Well, my Blue Dot has been really tracked up for a long time now, and lately I've been missing some 10-pin spare shots when the Blue Dot would actually hook off the pin.  I finally broke down tonight and got out the maroon ScotchBrite, scuffed the ball down to 320, then brought it up to 600 with green ScotchBrite, up to 1000 with light gray ScotchBrite, and then 1200 grit with white ScotchBrite.  I was almost tempted to leave it alone right there, but I grabbed some 1500 grit polish and hit the surface for about 30 seconds with the 1500 grit.  Now, aside from some deeper scratches, the ball looks like it should skid 60 feet easily.  Now I will be scared to death to send the ball out after the 10-pin, since I know that there is no wear track to hold it up on the lane anymore.  Before, if I sent it wide to the 1 board, it would hook up and run the rail....but now, if I send it wide, it's headed into the ditch.

Oh well.....you just can't win either way.  The burned track was causing me to miss 10-pins to the left, and now the polished track is going to cause me to miss 10-pins to the ditch.

If this science experiment doesn't work out for the better, I'll dull it back down to white ScotchBrite or even down to light gray ScotchBrite.  Only time and mistakes will tell the story.  But, as inconsistent as it was getting due to the heavy track wear, I had to do something, even if it wasn't right.  After feeling the track area of the ball when I got finished, I can see that the Silver Bullet will be going dead straight again.

Well, I got the chance to put the Blue Dot to the test the other night, and it definitely doesn't hook off of the 10-pin any more!  There is no mistaking that the ball has more skid now than before.  I had left the wear track in the ball because I sometimes have a habit of sending it too wide, and the wear track would allow the ball to grab at the 1 board and ride the rail sometimes.  But, the wear track was also allowing the ball to hook back off of the 10-pin at times too.

Time will tell whether I went the right direction with polishing the ball back up again, but so far it appears to be more predictable.  I used to polish up the Blue Dot with Finesse-It II (about 3000 grit), but I stopped short with a quick polish at 1500 grit this time (after a 1200 grit scuff).  I recall that the Blue Dot comes out of the box with a 1200 Degree finish on it, so I'm pretty close to box condition now.

And yes, with as many 10-pins as I leave, my Blue Dot gets pulled into action on a frequent basis!