Ordered a Ball Marker
- Thread starter Pete
- Start date
JC
Coos Cues
I cannot rep you for your obvious excitement.
A ball marker should be able to provide several functions. Obviously it should let you hold a ball's position while cleaning it.
It should also allow you to measure whether a ball can be spotted. For this, the snooker markers are half a ball diameter in width in one direction. That's the wrong width for a pool ball.
It should help you to mark a ball's position and put a ball back in that position. Some of the snooker markers have a thin layer that is mostly under the ball with a small semi-circle cut out where the ball sits. It is fairly easy to mark the center of that small semi-circle after removing the ball. This function also allows you to spot a ball exactly on its spot when that's important and to see whether the center of the ball is to one side of a a line
It should allow you to see whether the edge of the ball is over a line. This is done by standing the marker on its edge and bringing the end up to the ball.
If you aren't interested in any of the secondary functions, two pieces of chalk work nicely. If you're going to the trouble of getting a ball marker, it may as well be a good one.
It should also allow you to measure whether a ball can be spotted. For this, the snooker markers are half a ball diameter in width in one direction. That's the wrong width for a pool ball.
It should help you to mark a ball's position and put a ball back in that position. Some of the snooker markers have a thin layer that is mostly under the ball with a small semi-circle cut out where the ball sits. It is fairly easy to mark the center of that small semi-circle after removing the ball. This function also allows you to spot a ball exactly on its spot when that's important and to see whether the center of the ball is to one side of a a line
It should allow you to see whether the edge of the ball is over a line. This is done by standing the marker on its edge and bringing the end up to the ball.
If you aren't interested in any of the secondary functions, two pieces of chalk work nicely. If you're going to the trouble of getting a ball marker, it may as well be a good one.
This one's a much better price ($4.73) and also includes with free shipping:
http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-13002254-Crystal+Position+Marker+for+Snooker+Pool+Ball.html
Mine arrived from China less than a week after ordering, and it's not only beautiful, flawlessly clear acrylic, but it's dead-on accurate with regard to an extremely perfect fit against the standard 2 1/4 cue ball. Not a whisker of a gap.
Arnaldo
http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-13002254-Crystal+Position+Marker+for+Snooker+Pool+Ball.html
Mine arrived from China less than a week after ordering, and it's not only beautiful, flawlessly clear acrylic, but it's dead-on accurate with regard to an extremely perfect fit against the standard 2 1/4 cue ball. Not a whisker of a gap.
Arnaldo
I have the one Arnaldo posted and love it. I use it at home all the time for the wwyd threads. If I see a situation I want to mark to practice, I slide this under the balls, and then put a doughnut in the center of the half circle of the clear plastic. It might seem like overkill, but it’s way, way, way, easier to mark the balls this way then simply picking them up and sticking a doughnut underneath.
Thanks for the link. I just went ahead and bought one.
I can't use doughnuts... I just end up eating them.
where to purchase this?
Is the width correct for measuring spot clearance?
Bob, I just measured mine with inch dial calipers. None of the dimensions are are close to any inch fraction. Then I switched to my metric dial calipers. The part was designed in mm. The dimensions are 80 mm x 40 mm x 12 mm. All 3 dims are pretty much on the nose (plus 0/minus .05 to .10 mm).
It would be better if one of the dimensions was 57.15/2 = 28.58 mm. The ball marker the snooker refs use has a half-ball width.
I have a several ball markers and that's been my favorite for years. It's compact and easy to carry in your pocket and is easy to use as well. I think he charges $20 for one.
Wow, I never saw until this video all of the uses. Bob, is this what you meant? And for American Pool, is the only use-case: ball cleaning (not ball marking, thus you can leave the tool on the table), and measuring if a ball fits on the spot?
I checked my clear one from ebay. It appears to me to be machined and polished, rather than injection molded. If there is a lot of interest for a specific design, I can draw one up, and have them CNC machined. I'd guesstimate the cost would be in the $20 range per. (this is my day job).
As I mentioned before, there are times when you want to mark the position of the ball. Also, sometimes people want the ball placed exactly on a spot. In that case the use is the second half of returning a ball to its previous spot.
Here is the marker I designed. The filler square when placed in the marker after the ball is removed will have its free corner at the exact spot the ball was on. In the reverse operation, if you place the filler square with a corner at the spot and the marker against the filler, when you remove the filler the ball can be placed exactly on the spot.
The marker must be dimensioned to the balls in play. I have had marker sets made for pool, carom and snooker. The legs are a ball radius long. I think brass is the best material for its weight. Aluminum is OK, but it is more apt to move unless you are careful.
The original prototype was made from a brass sheet and the arms of the ell had a square cross section. You can make the marker from 0.25-inch-thick angle stock but then the legs don't have a square cross section.