Had my first bowling ball crack.

[JasonNJ]

I bought an Ultimate Nirvana back in Nov and only used once. It's been sitting on my shelf since and just noticed a huge crack from the finger holes to the thumb. This is inside my house so no strange temperature changes or anything like that. Just strange that it would crack. Here is a picture of it.



Yes it's drilled for a left hander, I bought it on sale and wanted to fool around throwing a backup ball which is why I've only used this ball once since purchasing. Anyway, I've emailed Brunswick so hopefully they'll give me a warranty replacement.

[1VegasBowler]

My Ultimate cracked almost the exact same way and mine was replaced.

[bowl1820]

You should have drilled the pin out since it was that close to the finge hole. That hole looks like it went right down the edge of the pin. That most likely were the crack started.

[1VegasBowler]

You should have drilled the pin out since it was that close to the finge hole. That hole looks like it went right down the edge of the pin. That most likely were the crack started.

Now that I look at the picture better, they may not cover it under the warranty because Brunswick says to keep the drillings a minimum of 1 inch from the pin or it will void the warranty.

[JasonNJ]

Now that I look at the picture better, they may not cover it under the warranty because Brunswick says to keep the drillings a minimum of 1 inch from the pin or it will void the warranty.

If that is the case, I'll ask the pro shop that drilled it and see what they say.

[KYDave]

That's a bummer. Didn't notice how close it was to the finger hole til 1820 mentioned it. I've had a couple that were close to the finger but not that close.

On another note, why do some shops scribe the lines in the ball? I despise this practice and see no reason to do it. Can anyone tell me why it is done?

[bowl1820]

On another note, why do some shops scribe the lines in the ball? I despise this practice and see no reason to do it. Can anyone tell me why it is done?

Scribed lines are considered more precise.

Here's from a article about the PBA Drill truck.
"Most pro shops use a grease pencil to mark the balls for drilling," Snellbaker says. "Scribing is much better, since it leaves a permanent record of the work and allows greater accuracy. We drill with an accuracy of 128th of an inch." Thompson adds, "Some players' feel is more sensitive, so the degree of accuracy really counts."


For those that don't know what scribing is:

When they map your grip on the ball, They usually mark where the grip is using a yellow grease/wax pencil. Scribing is where instead of using a pencil, they use a metal "scribe" and etch the grip layout lines into the balls surface.

Example:


It's felt that this is more precise and allows greater accuracy for drilling the holes.

You mostly see scribing on balls that had been used in the PBA or drilled by high volume pro-shops (Like some online shops that drill balls).

The marked balls are alot of the time handled by several people there before being drilled, yellow grease/wax pencil lines can easily get rubbed off scribed lines won't.

Scribed lines are permanent to a extent, depending on how deep they did it. After you sanded your ball a couple of times usually it would be gone.


A lot of regular bowlers don't like scribed lines, because feel their ball isn't pretty anymore, The pba Pro's don't care they are worried about winning not what their ball looked like.

[KYDave]

Thanks for the info. I can see if the ball in high volume situations gets handled a lot.
However, down to 1/128" I don't care how sensitive you are, I bet you could drill 1/32" and you wouldn't notice. Finger/thumb sizes vary more than that. Not trying to talk smack, just seems a bit overboard. I bet the measurement of uncertainty of the equipment they are using to layout the ball isn't close to that accuracy.

Kinda seems to go along with the guys that leave the pencil marks when they hand cut dovetails. That could easily be erased or sanded out, but a lot of guys leave them in "because".

[fokai73]

bowling ball curing process can still be happening after the ball drilled.

I've also had balls with my pin partially, half way, or drilled out and non of them cracked. The ones that cracked were the ones sitting very very long in storage with the finger hole down. I've had a V2 particle ball from EBi crack all the way around similar to the photo. and there was a "cave" between the filler and core... craziest thing I saw at the time..and the ball was my main ball at the time....

Scribe lines is the reason one online Shop does my equipment 100% accurately! I open the box, check pitches, span, and IT fit and it's always dead on. They never even seen me in person....

[1VegasBowler]

If that is the case, I'll ask the pro shop that drilled it and see what they say.

I spoke with my PSO and I was correct. The drillings for a Brunswick ball have to be a minimum of 1 inch from the pin in order for the warranty to stay valid.