Hey John,

The difference in the steps comes down to the finished grit level you're after.

 

Step 1: A 220 grit cover to 800 grit

Step 2: A 320 grit cover can be shined to 1500 grit

Step 3: You can take a 1500 grit cover and change it to 2500 grit

 

Hopefully this sheds some light on why Storm offers you a 3 step system to tune your covers for what you're facing.

I'd say yes and no. One of the things that affects the reaction is the surface of the ball. In the case of polishing over a rough surface, to me you gain the advantage of being able to leave the surface with a bunch of teeth to grab the lane while the polished surface gains you some length. You'll notice Storm says go 500 grit followed by 4000 instead of going 500/1000/2000/4000. The latter technique smooths the peaks off the initial blast of 500 each time you use a different grit. The first technique cuts the surface good and then skipping straight to 4000 does not smooth out all of your work. The three step system is offering you a polished version of the process to save you some time.

1. 500 grit abralon, sand the ball for 15 seconds on 6 sides
2. 1,000 grit abralon, sand the ball for 15 seconds on 6 sides
3. Storm step #2, polish the ball on two sides for 15 seconds each

To touch up the surface, skip step #1 and just use steps #2 & #3. Storm suggest using #2 & #3 every 30-50 games to keep the surface more constant.