Post by: LeftE on December 14, 2003, 01:46:09 AM
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?
Post by: T-GOD on December 14, 2003, 06:30:42 PM
Post by: Buzzhead on December 14, 2003, 06:34:20 PM
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Saws are made to cut ANYTHING including 10 pins
Post by: T-GOD on December 14, 2003, 06:40:40 PM
Post by: Saw Mill on December 14, 2003, 06:42:56 PM
Dave
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If You Are Not Using a BuzzSaw, All You Get is SAW-dusted!!
Post by: htotheizzo3561 on December 14, 2003, 09:28:45 PM
Post by: Doc Hollywood on December 14, 2003, 09:54:54 PM
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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Doc
Owner and Inventor of
DOC'S MAGIC BOWLING BALL ELIXIR
For more information click on the link below
http://home.comcast.net/~docsmagic/
or message me at:
http://Doc65@aol.com
Post by: Doug Sterner on December 14, 2003, 10:04:58 PM
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
Doug's Pro Shop
Owego, NY
http://dougsproshop@aol.com
www.dougsproshop.net
Diamonds are a bowler's best friend!
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Post by: NoNeed4Revs on December 14, 2003, 10:19:12 PM
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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Shizzam!
Post by: charlest on December 15, 2003, 06:22:37 AM
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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"Just because you can do something does not mean you should do it."
Post by: seadrive on December 15, 2003, 08:22:37 AM
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seadrive
Cogito ergo bowl
Post by: NoNeed4Revs 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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Shizzam!
Post by: SwiftravenWork on December 15, 2003, 10:08:12 AM
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
Post by: getuaload on December 15, 2003, 02:03:48 PM
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.
Post by: LeftE on December 15, 2003, 03:03:46 PM
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.
Post by: Doc Hollywood on December 15, 2003, 03:59:24 PM
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Doc
Owner and Inventor of
DOC'S MAGIC BOWLING BALL ELIXIR
For more information click on the link below
http://home.comcast.net/~docsmagic/
or message me at:
http://Doc65@aol.com
Post by: SwiftravenWork on December 17, 2003, 09:00:44 AM
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.
Post by: LeftE on December 17, 2003, 02:26:06 PM
I'm sure Icem will let me know how it goes, or if it doesn't go well, I'm sure you will let me know.
Post by: LeftE on December 18, 2003, 06:26:22 PM
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?
Post by: Strapper_Squared on December 20, 2003, 09:03:19 AM
I have had the exact same problem with a couple of balls (although I didn't have nearly as many games)... I actually don't think I have ever thrown a ball 300 - 500 games before! WOW. Anyhow, I have tried all of the same things with very limited success. The only thing that seemed to help was the Neo-Tac, but that only brought back about 1/4 of the reaction. I have yet to try the hook again, hearing that was "hit or miss". SO, I have to say, that I'm with you... pretty much clueless as to why we can't restore at least partial reaction to the equipment...
At work we have a vacuum over used to draw moisture out of samples, solvent out of samples, etc. at a lower temperature. I have always thought this would be a perfect way to draw oil out of a ball, but avoid the high temperatures (I call patten rights!). I wonder if there is some residual oil left in the ball that isn't easily removed... This may be the perfect way to remove this oil?!?! I think I'm going to take a tape measure out and see whether one will fit
S^2
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Go Bengals! .500 season is a victory!
Post by: pjr300 on December 27, 2003, 09:20:19 PM
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.
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pjr
Post by: Swiftraven on December 30, 2003, 04:16:43 PM