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Author Topic: Dry ball for old wood alleys!  (Read 5411 times)

jclare

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Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« on: January 27, 2016, 12:20:02 PM »
Senior bowler with medium speed and good revs needs a ball for old wood alleys with low volume of oil.  Side note:  not a single 300 game at this house this season.  What do you recommend for low volume dry alleys?

 

JustRico

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2016, 12:23:33 PM »
Leverage weighted with a weight hole and lightly sanded
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billdozer

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2016, 12:47:41 PM »
A Roto Grip loco solid (it is polished unlike most solid covers)

I use an older version, it gets down lane very well, and just kinda glides off the oil through the dry boards. 

Most nights I have to really try to the slow the ball down, and really roll it, as it doesn't hook much
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avabob

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2016, 05:24:31 PM »
I would go with a highly polished asymmetrical pearl, drilled pin up if the pattern is relatively long ( over 38 feet ).  Also, it is as much about where you play them as ball selection.  Old wood is going to be heavily tracked from 10 to inside of 15 board.   The strong pearl layout will let you play deep and still get some hit. 

 Even low volume, may be buffed longer or shorter.  If the pattern is short, you might be able to find something off the corner into about 7 board.  In that case I would go with a tamer symmetrical ball.  Most house shots are not real short, even if they are low volume.

hammajangs

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2016, 06:08:49 PM »
This is exactly what I bowl on for league. My arsenal is a 500 grit (but I play with the grits and 500 has been working pretty good lately) Supernatural, an OOB Ride, and a OOB Joyride, and in my 50's.   8)

lilpossum1

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #5 on: January 27, 2016, 10:48:53 PM »
The old wood lanes I bowl on start out with some oil to start with, but the lanes blow up in a hurry. My speed and revs are matched and I start out throwing my forza 15 at the arrows out to 8-10 at the breakpoint. Sometimes a little outside of that. That lady's for a game before it blows up and I am forced too far inside for the forza to carry well. Then I either jump inside and throw my sinister or I play straighter with my pitch black. Going to give my 300c pearl a shot tomorrow night and see if that lets the shot hold up better for longer

spmcgivern

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2016, 07:35:44 AM »
I would go with a highly polished asymmetrical pearl, drilled pin up if the pattern is relatively long ( over 38 feet ).  Also, it is as much about where you play them as ball selection.  Old wood is going to be heavily tracked from 10 to inside of 15 board.   The strong pearl layout will let you play deep and still get some hit. 

 Even low volume, may be buffed longer or shorter.  If the pattern is short, you might be able to find something off the corner into about 7 board.  In that case I would go with a tamer symmetrical ball.  Most house shots are not real short, even if they are low volume.
Problem I see with lightly oiled wood is the heads can play havoc on anyone playing inside.  Ball burns early and has no recovery.  I like the idea of surface on weak equipment to prevent any sudden change of directions when areas of the lane get real dry.

ccrider

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2016, 09:18:06 AM »
I bowl on the same conditions every Wednesday night. There has not been a 300 shot in the house in more than two years. The end lanes are always dryer than the other lanes so I start with two different balls if on the end pairs. I am using a Black Hammer drilled with a 4 inch pin to pap on the end lane and a Melee Cross on the fresh. 

After the first game the Black hammer works on both lanes. Even though the ball is , it rolls and hooks like a resin off of the dry wood track. It carries as good as any resin on this condition Plus it allows you to stay right.

One warning, you get pretty much what you throw using the urethane ball. If your rev and speed is not consistent, or if you are spraying the ball, the urethane will expose you.

charlest

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2016, 11:59:28 AM »
Leverage weighted with a weight hole and lightly sanded

Was this meant to be funny?

If not, wouldn't such a ball want to go into a roll very, very early and hit very weakly?
or is that the idea, let it roll 60 feet??
Please clarify the concept behind this.
Thanks.
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bullred

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2016, 03:29:34 PM »
Do like a lot of us did that spent most of our life on dry wood lanes, play the track with a three piece ball.  I have seen a lot of big scores with that combo

avabob

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2016, 04:26:10 PM »
A lot depends on how much lane finish is left.  Its been 30 years ago, but we had an old 8 lane house that was in really bad shape.  The guy used a spray gun, and you could see the oil soak right into the boards from about 10 to 17 in the heads. The track played incredibly good at 4th arrow.  Played fall back with a yellow dot and shot my high series ever with polyester at 793.  Backed it up with 760.  Lots of award scores from the house.  It still scored good during the urethane, and later resin era, but we were walking around the ball returns with the tamest stuff we had.   

lilpossum1

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2016, 05:21:42 PM »
I thought you were talking about my house until you said you walked around the ball returns! Ours are above ground. Deepest you can get on one lane is fourth arrow, then you are walking against the return and knocking balls off!

bullred

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2016, 05:24:07 PM »
Avabob, had some big scores in '82 with original AMF Angle playing tracked wooden lanes.  Had 800 in Astro Bowl in SA.  Second run of Angles were softer and not anywhere near the ball of the originals.  Core of original was different material too.  I think it was polyester.  Never could find out why ball was changed so fast after original issue

avabob

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #13 on: January 28, 2016, 05:42:55 PM »
My home lanes had over lane ball returns when I was a kid.  Also bowled a big tourney in Montana for several years in an overlane house.  That place got tough to deal with late in the day too.  20 years ago and I wasn't using a spare ball at the time.  I ended up getting a house ball to shoot 10 pins with after I missed about 6 in qualifying. 

bullred

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Re: Dry ball for old wood alleys!
« Reply #14 on: January 28, 2016, 08:28:41 PM »
Old 10 lane house in Victoria, Texas with above ground ball returns survived for quite a while.  My worse problem was the returning balls.  Kept seeing them instead of what I was aiming at.  We used to pot bowl there and the dude who owned the lanes loved to spray on that oil and mop it gutter to gutter with an old oil soaked wipe and dare us to shoot big scores.  170's and 180's won a lot of money in that house.  Rubber/plastic balls and oil don't mix very well.   Some old lanes in La Grange, Texas, owned and operated by the city never oiled.   Even rubber had a hard time there.  Shot 438 with a houseball and made the cut in a tournament there one time.   But piping up the track to me was easier than trying to move inside and keep my angle to the track and speed consistent