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Author Topic: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(  (Read 3338 times)

LeftE

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Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« on: December 14, 2003, 01:46:09 AM »
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?
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T-GOD

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #1 on: December 14, 2003, 06:30:42 PM »
I would put the ball in a Haas Resurfacer, to ensure the roundness. Then, maybe not polish it so highly and/or hit the surface lightly with a scotchbrite pad. =:^D
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Buzzhead

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2003, 06:34:20 PM »
use BOWLING BALL POLISH not car stuff. I have noticed a deadening of anything I have used turtlewax on.
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T-GOD

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #3 on: December 14, 2003, 06:40:40 PM »
I agree with Buzzhead, about not using Turtle wax. That's a wax so the ball won't hook. If you're going to use stuff/polishes from an automotive dealer, use standard 3M rubbing compound. This has no wax in it. =:^D
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Saw Mill

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #4 on: December 14, 2003, 06:42:56 PM »
Car polishes may be used on Plastic/polyester or Urethane, but not Particle or Reactive balls.  I would use the Haas with say 520 grit, and polish with a good Storm polish.  Keep us informed as to the results.

Dave
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If You Are Not Using a BuzzSaw, All You Get is SAW-dusted!!
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htotheizzo3561

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #5 on: December 14, 2003, 09:28:45 PM »
When you have an excess of 250 games, just buy a new one.
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Doc Hollywood

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2003, 09:54:54 PM »
I think the offending culprit is the turle wax compound.  That stuff usually kills the reaction of most coverstocks.

I would resurface it again and leave it sanded and see how it reacts.  If it is okay afterwards then try to polish with an approved bowling ball polish.  

Then use the Elixir after to keep oil out of the ball.

Sure is inexpensive insurance to have to spend all that time cleaning.


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Doug Sterner

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #7 on: December 14, 2003, 10:04:58 PM »
Another issue you may be facing here is the fact that many of the resin sin the coverstocks have a lower evaporation point than the lane oil and will move out of the ball with the lane oil.

I have seen people use Rejuvenators and then have the ball be dead after the procvess. What happens is that the resins boil out of the ball along with the oil causing it to lose grip and become a plain old urethane when done.

Find someone local who has the Ebonite Hook Again system and try that. I have done several Lane 1 balls in my Hook Again at the shop and all have had hook restored to them.

Try it...$20 for a treatment is better than $200 for a new ball.
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Doug Sterner
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NoNeed4Revs

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2003, 10:19:12 PM »
Geezus, I see THREE major things I'd say you did wrong to keep the ball from hooking...

1) If you actually heated the ball for two hours, you probably bled out much of the plasterizer that makes the ball "reactive". No matter if it felt hot or not, if liquid is coming out it's warming enough where this could happen. Doing it for HOURS just increases the odds a ton.

2) Sanding, especially wet sanding, past 400 or 600 grit can cause a huge loss in reaction. It's much better to sand to 400 and then polish to the final desired surface.

3) TURTLE WAX?! Do you know the difference between ball polish and Turtle Wax? THE WAX! It doesn't just smooth the surface as polish does, but it also clogs the pores. You just undid what the bleeding accomplished, and then some.

Try it all again, correcting for those things, and I'd bet money it's back to life.
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charlest

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #9 on: December 15, 2003, 06:22:37 AM »
You may have bled a lot of the plasticizer out of the ball; that is too much over time.

You definitely clogged all the resin's pores with the car wax.

NEVER, EVER USE CAR WAX ON A BOWLING BALL!!!

Re-surface the ball by sanding with at least 320 grit wet sandpaper; take it back up to 600 grit, then use any BOWLING BALL POLISH to put a light polish on it and then try it. If it still does not hook, it is dead.
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seadrive

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2003, 08:22:37 AM »
kmitch, by "past 400", NoNeed4Revs means "lower than 400", e.g. 320 or 220.
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NoNeed4Revs

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2003, 09:58:05 AM »
quote:
kmitch, by "past 400", NoNeed4Revs means "lower than 400", e.g. 320 or 220.


No, I actually do mean higher than 600, such as a 2000 grit finish. Kmitch might be getting good results even at 4000 on some balls, but in my experience it makes them extremely squirty on any oil or carrydown. Obviously if you're sanding to some very high grit you're looking for the ball to be used on drier conditions, and my point was that LeftE was doing this expecting to restore hook.

Never meant to say it can't or shouldn't be done, but in this case (where you are trying to bring BACK reaction), it's probably not a good choice.
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SwiftravenWork

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #12 on: December 15, 2003, 10:08:12 AM »
LeftE, you did WHAT to my ball?

You put it in the freaking oven after telling me "Ok, I will only use the dishwasher..."  

Now it hooks like my plastic spare ball and its all your fault!!

I am gonna hit it with a Scotchbrite pad and see what happens.  Its moving more than it was, but just isn't finishing.

Jason
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getuaload

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #13 on: December 15, 2003, 02:03:48 PM »
I would use a ball spinner on low speed with a heat gun set on low .
next i would keep the heat gun about 6-8 inches from the ball once the oil started to bleed out i would use a rag with windex with amonia-d and clean the oil off. after it didn't bleed anymore i would proceed to resurface starting with the center of grip facing up. Use 220 grit , 320 ,400 ,600 ,800 and polish.
The best polish i found is " 3M finess-IT " you can buy it from most auto stores or boating stores. it is pricey but it works great.
1 quart is about $40.00 but well worth it.
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LeftE

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Re: Tried everything, CherryBomb dead :(
« Reply #14 on: December 15, 2003, 03:03:46 PM »
lol swift raven.....

The turtlewax I used containes NO SILICON which would reduce the reaction to zero (I.E., like spraying your ball with WD-40).

It was just a compound made by that company. Also, all the 3m products that the proshops use around here are the same ones they use on car finishes. A compound finishes a surface to a grit, that is all. As long as there are no additives.

Although it may be possible that the turtlewax compound does have some type of silicon which they convinetely left off the label.

Maybe I should take it back down to 600 grit and just go straight to a 3m polish.

Also about the ball being in the oven for close to 2 hours, I must stress that it was removed every 5 mintunes, at a maximuim. That is why it took so long, because I refused to let my friend (Raven)'s ball get much heat.

Anyways thanks for the replies and keep them coming. I guess a 600 grit, straight polish is next, if Raven doesn't like the scotch brite.

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