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Author Topic: Bought a New Plastic Ball this year (and what a difference)  (Read 810 times)

trash heap

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Bought a New Plastic Ball this year (and what a difference)
« on: October 12, 2008, 02:04:16 AM »
This year I thought it was time to buy a new plastic ball. Decided to get something different than the White Dot. My White Dot I think is at least 8 years old. So I get Roto Grips Golden Globe.

I took the ball to league. I was not prepared how much straighter my new ball goes.  The Good: I was picking up the Ten pin better. The Bad: I missed a couple of single pin conversions because the ball DID NOT MOVE ONE SINGLE BOARD. I had left a 9 pin...and I stood right where I stood with my WD. Missed just right of the PIN!! I did the same thing with the 3 pin.

I then adjusted to hit them really straight on. It took a while for me to get used to the ball going so straight compared to my Whit Dot.

I really thought the lanes were dry and any plastic ball would turn on them. Did my White Dot coverstock get soft over the years causing this slight turn in my ball? I kept it highly polished.




 
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Strider

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Re: Bought a New Plastic Ball this year (and what a difference)
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2008, 10:49:57 AM »
Polishing by itself isn't enough.  Even plastic tracks up.  Fresh polish over a 600 grit track will still hook.  Every so often, you need to resurface the ball if you want to keep it going really straight.  Sand to 400-500 (or lower if you really let it go) to remove the track, then work your way up as far as you want (4000 abralon) before adding the polish.  Also, many manufacturers really burn in a TON of polish for shelf appeal.  That's why some mid to high end performance balls don't live up to expectations until they get some games on them.
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charlest

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Re: Bought a New Plastic Ball this year (and what a difference)
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2008, 11:09:26 AM »
Strider,

I'm not sure what happens but plastic balls do start to hook more as they get older and there is often nothing you can do about it. I don't know if they get soft or what.

When I was using 15 lb balls, I actually replaced by old Blue Dot with a new White Dot and the White Dot went a lot straighter. Now realize that I'm not jack schmuck here. I do quite a bit of spinner work with balls. Of course, I sanded the Blue Dot to a very fine grit level, about 2000 grit, and put a large heavy dose of polish on  it. In fact, I did this procedure twice in full and several times partially to try to get it to stop hooking. No "permanent" dice. It goes straight for a short while, but soon starts hooking again, too soon to re-surface it again and again. It still hooks more, if I throw it as I throw my strike ball. Heck, I even re-tried 15 lb balls for a week this past Summer. The old Blue Dot was still hooking. I'm still saving it for sentimental reasons.

trash heap,

Realize that many of these specialy plastic balls like the Brunswick ViZ-A-Balls and possibly the Globe, are much harder than the standard polyester balls like the White Dot, T-Zone and Maxims. My friend has used a Coca-Coal Viz-a-Ball for years now. Its track is all scratched up and it still goes VERY straight.


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