarely cleaned after use. Thanks to this site, I have learned the importance of such maintenance. To make matters worse, both balls were used in a house with a flat and heavy oil condition.

Anyhow, I gave them both a bath in warm water and Dawn dish soap. The EMB was restored to original vibrance... however, the Freak hooked less! The ball seemed totally flat. It didn't get much use the rest of the summer.  

Anyhow, a few months later, I read in BTM about plasticizer and the Ebonite "Hook Again" system to renew hook. So the Freak was placed in the system for 48 hours, and I can say that the ball was greatly improved -- at least 90% of the original reaction, maybe more.

Anyhow, just wanted to chime in regarding the Hook Again system that someone else mentioned earlier. It works! Surely worth the $20 investment.

--------------------

pjr