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Author Topic: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?  (Read 1704 times)

beeker

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Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« on: April 26, 2004, 07:29:48 PM »
I've had a Granite Gargoyle for about 2 years now.  The pro-shop I bought it at not only screwed me price wise but they also drilled it completely wrong.  After I bought this ball I became a test staff member and bought almost every ball Visionary makes.  Since I had a lot of balls that worked well for me I stopped using the Granite Gargoyle.  I decided to give it another shot.  I had my friend fill it and re-drill it.  The new drilling helped a lot but it still grabbed way too early, even on lanes that were just oiled.  So I sanded it with 320 grit and cleaned it really well.  Then I started polishing it.  It took a good 20 minutes before the ball would hold the polish.  Visionary said this ball was hard to polish and they weren't kidding!  Anyway, it was worth it.  It now gets through the heads with ease and makes a hard, controllable turn to the pocket.  This ball is the hardest hitting ball Visionary makes!  I always felt that it hit well but because it would burn up so much energy in the heads I never liked using it.  Polishing this ball has changed my opinion.  It now gets through the heads with ease, reads the midlane well and uses the energy it stores for a powerful turn at the break point.  I used it last night in an all wood house.  As long as I released it properly it drilled the pocket.  My thumb stuck a few times causing me to tug it.  Besides that I only left 2 ten pins the entire night.  I Almost left 2 nine pins but both times a messenger kicked it out.  I finished with a 706 series.  A little sanding in the thumb hole, a little more polish and this ball could become the first ball out of the bag!

 

Juggernaut

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2004, 04:47:21 PM »
Beeks,

  My polished granite IS my first ball out of the bag.  Like you, I didn't like it when dull, and even offered to sell it for $25, but he backed out on me.

  I left it at the shop to get it plugged and re-drilled, but called them before they started on it and told them to just " polish the nuts off it" and I would try that first. They left it at factory finish and applied the polish over that until they got it to shine.  They said it took20-30 minutes to get it to luster up and shine, but it looks like glass now and I apply a light coat of polish after every use to keep it this way.  Thank goodness I did.  This thing is AWESOME like this.

  It is drilled 3 X 0, yes cg is on pap with a weighthole drilled in it, but I can do something with it I haven't done in years, namely PLAY THE TRACK LIKE THE STROKERS!!!!!

  Every ball I've had in the last 5-6 years wanted to over react to the wet/dry oil line that you HAVE to play here to score.  And for me it was an almost impossible balancing act, given what they were telling me and drilling into my balls.  Bought this one used, already drilled like this, and it fit like a glove, so I didn't want to plug it except as a last resort.

  For the last 2 months since I have been using it, I have been averaging almost 240 and have 3-4 boards at the arrows. If I get out of it clean and hit it, it stikes virtually every time.  The only times I can honestly say it didn't strike were times that I KNEW I had thrown it bad.

  I will ALWAYS keep one of these like this from now on.  Now that I have found this, they will probably discontinue them
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O

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2004, 10:21:22 AM »
I polished before I even threw it once. The ball is unbelievable when the backends are too strong for pearlized reactive.  On most medium-oil shots with fresh backends the ball gets down the lane and makes a smooth controlable arc.
O

beeker

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2004, 01:33:03 PM »
O, I agree with you exactly.  I have been having problems using the same ball for an entire set.  The G-3 would work great for a few frames but as soon as the backends start to break down the G-3 would jump.  Making it very hard to control.  The Green Gargoyle wouldn't jump as hard but it sometimes slides too far down before it flips.  I have been using the Burgundy Gryphon in box condition but that ball is too agressive in box condition for wood lanes.  I didn't polish the Burgundy because it works great on med/heavy oil synthetic lanes that I bowl on in a different house.  I use to love my Blue Sparkle but it's seen a lot of games and is now given an over/under reaction.  

The polished Grantite Gargoyle is exactly what I have been looking for.  When the backends are too strong for the reactive equipment and there is some head oil the Grantite Gargoyle is awesome.  It gets through the heads with ease and makes a nice controllable arc to the pocket.  It's very easy to keep it in the pocket the whole night.  And I must say again, this ball hits very HARD!!!  I used it Monday for the second time since I polished it and finished with a 747 series.  So far I am averaging 242 with it polished.

Edited on 5/5/2004 1:31 PM

da Shiv

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2004, 11:37:03 PM »
I use my Granite on heavy oil, or more medium-heavy oil with significant carrydown; so I keep it at it's original surface prep of 320 using a maroon Scotchbrite pad.  I really like the shape of it's move and it's heavy hit.  Most of all, I think what I like is that you know where it's going to go once you throw it.  There's no such thing as over/under with this ball.

I've been thinking about getting a second one as a hedge against it's going out of production.  If I do, I think I'll try it out a little more polished up like you guys have been talking about.  There's many a time that I could use that predictable move and heavy hit on a more medium (but tricky medium) condition.

One question...When you polish it up, does it actually FEEL smooth or does it still have that fuzzy feel?  It's hard to imagine that ball not feeling fuzzy.

Shiv
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MI 2 AZ

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #5 on: May 06, 2004, 01:00:08 AM »
I am thinking about picking up another in case they go out of production too.  The Granite and Green are the two oldest balls in Visionary's lineup and they are due to discontinue a few.

I dont know if it would still get that fuzzy feel after polishing, however, I know after sanding the ball, it is smooth and gains the fuzzy feel after it travels thru the oil a few frames.
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da Shiv

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #6 on: May 06, 2004, 08:38:36 AM »
I wonder what the particles in the Granite are.  Going over the ball with Hook-It after freshly scuffing it with a maroon pad seems to cause the particles to swell.  The ball ends up not only with Hook-It's characteristic tackiness, but seems fuzzier as well.  This is certainly one of the more unique balls available--in appearance, texture, and reaction.

Shiv
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beeker

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Re: Has anyone polished a Granite Gargoyle?
« Reply #7 on: May 06, 2004, 11:25:13 AM »
It looses it's fuzziness after you polish it.  I agree with MI 2 AZ that after cleaning it with a scotch brite pad it felt some what smooth.  After I threw a few frames it would start to feel fuzzy again.  With it polished it feels very smooth.  Not tacky at all.  In fact it feels a lot like the Green Gargoyle.  Also, with it polished it doesn't get dirty.  
Another thing about this ball is it doesn't seem to wear.  I have had it for a few years and I have thrown many games on it and still there is no track or any sign of wear.  I have only threw a few games since I got it redrilled but even with the old drilling there is no track where there should be one.  Stange.  All of my other Visionary balls have a track and developed one rather quickly.  Maybe because I have only used the Granite Gargoyle on synthetic lanes until recently.  I will have to wait and see if the wood lanes cause it to track up.