A Look at the Dying Craft of Sanding & Finishing Bowling Alleys

[bowl1820]

This is great article with a lot of pictures.

A Look at the Dying Craft of Sanding & Finishing Bowling Alleys
http://www.hardwoodfloorsmag.com/sanding-finishing/a-look-at-the-dying-craft-of-sanding-amp-finishing-bowling-alleys.html

[epiepenburg]

Interesting read. My home alley where I bowl two leagues just had their lanes resurfaced over the past summer.

[Shaneshu87]

i have not seen this issue locally, however that is most likely due to the simple fact that at least 75% of the lanes within and hours drive are all wood. i can see how this could be seen as "a dying art" since more and more houses are going synthetic

[foreverincamo]

That was a fun read. My first job was as a pin-hop for the center I bowl league in. Back around 1987 this center had the lanes and approaches resurfaced. I then got to come in on a Friday night at midnight and painted all the gutters with a 4 inch wide brush, at a whopping $2.50/hour. Fun times.
The way those lanes are put together in that article is accurate. You can sand the lanes down to just above the nails that hold the lanes together, then flip the lanes over and sand them down until they are gone. Where I bowl the lanes were installed in 1962, and they are still the original wood. The owner said they will be replaced with synthetic lanes soon, as there isn't much wood left to sand. Still, 50+ years has to be pretty good. A center not far from there sanded their lanes until they had to be replaced, not getting near the life out of them like where I bowl, and they couldn't come up with the money to replace them. They went belly up and the building is now used for Bingo.

[rv driver]

Great article! Thanks for sharing. My "home alley" growing up was a small town affair that grew from 8 to 16 lanes when I was in high school. It was a real "mom and pop" (and son) business, and I can remember hearing the owner and his son griping about servicing the lanes. Sadly, that place is gone now.