"Should I be worried about my other balls? There are no cracks in any of those. "
No don't worry, They'll either crack or they won't. While there are a few things to do , that might help prevent it and let you sleep at night. But Ultimately it don't mean squat. There are bowlers who take great care of their equipment and their balls still crack and others who abuse them and they don't.
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There are many different theories on why balls crack anyone or a combination of them could be right or wrong such as:
They crack because the coverstock is placed under tension as it cures and shrinks slightly around a basically noncompressable core.
(The tension in the cover material is what causes it to propagate around the ball.)
Temperature Changes
Gravity
chemicals in carpets
chemicals in upholstery
the glue used to put the inserts in
the glue was placed on the cover stock not the filler
too much glue was used
the holes not beveled
bad plug job
the bit they drilled the holes with was dull
They Drilled the holes too fast
you let the ball sit too long without rotating it.
the bridge was too narrow
the holes are too close to the pin
Thin covers may be a factor also
A newer thought going around is that balls are shipped out before they are fully cured and that may be a factor also.
Undrilled balls just sitting on the shelf in proshops have been know to crack.
There are also several idea on how to prevent them from cracking. Sealing them in a plastic bag , storing with the holes pointing down.
Those ideas originally came from a blog post by Jeff Richgels about balls cracking and a article in the Fall 2008 edition of Pro Shop Insider written by Rich Jacobson.
I think it's combination of factors, It's just balls today have thin, highly porous covers compared to older balls. Their going to crack more easily, when stressed over time.
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This video is on one of Ron's Facebook page's, he posted it the other day.
https://www.facebook.com/10000186412...9344229804368/
I've heard most of this before, But he has a tip to help keep the bridge from cracking I hadn't seen before (or at least I don't remember it if I did).
The tip is to take your bevel knife and scrape the bridge down so it's flat.
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Long term Ball storage and cracking
Came across a interesting blog post by Jeff Richgels about balls cracking and a article in the Fall 2008 edition of Pro Shop Insider written by Rich Jacobson.
Click here for The 11th Frame: The Ebonite article that tells you how to keep resin balls from cracking – and how I got it wrong
Click here for the Ebonite Article
The main points of Rich Jacobson's "Ask Ebonite.com" article were that while there are other factors in balls cracking, the main reason for it happening during long term storage were gravity and leaving a ball in a static position for a long time.
The recommendation to help reduce the chance of cracking is to rotate the ball a quarter turn every few weeks.
The second factor is open air exposure, which has to do with the curing process of the balls. While the ball surface is fully cured when it leaves the factory, They will still continue to cure for month or even years.
The recommendation to help reduce the chance of cracking is to store the ball in a ziplock bag or wrapped with plastic wrap or a plastic bag. You want as tight a fit as you can get, to insulate the ball from the outside air and store at room temperature.
Thinking about it, balls do typically have a plastic bag around them when they come from the factory.
While this won't stop cracking totally, it could help reduce it.
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