Author Topic: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ? (Read 4054 times)

arakasi · « **on:** June 07, 2003, 07:06:21 PM »

Hi all. I took my particle spike in for a
resurface a few days ago. The pro shop
owner put it on his spinner and gave up on
it after about one minuit. It had gone
rock hard. It's now a practice ball so I
wasn't to fussed about it. What would cause
it to harden ?

I haven't exposed it to any big tempreture
variations and like my other gear I always
keep it in the house. I got my original two
bowling balls resurfaced about 2 years ago,
wine u dot and pink hammer. There was no
trouble with the hammer but the wine u dot
had hardened considerably.The guy managed to
resurface it but had very sore wrists after.

Are some bowling balls naturally hard to
resurface and what causes bowling balls
to harden ?

10 In The Pit · « **Reply #1 on:** June 08, 2003, 10:20:00 AM »

I don't ever recall this topic coming up before, so I'm curious about what others have to say about it too. If your local Pro Shop has a durometer (a device used to check the coverstock hardness), then it would be much easier to check a ball and then go back to the manufacturer's specs to see if the ball has hardened over time. Right off hand, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that a ball might harden over time, but I really can't tell you for sure.

Pye · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2003, 12:12:33 PM »

Bowling balls are made from a catalyzed urethane. What this means is when the two parts of this compound come together they form a chemical bond which generates heat. Just like the resins used when working with fiberglass. As the ball cures this process is slowed but never is completely stopped. That's why you will see older balls split, chip or crack much more than newer equipment. I would be curious to see what the new and then the old reading with a durometer would be.

It would be my opinion that the more open and porous the coverstock was engineered by the mfg. the easier these aromatics can escape and the shorter the overall life of the ball as opposed to a tight very smooth surface such as a Blue Dot.

MI 2 AZ · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2003, 12:47:33 PM »

What I am about to post isnt about hardness but it is sort of related, as far as a balldriller not being able to resurface a ball.

A bowler at our house had a Scorcher NPT that she wanted resurfaced because of all the nicks that had occurred during the season. The balldriller she gave it to brought it back and said that he couldnt do a good job on it because his sandpaper kept clogging up. He said he even tried a much lower grit number than normal but it did the same thing. He recommended she take it to another shop that had a Haus machine.

I think he said the problem with the clogging was that the water would just bead up and run off the ball. The ball is supposed to be resistant to oil soaking in, so the water running off makes sense. Has anyone else seen this?

Re-Evolution · « **Reply #4 on:** June 08, 2003, 10:30:19 PM »

PYE
"Bowling balls are made from a catalyzed urethane. What this means is when the two parts of this compound come together they form a chemical bond which generates heat. Just like the resins used when working with fiberglass. As the ball cures this process is slowed but never is completely stopped".

I would have to disagree with the above statement. Being very familiar with catalyzed urethanes since I am in the auto paint industry where they are used extensively, catalyzed urethanes do cure completely. It is single part urethanes that do not cure completely that is the reason for using a catalyst, the amount of catalyst used determines how hard the finished product is. If when mixed there is excessive catalyst the ball would become less resilient and more brittle. So a ball cracking is more a product of the urethane/catalyst ratio than the age of the ball since even a 2" thick piece of catalyzed urethane would be fully cured in a matter of a few days.

If a ball's hardness changes I would say it would be from:
1 - the oil since oil hardens plastics and rubber
2 - there maybe a slight forging affect from the repeated impacts
3 - the ball's cover will get progressively harder as you move away from the skin cause of cure time, the slower urethane cures the harder it will be.

Edited on 6/8/2003 10:41 PM

Edited on 6/8/2003 10:42 PM

Pye · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2003, 09:05:00 AM »

Stormin1,

I have to agree to disagree on this as I too have had quite a bit of experience with paints resins and epoxies. I have been involved in the marine industry in S.W. Florida for almost twenty years covering all aspects of boat construction and repair. With that said, the point is really moot and the fact of the matter is, bowling balls for whatever reason do become harder and/or more brittle with age.

I hadn't really thought about the reaction to lane conditioners though and that is an excellent point. Again I'll go back to the more porous the coverstock and the more it would absorb these conditioners the more, or quicker an adverse reaction would occure as opposed to the more solid surface of a ball such as the Blue Dot.

Great post! Something a little different for a change.

Author Topic: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ? (Read 4054 times)

arakasi

Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?

10 In The Pit

Re: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?

Pye

Re: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?

MI 2 AZ

Re: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?

Re-Evolution

Re: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?

Pye

Re: Do Bowling Balls Harden Over Time ?