DIY Personal Bowling Ball Oven

[dnhoffman]

Here is what you'll need:

A Nesco FD-60 food dehydrator:
http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-FD-60-Snackmaster-Express-Dehydrator/dp/B000LNVUJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385948514&sr=8-1&keywords=nesco+fd-60

Two (2) of these sets of tray inserts for a total of four additional trays:
http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-LT-2W-Add-A-Tray-FD-60-Dehydrator/dp/B00004W4V7/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_y

All will cost you $80 shipped.



Put it all together and it will look this:
http://i.imgur.com/7jpIcC6.jpg

Take a pair of scissors or wire cutters and cut out the "tray" part if all the trays, so that the remainder looks like this:
http://i.imgur.com/bynhU4N.jpg

You can get a ball cup (pro shops sell them for a buck or two) or something similar (in the pic above you can see I used some metal thing my wife uses for canning...don't worry, she still hasn't noticed it's gone). Here's an obligatory link to one sold on bowlingball.com http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-accessories/Innovative/10623/Ball-Cup.html

Next, test the temperature gauge on the unit before putting a ball in there.
Either get a few meat thermometers and place them in the unit in different spots, or buy a nifty external reading thermometer to test all your friends new DIY ovens like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-1470-Digital-Cooking-Thermometer/dp/B00004XSC5/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385949461&sr=8-2&keywords=taylor+digital+thermometer
You want it between 110-135 degrees Fahrenheit but NEVER above 135.

Some of these temperature gauges vary in accuracy, so test it to make sure where you should set yours.

Then put your ball in, set a timer on your phone for 30 minutes, and remove when done. You'll need a towel and a cleaner/degreaser (like Simple Green http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Green-13022-Purpose-Cleaner/dp/B0000CFLYJ ) to wipe off the ball and remove oil. Then rotate the ball and repeat the process until the ball stops sweating oil.

If your ball has a lot of oil caked in it then you'll more than likely be amazed at how this revives the motion/carry of your ball.

Some of my balls rarely sweat much out (like my old Hammer Razyr for dry lanes) and others dish out a quarter cup of oil every 30-50 games (like my Storm Sync) so the results will vary. I will confidently tell you that this is a must own for bowling enthusiasts (or nut jobs, like myself) as it will really restore your balls action. This, coupled with a ball spinner make the best one-two punch you can own for ball maintenance.

Happy Bowling.

[Pauley]

Great post! The money I save doing this instead of spending $200 on the Innovative one is going straight to a ball spinner.

[mike_thomas93]

Quite ingenius. I've never known about a ball oven, either. Seems beneficial for anyone.

[Stormed1]

If you have a spinner and plan on touching up the surface after the oil is extracted, Take to to 360 or 500 before extracting the oil. It will help by opening the pores of the ball

[MICHAEL]

I think I am going to order one, and make me a ball degreaser for under $100.00 buck!! GREAT ADVISE GUYS!!

Is that eight levels?? How many does it come with? And how many will I need to buy!

Also,,, does baking it out work any better then using the warm water, and soap. And Storm, I agree with you that sanding it to 360, or 500, before you put it in the water, or in the oven!

I soaked my Virtual Gravity nano pearl, after sanding it to 500! It game me that 300 game and 780 series AFTER I soaked it.

What are your opinions on OVEN VS SOAKING the ball?

[dnhoffman]

I think I am going to order one, and make me a ball degreaser for under $100.00 buck!! GREAT ADVISE GUYS!!

Is that eight levels?? How many does it come with? And how many will I need to buy!

Also,,, does baking it out work any better then using the warm water, and soap. And Storm, I agree with you that sanding it to 360, or 500, before you put it in the water, or in the oven!

I soaked my Virtual Gravity nano pearl, after sanding it to 500! It game me that 300 game and 780 series AFTER I soaked it.

What are your opinions on OVEN VS SOAKING the ball?

First, you need two (2) sets of tray inserts that I linked. Each "set" has two trays, for a total addition of four trays to what comes in the box with the actual FD-60 unit. I spelled it out in the instructions, just follow them closely when ordering.

Second, yes this does work better than soaking in hot water and soap - I've tried them all. This is by far a much more effective (and a heck of a lot easier) way of doing it.

Third - Stormed1 says he sands before de-oiling, but I've always followed the advice I found here http://www.bowlingballexchange.com/showthread.php?t=17153 for resurfacing which clearly states to remove oil before any type of resurfacing. If you do rough it up like that I highly suggest you realize what the surface of your ball is prior to doing it, and how it will affect said surface if you take a 360/500 grit to it. Especially if you're inexperienced, doing it by hand, etc.

Either way, I get a ton of oil out without changing the surface - if you want to do that it's your equipment, but you don't need to do it to use this DIY.

Best of luck!