Cracked bowling balls, we've all either had one, seen one, or heard of one or two. The stories range from finding one in the closet after months, to having one crack while still in the drill press.
I've heard stories from brunswick (had two of them crack myself), columbia (cracked two of those also), ebonite (one), lane 1 (one), etc..
My point is that this is NOT BRAND SPECIFIC! It is just a by product of todays technology/technologies coming together in incompatible ways at times.
Some of the factors that cause cracking inclue, but are not limited to,
1. Shell- The polymers used in todays bowling balls can be adjusted in a myriad of different ways, providing hard, soft, porous/non-porous, or any number of surfaces. Some of these mixtures are more prone to being brittle than others. Some are perhaps a little more prone to this but it can happen to virtually all of them.
2. Conditions- The materials today are mor sensitive to changes in temperature than ever before. This causes the different parts of the ball structue ( ie. weightblocks, covers, dense nuggets within the weightblock) to all expand and contract at different rates. If the ball is hot from being in the car all day and you take it and put it in an airconditioned environment, the coverstock material is going to contract much faster than the core. Depending on the brittleness of the cover and the tolerance of manufacture, it could cause the ball to crack wide open.
3. Preparation- When drilling these new balls, it is necessary to always keep your equipment ( drill bits especially ) in good condition. Dull drill bits cause you to use more pressure to drill holes and as all physics people know, more force = more friction = more HEAT and that can cause a small area of your ball (the bridge) to heat up more than the rest of the cover, stressing that area and possibly causing a reaction in the polymers if a high enough temperature or a low enough volatility polymer is used in the ball.
4.Chemicals- In particular I am referring to super glue, crazy glue, or whatever name it goes by in your area. It works great for the finger and thumb inserts, but should be used sparingly. It has long been rumored to react with the polymers in the balls and cause the bridge to crack or the fingers to crack out.
In short, it could happen to any high technology ball for any number of reasons. Just because a ball cracks on you doesn't mean that it was a "crappy" ball, just that somewhere along the line it met with something that was incompatible,
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Just call me Darreyl, it's much easier to say!
