Surfacing questions

[Captain Internet]

Apologies if this is a common thread and I suck at searching, or if this is the wrong forum. I currently have a bid on eBay for a vertex ball spinner. I am a little concerned about ruining my equipment, so I had a question before I start a bidding war on it.


I currently have a Venom Shock with about 90 games on it. Would following the instructions on this page page be considered refreshing the surface, or a full resurface? I'm not trying to drastically change how it plays, just bring the snap back to closer when I first purchased it. I was also wondering what kind of ballpark of how many times this procedure could be performed before the ball is 86'd

The other ball I want to do some work on is my Hyper Cell (not skid) I never was really fond of how the ball played for me, and a few people mentioned to me that polishing it might make it work better for me. So I was wondering if following this guide and surfacing it to 1500-grit polished (The OOB surface for the HC Skid) 500/100/2000/4000/Step Two compound would be a reasonable thing to do.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[RobLV1]

Relax. Your questions are all about semantics. There is nothing that you can do with a ball spinner that is going to ruin your equipment. If you are taking it all the way to the first step in the OOB finish, it's resurfacing. If you are just doing the last couple of steps, it's refreshing. The question is, does it really matter? The OOB surface on any bowling ball is nothing more than the manufacturer's best guess at the surface that will appeal to the most bowlers who are likely to purchase the ball. There is absolutely nothing sacred about it, and anything that you choose to try would be a reasonable thing to do. I have some bowling balls that I have used different surfaces dozens and dozens of times and they still work fine. Just keep a log of what surfaces you have tried, and what has worked and what hasn't. Have fun. Getting your own ball spinner will open up a whole new world for you.

[ralphs007]

Relax. Your questions are all about semantics. There is nothing that you can do with a ball spinner that is going to ruin your equipment. If you are taking it all the way to the first step in the OOB finish, it's resurfacing. If you are just doing the last couple of steps, it's refreshing. The question is, does it really matter? The OOB surface on any bowling ball is nothing more than the manufacturer's best guess at the surface that will appeal to the most bowlers who are likely to purchase the ball. There is absolutely nothing sacred about it, and anything that you choose to try would be a reasonable thing to do. I have some bowling balls that I have used different surfaces dozens and dozens of times and they still work fine. Just keep a log of what surfaces you have tried, and what has worked and what hasn't. Have fun. Getting your own ball spinner will open up a whole new world for you.

Very helpful post ! I've been reading as much as I can on the subject, and Rob pretty much sums up the mystery of doing your own bowling balls at home. I just purchased a ball spinner and I do enjoy using it. I just have to refrain from using it too much or I'll have a marble sized ball in no time, J/k.
One more thing, if you don't have a ball oven, you should look into making one. I'ts cheap to make and they work great !

[TonyInPortland]

Relax. Your questions are all about semantics. There is nothing that you can do with a ball spinner that is going to ruin your equipment. If you are taking it all the way to the first step in the OOB finish, it's resurfacing. If you are just doing the last couple of steps, it's refreshing. The question is, does it really matter? The OOB surface on any bowling ball is nothing more than the manufacturer's best guess at the surface that will appeal to the most bowlers who are likely to purchase the ball. There is absolutely nothing sacred about it, and anything that you choose to try would be a reasonable thing to do. I have some bowling balls that I have used different surfaces dozens and dozens of times and they still work fine. Just keep a log of what surfaces you have tried, and what has worked and what hasn't. Have fun. Getting your own ball spinner will open up a whole new world for you.

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but this is exactly the situation I am in. When I bought my new ball last year (Radical Reax V. 2) the pro said I could bring it back and put it on the spinner for free. This is my first new ball in about 11-12 years, so I am unfamiliar with the apparently more recent phenomenom of changing the surface of so many balls so often.

So I had them drill a new ball this year and I figured I would have them do what I envisioned as this "refreshing," which to me would be trying to get the ball as close to possible as the new OOB finish without an actual resurfacing, and for free. But the guy (different guy, same place) said that an actual resuface was $25 and that what the other guy meant for free was, if I wanted to change the surface to something different. He looked at the ball (which probably has about 160 games on it) and said just running the same grit as the same surface it came with it would not do anything, and that it probably did not really need resurfacing yet.

Does this sound right?

[Mike White]

Sorry to bring back an old thread, but this is exactly the situation I am in. When I bought my new ball last year (Radical Reax V. 2) the pro said I could bring it back and put it on the spinner for free. This is my first new ball in about 11-12 years, so I am unfamiliar with the apparently more recent phenomenom of changing the surface of so many balls so often.

So I had them drill a new ball this year and I figured I would have them do what I envisioned as this "refreshing," which to me would be trying to get the ball as close to possible as the new OOB finish without an actual resurfacing, and for free. But the guy (different guy, same place) said that an actual resuface was $25 and that what the other guy meant for free was, if I wanted to change the surface to something different. He looked at the ball (which probably has about 160 games on it) and said just running the same grit as the same surface it came with it would not do anything, and that it probably did not really need resurfacing yet.

Does this sound right?

Ok you got a brand new ball. If you put the surface under a microscope you would see a bunch of mountain peaks, all of the peaks would be at about the same altitude.

Now once you start using the ball, some of those mountain peaks will break off leaving plateaus.

After a number of games, you feel the ball isn't working like it used to, so you have the ball refreshed.

The process of sanding the ball will sharpen up those plateaus back into peaks, but it doesn't increase their altitude back to it's original height.

You have the peaks back, but they aren't all at the same height.

What is referred to as a resurface, usually requires a machine such as a Haas, or Cook, diamond grinder.

What it does is grind off the highest peaks.

Once the operator feels all of the surface is at the same altitude, the grinding is done, and the sanding begins.

When the ball is sanded to the preferred surface, all of the mountain peaks are again at the same altitude, but lower than the original ball.

Choosing one level of grit sandpaper compared to another has two main effects.

1) how far apart each of those mountain peaks are from each other.

2) how deep the valleys are between the peaks.

Lower grit number, makes peaks further apart, and valleys deeper.

Don't be afraid to experiment.

[TonyInPortland]

I get all about changing the surface. My question was, if I prefer how it came originally, does this simple "refreshing" do anything? This is what the ball came as: FACTORY FINISH:500 Siaair Micro Pad, Royal Compound

The pro shop guy said the only thing that would do anything was a total resurface, whereas I had envisioned simply going over it with the same 500. He said that would not do anything, only the total resurface would have any affect.

[Mike White]

I get all about changing the surface. My question was, if I prefer how it came originally, does this simple "refreshing" do anything? This is what the ball came as: FACTORY FINISH:500 Siaair Micro Pad, Royal Compound

The pro shop guy said the only thing that would do anything was a total resurface, whereas I had envisioned simply going over it with the same 500. He said that would not do anything, only the total resurface would have any affect.

I tend to disagree that ONLY a total resurface would have any effect.

Also don't assume Factory Finish is the absolute best condition the ball can be in for you.

[TonyInPortland]

So should I insist he goes over it with the 500?

[Mike White]

So should I insist he goes over it with the 500?

500 grit, then Royal Compound, or if he doesn't have that, Rough Buff is essentially the same thing.

That would get you close to the original condition.

[TonyInPortland]

OK thanks very much, I want to do that before the start of league.