OOB finish on your ball will change it's reaction?

[Hammer]

As an example. When I first got my Blue Hammer urethane ball I started using it and it didn't seem to have the reaction I wanted. I kept my hand behind the ball at release and was getting decent revs. It seemed to not make a good move to the pocket though. I made adjustments but still was leaving too many 7 pins standing. I was going to have the surface changed from 4000 Abralon to 3000 just to get a little more oomp to the pocket. The pro shop guy said put a few more games on the new ball before trying that. Well, lo and behold! One day my ball started giving a better move to the pocket and more strikes and less 7 pin leaves.

I found out why in Bowling This Month magazine. As you use your new ball in more and games the ball is constantly going from the oil on the lane to the dry and changing direction to the pocket when it does. What happens then is the surface of the ball is changing when it is constantly doing this with each game. The surface is actually getting rougher like using a sanding pad. Maybe the pro shop guy knows this and that is why he said put some more milage on the ball instead of changing the surface with an Abralon pad. Let the THS lane condition change the surface for me. By golly, my Blue Hammer hooks real good now. I have nights where I can put the arch of my sliding foot on board 26 to 28
and belly my ball to a breakpoint 38 to 40 feet down between boards 3 to 9 and have it come back to the pocket with darn good power. Who in the heck said you can't hook a urethane ball?

I went to practice once and the oil guy didn't put any oil down that day. I will tell you what, I was playing so deep that my Blue Hammer looked like I was throwing a boomerange down there. As dry as the alley was I am sure the surface of my ball really changed. So take note before you have your ball brought back to OOB finish how it is working before you have this done to your ball. Then see how it works after you have it done. You might be saying to yourself what happened to my balls reaction? Solution! Go practice on some dry alleys for a while. It might bring your ball back to life the way you want it without using a sanding pad.

[ecub]

Bowling balls usually lose their OOB reaction after a certain number of games. So I can understand why the pro shop guy suggested you throw a few more games with the ball. In regards to the ball getting rougher after certain amount of use, I'm curious on how they concluded to this. I would think it would be the opposite. A ball rotates against a hard surface and depending on the amount of revs, you would generate enough heat. You would figure that you are actually making the surface smoother. JayHawk's Ball Surface Scanner Video backs this theory up.


As far as leaving 7 pins, I figure a simple move would resolve that. All my bowling balls have the same layout, RICO, and I only use the bowling ball's surface for a different reaction. I normally start out with my Hammer Taboo Blue/Silver (@4000 grit) and as the line dries up, I switch over to my Hammer Taboo (@4000 grit with Powerhouse Factory Finish polish). I usually continue the same line as where I left off, though sometimes I may have to move a board right. Although my Hammer 1st Blood (@1500 grit with polish) has the same layout, it has a weight hole, which makes the ball more angular. So I normally just shoot that further out right, if neither balls work.

[bowl1820]

Bowling balls usually lose their OOB reaction after a certain number of games. So I can understand why the pro shop guy suggested you throw a few more games with the ball. In regards to the ball getting rougher after certain amount of use, I'm curious on how they concluded to this. I would think it would be the opposite.

As for the ball surface getting rougher or smoother, it would depend on what the surface of the ball was at the start.

Dull balls get smoother and smooth/polished balls will get duller. This is do to the texture of the lanes they are used on. If you let the process go on, both balls would wind up with about the same grit on their surface.

Back when lanes were predominately wood, all balls would wind up at about 600 grit surface. Do to the wear they received from the lane surface.

You could really see this on polished balls back then, a dull track would wear on to the balls surface. Most people today don't use their balls long enough (before they change the surface) to see it on the surface on the ball like that any more.

Now with the smoother synthetic lanes, different coverstocks and oil today this has changed some what, I believe it's more around 800 to 1200 last I heard.

But the process is still the same.

That is part of the reason I use the surfaces I do (800 grit and a little polish to keep it close to grit area ). The balls reaction stays consistent longer (it might not be the perfect surface for a condition) and I can predict what my ball will do better.

[ecub]

Dull balls get smoother and smooth/polished balls will get duller. This is do to the texture of the lanes they are used on. If you let the process go on, both balls would wind up with about the same grit on their surface.

From the video I posted, both dull (2500 grit) and smooth (4700 grit) bowling balls got smoother after a few games. I would assume polished surfaces would get duller, since I've seen people with surf boards often try to make their boards smoother.

[Hammer]

My ball being a urethane with a 4000 Abralon surface it seems like a dry surface like the last 20' of a bowling alley would be roughing up a smooth surface when you consider constant revs spinning on this and also ending up hitting heavy pins over and over. Plus coming back on a ball return after each shot. And constantly going through the bowling pin racking equipment. Doing all of this through each game that you play has to have an effect on the ball surface. Look at all of the knicks and scrapes your ball gets after using it for a time. That surface is going to change and not for the smoother change. It my case my ball started to hook better after more use and not because it got smoother. If it got smoother it would hook less I would think and not more or better. Maybe it does depend on what your ball surface is when you get it and how it will change after use. I can only tell by my urethane Blue Hammer.

[bowl1820]

From the video I posted, both dull (2500 grit) and smooth (4700 grit) bowling balls got smoother after a few games.

Which tends to be pretty close with what I said "around 800 to 1200 last I heard."

It's says after 3 games the surface was around 4400 grit, that would the P scale. 4000 P is around 1500 grit US ANSI scale. So not far off of 1200.

Also here is from the The Bronze Manual:Chapter 6 – Bowling Ball Parts and Dynamics

Sanding-

The process of sanding the ball may increase the friction between the ball and the lane. Sanding will scratch the ball, placing grooves on the surface, which gives the oil a place to go, just like a snow tire with deep treads. The oil will seep into the grooves, allowing the sharp peaks on the ball to touch the lane surface. The coarser sandpapers will create deeper scratches and grooves that will increase friction and the potential for ball reaction.

Naturally, the sharp peaks created by sanding eventually will wear smooth, causing a slow change in the traction. Eventually, the ball will require sanding again to regain its previous surface roughness.

As the sanded grooves in the ball wear due to use, the surface roughness will approach the equivalent of sanding a ball with 600 grit sandpaper. A ball sanded with 320-grit sandpaper gradually will lose some of its hook as the surface approaches the equivalent of 600 grit.

It should be noted that using higher grit (1500 and higher) is super fine sand paper that will actually create a smooth surface ball. A ball sanded very smooth with higher grit sandpaper eventually will hook more as the ball’s surface gets scratched due to wear in the ball track. Again, this ball eventually will hook the equivalent of sanding with 600 grit sandpaper if the surface is not restored.

[bowl1820]

Here I thought I would include this link to the thread "Would bowling ball use give it a surface change?" since this thread is basically a continuation of this old thread.

http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads...surface-change

[Hammer]

Here I thought I would include this link to the thread "Would bowling ball use give it a surface change?" since this thread is basically a continuation of this old thread.

http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads...surface-change

How about that a ghost post from the past. Kind of the same ol' same ol' with just a different title. Stuff like this happens when you get older. Well bowl1820 at least I am starting to use more paragraphs for easier reading. So what I get from this is it depends on what coverstock you start with. Mine being a urethane with a 4000 Abralon surface will tend to get a rougher surface through more use.

Instead of waiting to get an OOB finish to get a rougher surface could I just have the 4000 Abralon brought down to 3000 or even 2000 Abralon and not wait to break the surface in to work better? Maybe I will get that surface change to 3000 Abralon just to see how my ball would work. It would be something worth while knowing for future reference.