A new question to add to the "stupid question file."

[The German Shepherd]

Here is my question, stupid or not.....does polishing the surface of a ball have any effect on it's oil absorption??

Jay

[75lockwood]

In short yes it does, when you polish a bowling ball it will slow oil intake to some degree, however this will also reduce hook potential of the ball. The polish essentially clogs the pores of the bowling ball, the pores are what allows the ball to grab the lane.

The ball's ability to absorb oil is part of what make it hook, so generally if your only reason to polish the ball is to slow down oil absorption, don't do it! just clean your ball constantly and you will be fine.

[billf]

Here's your sign. Just kidding Jay. Anyway, the above post is absolutely correct. The real question then becomes, which polishes clog the pores the most? Finding that out sounds like way too much work. Maybe bowl1820 has some cool diagram showing all the brands and their ability to repel oil.

What happened that led to this question anyway?

[bowl1820]

In short yes it does, when you polish a bowling ball it will slow oil intake to some degree, however this will also reduce hook potential of the ball. The polish essentially clogs the pores of the bowling ball, the pores are what allows the ball to grab the lane.

The ball's ability to absorb oil is part of what make it hook, so generally if your only reason to polish the ball is to slow down oil absorption, don't do it! just clean your ball constantly and you will be fine.


Yes, while some polish will get into the pores. The pore's are not what grab the lane, they allow the oil to be drawn away from the surface of the ball. Which helps increase the friction between the balls surface texture (which grabs the lane) and the lanes surface.

And billf no chart for that. There are basically two types of polishes, one's that use abrasives to smooth the surface. And ones that fill in the grooves, those are the ones that would clog the pores.

Clogged pores are also the reason your suppose to sand a ball before doing a deep cleaning. To open the pores back up.

[75lockwood]

The pore's are not what grab the lane, they allow the oil to be drawn away from the surface of the ball. Which helps increase the friction between the balls surface texture (which grabs the lane) and the lanes surface.

Right... i had that a little backwards :p

[MICHAEL]

Now I am somewhat confused? I read about pearl finish and polish, and that it gets you down past the oil without using up energy, but now it seems that in so doing your also reducing you hook potential at the end?? You read about the pearl finish with high gloss polish, hooking a bunch after it gets past the oil. EXAMPLE: My new out of the box DV8 terror high gloss finish, hooks like crazy once it gets to the dry part of the lane. If high gloss polish diminishes the hook, why does my terror almost do a left turn going into the pocket?? This whole thing about saving energy, burning up , finish is confusing to me!!

[bowl1820]

Now I am somewhat confused? I read about pearl finish and polish,

A pearl ball is not the same as a polished ball. A pearl ball is referring to what the ball coverstock is made of, a polish is something you apply to the ball.


and that it gets you down past the oil without using up energy, but now it seems that in so doing your also reducing you hook potential at the end??

It's not reducing the hook at the end, it's keeping it from hooking too early. Thus saving energy for that big hook at the end.



You read about the pearl finish with high gloss polish, hooking a bunch after it gets past the oil. EXAMPLE: My new out of the box DV8 terror high gloss finish, hooks like crazy once it gets to the dry part of the lane. If high gloss polish diminishes the hook, why does my terror almost do a left turn going into the pocket?? This whole thing about saving energy, burning up , finish is confusing to me!!

This whole thing about polishing, plugging the pores and oil absorption is miss leading.


About burn up, take a look at this thread.
http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads/3574-Burning-up-energy