Surface Speculation

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56bird
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Surface Speculation

Post by 56bird »

Not really sure if there is a question here, more just “food for thought” but I do invite comment.

Purchased a new bowling ball that is polished OOB. As per usual I found this too shiny for me.

I decided to try 1000/4000. 1000 for about 15 seconds on 4 sides and 4000 for about ten seconds on 4 sides. Took it out to practice and still found it went a little too long.

Brought it home and cleaned it, and spun it up with 3000 without thinking much about it.

Like most of us I lack a surface scanner so I can only speculate but... could spinning it up with 3000 have gone the wrong way? Yes it is rougher than 4000 but also a bit more “aggressive”. It probably took more of the 1000 “sub-surface” (is that a thing?) and very possibly left me with higher effective grit. Or, not?

The right thing to do would have been to hit it with 1000 and 3000, or better yet 800 and 3000, or maybe even 500/2000. Or even 1000/4000 again but 4000 on only two sides or with lighter pressure/less time. Lots of ways to rough up a cat.
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TheJesus
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by TheJesus »

Its hard to say what "the right thing to do " is. There are many things that can be done or perceived wrong. Even the impression of how strong or early the ball reacts on the lane (which lane, same lane, same line, same pattern? you get my point )

Usually new balls don;t have the exact surface advertised, some are quite far. Also, grit pads never give the theoretical grit roughness on the ball, they give a higher one. And depending on the method, it could be a lot higher.

I think you should go by trial and error, to see what reaction you like. Maybe after the spinner the rest of the polish was rubbed off, and now it's too roough for you. You could try to go to 4000 now, since it will probably be less skiddy than before.
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by Bluelobstor »

I may have this backwards but I believe jumping grits, for example 1000 then 4000, has a tendency to make the ball more skid/snap, where as, using the pads in order like 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, then 4000 has a tendency to smooth out the reaction. Hope this helps.

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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by snick »

Bluelobstor wrote:I may have this backwards but I believe jumping grits, for example 1000 then 4000, has a tendency to make the ball more skid/snap, where as, using the pads in order like 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000, then 4000 has a tendency to smooth out the reaction. Hope this helps.

Jason
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by gunso »

Common sense would suggest that going through all the phazes should result in a more skid snap motion than skip a grit.

Skip a grit should have a rougher surface and therefore read earlier and therefore blend the pattern more. 1000-4000 should result in a coarser surface then 1000-2000-4000
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by 56bird »

From the responses here I’m thinking I didn’t explain this well. Let me try to break it down.

Tried ball polished OOB. Too long for what I want the ball to do.

Tried 1000/4000. Better but still too long.

Hit it with 3000 without thinking much about what I was doing.

Now, I didn’t get to use it in the same lane and the same day and I lack a surface scanner, but my theory is that I messed up. That 1000 averaged with ten seconds of 4000 for four sides plus 3000 for ten seconds for four sides is *shinier* than 1000/4000.

As the bowler that uses the ball it was my decision that I wanted more surface, but I don’t think spinning it up with 3000 really got me there.

Regarding skip-a-grit, well sure, a polished ball may be more “skid snap” than straight 4000, but people forget in these conversations that if the ball never slows down, you have skid-skid. For me, 1000/4000 seems to get thru the heads fairly easy on lighter volumes yet has enough roughness to read fairly reliably at the midlane... depending on the ball :) Skip-a-grit seems to give a quicker response time to friction than sanding thru all the steps, not sure that skid-snap describes the same thing tho.
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by vicsmyth »

According to this article in BTM which used a laser to measure the surface of a ball after adjusting with abralon pads, to get to closest to the specified grit, scuff the surface by hand, not on a spinner. A spinner with a 2000 pad measures closer to 3500 if I recall correctly. Also, in as little as a half a game lane shine will bring the ball closer to 5000.
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Re: Surface Speculation

Post by EricHartwell »

http://wiki.bowlingchat.net/wiki/images ... rmance.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"As a final recommendation, whenever making surface adjustments, our
research has shown that the lowest grit should be applied with more pressure,
but for a shorter duration. The higher grits should be applied with less
pressure, but for a longer time. This will have the desired effect of creating
strong surface deviations to displace oil, but will also round the edges, peaks,
and valleys enough to get the desired amount of skid."

The whole skip a grit thing in my mind is to replicate what the lanes do to the surface of the ball as if you took it out of the box at 1000 grit.
After 10 games its gonna play like 1000/4000 then if you keep going eventually it will play like it has polish on it.

Good luck in replicating the factory finish. So to find that perfect starting point.

Brunswick and Storm both have their favorite oob finishes.
Storm 1500 polish, Brunswick 500 w/compound.
I believe these types of surfaces make for the longest lasting most consistent ball reactions.
Once the lanes destroy the surface enough its time to start over for those that want that oob reaction.

So to find that best starting point to keep a ball at takes time trying different combinations.
I know going in that duller lower grit finishes will only last a few games and will need to be refreshed often. I get more games out of smoother/shinier surfaces.
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