Pool Ball Colors
- Thread starter Bumpa
- Start date
I don't know why there are stripes and solids, but the color pattern is based on primary and secondary colors. The 1,2, and 3 are primary colors(yellow, blue, red), 4,5,6 are secondary colors(purple, orange, green), the brown 7 is what you get when you mix all three primary colors, and the black 8 has no color at all. The pattern repeats itself from the striped 9 ball.
(Some ball sets have a "made for TV" pink 4 and 12 ball though.)
(Some ball sets have a "made for TV" pink 4 and 12 ball though.)
Rick, what I've found interesting and in reading the initial link that DDave gave I didn't see anything about porositiy. Ironically the 8 ball is the game winning ball in 8 ball. Since black is more porus than light colored balls it picks up dirt quicker than even the two or seven ball. If the 8 is contacted at a low speed cut or with misintended gearing english its even more prone to being missed. Ironically, there have been many games around the world that the shooter (being cocky) thought they won the game because of the supposid ''easy'' cut shot of the 8 into the pocket, only to lose the game because of the eight balls ability to soak up all the table dirt, and as we all know, bar box pool ball sets in the right places NEVER get cleaned.
I believe all the balls in a set have the same porosity regardless of color. When molded, there's a resin rich surface near the mold itself (the outer surface of the ball) thus the porosity of the balls are dependent upon the resin and not the pigment.
Early pool ball colors.... standardization and industry
I believe the first answer is correct and helpful. In addition, as a collector of antique pool balls, I can say that some of the early dyed balls, ivory, celluloid, and Burt bone balls, had some unusual colors early on, with the 8 ball being variable and rarely black. I believe the ball colors were standardized based on the aforementioned primary, secondary, and tertiary colors based on market availability of dyes. Dye companies would have had standard colors on hand for artist's supplies, etc., and any colors apart from these would have had to be specially mixed with the possibility of nonmatching dye lots. Add to this that balls becoming standardized in color coincides approximately with a societal change from hand-made items to mass-produced goods and production lines. Also, Burt balls disappeared from the market, and Brunswick dominated the market and came up with published game rules. So with all of these factors, it is no surprise the colors were standardized. But as a collector, I love to see wierd older balls in unusual colors, especially my hand-dyed, aqua-colored 8-ball.
I believe the first answer is correct and helpful. In addition, as a collector of antique pool balls, I can say that some of the early dyed balls, ivory, celluloid, and Burt bone balls, had some unusual colors early on, with the 8 ball being variable and rarely black. I believe the ball colors were standardized based on the aforementioned primary, secondary, and tertiary colors based on market availability of dyes. Dye companies would have had standard colors on hand for artist's supplies, etc., and any colors apart from these would have had to be specially mixed with the possibility of nonmatching dye lots. Add to this that balls becoming standardized in color coincides approximately with a societal change from hand-made items to mass-produced goods and production lines. Also, Burt balls disappeared from the market, and Brunswick dominated the market and came up with published game rules. So with all of these factors, it is no surprise the colors were standardized. But as a collector, I love to see wierd older balls in unusual colors, especially my hand-dyed, aqua-colored 8-ball.
If you believe that, who told you?
Sorry, but I don't know enough about pool balls to answer this confidently; although, I would honestly be shocked if the 8-ball were significantly different physically (e.g., more porous) from any of the other balls, even after wear and tear.
However, I, like you, miss an 8-ball shot occasionally due to cling, which is worse at slower speeds and dirty/beat-up conditions. When conditions are "clingy," I try to avoid super slow speed and stun, and use gearing outside English, when possible.
Maybe because the 8-ball is so dark, it gets cleaned less often by hand because people don't see the smudges and dirt as easily. Whenever I see smudges on balls, I wipe them off. Smudge-induced cling can obviously cause the loss of a game or even a match.
Regards,
Dave
So the comparison of a dark color being able to absorb more light, has no relevance when compared to something white? humm. It would seem to make sense tho that if both surfaces/white and black were both very worn that darker colors would absorb more debris.
Light and debris are very different.
I'm sorry I couldn't provide the answer you wanted.
Regards,
Dave
All you have to do is look at the balls....
Some balls have a clear resin layer before you get to the color, and this is most apparent on some of the really early sets where the number appears to float in clear plastic. But there are some cheaper sets where the color appears to be on the surface. Cheapies. Same with the non-phenolic, plastic sets.
Some balls have a clear resin layer before you get to the color, and this is most apparent on some of the really early sets where the number appears to float in clear plastic. But there are some cheaper sets where the color appears to be on the surface. Cheapies. Same with the non-phenolic, plastic sets.
Thanks for the info. I guess if there were surface treatments, it might make sense that the surface properties (e.g., friction) could change with wear more than with higher-quality balls.
Regards,
Dave
Absorbing light and snagging debris are different things.
pj
chgo
Posts like these are the reason I like reading AZ.
I have never thought of darker colors absorbing more light...therefore the
temperature of darker balls would be slightly higher.
A warmer ball is more lively...like a warm golf ball will travel farther than a
cold one.
The difference would be very small..but the better you play, the more
that difference could be significant.
...middle 80's....I did some work on a TV show for a week.
The balls under the TV lights got very warm (over 100 degrees)
..it was amazing some of the stuff I could do....so if I used only the
dark colored balls, it would have been even more extreme.
Kicking at a ball with top spin...on a full hit, the top reversed to draw,
and I could draw about 8 feet. In normal temperatures you can usually
only get the ball to stop.
Thanks..............
Dave,
Thanks for the link. I enjoyed the description. Rep your way!
Will Prout
Dave,
Thanks for the link. I enjoyed the description. Rep your way!
Will Prout