Surface changes

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kellytehuna
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Surface changes

Post by kellytehuna »

If you've been reading my post about the modifications I've been making to our shot recently, you'll be aware that we have a reverse block kind of condition happening. A friend of mine was really struggling to find a good line using his Storm Second Dimension. The first thing that popped in to my head was, try putting more surface on the ball. That will get the ball the read the lane a little earlier and smooth out the back end a little. So, he went home over the weekend and did just that.

The Second Dimension comes OOB with a polished 1500 Abralon surface. He said he had reapplied polish a couple times to the ball just as felt it needed it. As soon as I mentioned knocking the polish off, he just looked at me and said "it's worth a shot!"

Well, that was exactly what the doctor ordered! We shot four games tonight and he shot no less than 170 for every single one of them! His best game was 224! Needless to say, he was happy I'd suggested it! :)

I knew surface made all the difference to whether or not you match up to a shot, but seeing that kind of improvement pretty much over night, I think that solidified the whole idea in my head, for sure!
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Re: Surface changes

Post by ballspinner »

Always remember the power - control spectrum. Use as much power as you can effectively control. On flatter, more challenging patterns it is usually best to use some surface on the ball to control it. It may not always give the bowler the "look" they want to see but it will score higher in most cases.

I admire what you are trying to accomplish in that center. It is easy to make the lanes easy and it is easy to make the lanes tough. With today's bowling balls being so responsive to the changes in friction, it takes a lot more work to make the lanes challenging but playable especially with the tools you are using.
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Re: Surface changes

Post by IceWaLL »

just remember that you cant just apply a 1500 pad + polish... that is not the OOB on storm balls.

FYI:

you can get close with 2000 abralon + polish, but in order to get it to OOB you need 500 abralon and then a 320 grit compound, where you polish with a small amount of product over and over again until it becomes shiny just like it came from the factory.

you can also get a similar reaction from 4000 abralon but with a smoother backend (similar length)

just for mo: ball surface is a science, not an art! :-P
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kellytehuna
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Re: Surface changes

Post by kellytehuna »

ballspinner wrote:Always remember the power - control spectrum. Use as much power as you can effectively control. On flatter, more challenging patterns it is usually best to use some surface on the ball to control it. It may not always give the bowler the "look" they want to see but it will score higher in most cases.

I admire what you are trying to accomplish in that center. It is easy to make the lanes easy and it is easy to make the lanes tough. With today's bowling balls being so responsive to the changes in friction, it takes a lot more work to make the lanes challenging but playable especially with the tools you are using.
Thanks, John! It's good to know someone appreciates what I'm trying to do! :)

I just want a shot that is playable and fair to everyone. Nothing more, nothing less. The previous shot REALLY favored those with a little less hand. Those of us with a little more hand would either have to play in the soup, or try to bounce it off the extreme outside boards from a deep inside line.
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Re: Surface changes

Post by Mo Pinel »

IceWaLL wrote:just remember that you cant just apply a 1500 pad + polish... that is not the OOB on storm balls.

FYI:

you can get close with 2000 abralon + polish, but in order to get it to OOB you need 500 abralon and then a 320 grit compound, where you polish with a small amount of product over and over again until it becomes shiny just like it came from the factory.

you can also get a similar reaction from 4000 abralon but with a smoother backend (similar length)

just for mo: ball surface is a science, not an art! :-P

Thanks for the reminder. Just like ball dynamics! By the way, I DO understand abrasion techniques. I probably sanded more than 10,000 bowling lanes as a crew chief. That's a lot of sanding and dust. Try it sometime and drink a lot of water.
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Re: Surface changes

Post by cepo »

Is it possible to change the ball surface using abralon pad manually (by hand) not using ball spinner? how?

and how long it will last before goin back to factory finish OOB?

thanks
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kellytehuna
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Re: Surface changes

Post by kellytehuna »

You can do it by hand, but its a little harder to get a consistent surface on the whole ball. The ball won't "go back to the factory surface" unless you take it back to factory. The exception will be polished surfaces, in which case you will need to touch it up every now and then, to maintain the polished finish.
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Re: Surface changes

Post by cepo »

How long to sanding/applying abralon pad by hand? Do you need water or just dry?

Thanks
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Re: Surface changes

Post by 71lemans »

When changing the surface on a spinner how much time do you sand on each side of the ball, for example if you wanted to change from 4000 to 1000 Abralon would you start out at 320 grit for 30 seconds on each side then go to 500 grit for 20 seconds on each side then at 1000 grit for 15 seconds on each side . I have never seen the amount of time for each grit mentioned only the grit.
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Re: Surface changes

Post by roberob23 »

71lemans wrote:When changing the surface on a spinner how much time do you sand on each side of the ball, for example if you wanted to change from 4000 to 1000 Abralon would you start out at 320 grit for 30 seconds on each side then go to 500 grit for 20 seconds on each side then at 1000 grit for 15 seconds on each side . I have never seen the amount of time for each grit mentioned only the grit.
Here is something that I think everyone should read. I found my ball to have gone thru the same loss of reaction over time that was described in this article, and at exactly the same time (right after a re-surface.) After I found this article, I went along with it and gave my BWP a 360 grit cut to expose fresh cover stock, a 500 grit to deeply scratch the surface, and a 2000 abralon which is the surface I had the ball at when it was giving me the best reaction (not being so squirty). Needless to say, the ball performs phenomenally now, especially after taking Mo's advice and plugging and re-drilling it using the dual angle layout system with a gradient line balance hole.


Here is the article, give it a read, and let me know what it does for bringing your ball back to life. =)

http://surefitproshop.com/articles/show ... x_Reaction" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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