Pool Ball Shape Testing

If it's phenolic, then it's one of two manufacturers in the world. Saluc and XingBiing. Any set made in Belgium was by Saluc (owner of Aramith brand). This ranges from the lowly $25 Sportcraft to the $400 MSRP Brunswick Centennial. Don't forget Aramith brand have different level tiers (Crown, Premier, Super Pro & Duramith). Same likely with XingBiing if they're OEM for Konllen.

In the Chinese katana market, majority of the quality swords are made in LongQuan, ZheJiang China, and then re-branded. LongQuan is basically their Soligen, Sheffield or Seki City depending on your reference. Same for pool OEM in China.
 
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Black-Balled said:
No comment on the cyclop dissolution, but I have a set that is perfectish.

I like them better than the centennials, super pros and tournament sets I've got.

Would buy again, if ..
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I could not agree more and I have the Cyclop set with the translucent cue ball which I thought is when they were having problems. For the $200 cost it is a damn nice set of balls, I would happily buy more if I could.
 
Yes, I have built a couple spherometers and had a thread on it. You can read it here if you are interested.

iusedtoberich

Thread 'Designing and building ball roundness tester'

I'm working on a ball sphericity (roundness) tester for fun. Below are a couple of pictures, and a YouTube video link describing the process. I'll update as I go.

My motivation is to see how different ball sets and brands compare both when new, and when worn. Also because I like making things.

IMG_0615.jpeg

IMG_0611.jpeg

Youtube video with a lot more detail. Part 1:
https://youtu.be/fHgEgi62nO0
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I just wanted to report back on my balls. Upon closer inspection I noticed that i could feel the edge of the numbers with my nails on about half the balls. I exchanged them for a second set. Still a few of the balls i could feel the number edges. Some of the balls even looked like they had nail polish painted on the inside of the numbers like patch work after not filling the number completely in with the phenolic. 1 of the balls in the second set was 7 oz.

Lesson learned.
 
If you're looking for a budget but top quality set, Dyanspheres is the best. No one is close to them for the price. (and IMO, they are as good as the Aramith Tournament set). Their cheapest set is I believe these days about $150 range. (they used to have a set for $70 range a few years ago, but its gone now, I bought 2 of them).
 
iusedtoberich said:
If you're looking for a budget but top quality set, Dyanspheres is the best. No one is close to them for the price. (and IMO, they are as good as the Aramith Tournament set). Their cheapest set is I believe these days about $150 range. (they used to have a set for $70 range a few years ago, but its gone now, I bought 2 of them).
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Aramith Tournament set quality? Which are you referring? The Gold or Platinum set?
 
cueball2010 said:
Aramith Tournament set quality? Which are you referring? The Gold or Platinum set?
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All of them. The entire Dynasphere line is made the same way, with only the amount of decoration varying on each price point. Unlike the Aramith line, which has higher performance materials and processes on their higher price points.
 
iusedtoberich said:
All of them. The entire Dynasphere line is made the same way, with only the amount of decoration varying on each price point. Unlike the Aramith line, which has higher performance materials and processes on their higher price points.
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Interesting. I had no idea about Dynasphere. I just figured/assumed they were some off brand chasing the coat tails of Aramith.
 
Black-Balled said:
No comment on the cyclop dissolution, but I have a set that is perfectish.

I like them better than the centennials, super pros and tournament sets I've got.

Would buy again, if ..
Click to expand...
My TV Tournament set ball weight variance is 1.8 grams. The 3 ball falls thru my 2.25 Willard hole gage, but doesn’t fall thru the .005 undersized hole. The weird thing is I went to Buffalo’s and on two of their Tournament sets the 3 ball is also lighter/smaller. My Dynasphere Gold set averages 1 gram heavier and the variance is 1.2 grams. As for Cyclops’s I’ve seen three cracked balls.
 
cueball2010 said:
Interesting. I had no idea about Dynasphere. I just figured/assumed they were some off brand chasing the coat tails of Aramith.
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IMO, Dynaspheres are the best balls on the market. I own 15 modern phenolic sets and my 3 Dynaspheres sets are all the most consistent in terms of weight. Have a look at my Pool Ball Weight thread for the data.
 
rexus31 said:
IMO, Dynaspheres are the best balls on the market. I own 15 modern phenolic sets and my 3 Dynaspheres sets are all the most consistent in terms of weight. Have a look at my Pool Ball Weight thread for the data.
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Thanks for the data! I will have a look. Let's say they are the best high end ball set for the money. I have heard that it is best to practice with balls similar to the look of what you will be playing with. I just notice that the Dynaspheres have that rotor shape around the ball numbers, while most pool halls carry balls with round circles around numbers. I feel like practicing with those would promote a bad playing habit such as using the rotors to help align CB contact.
 
cueball2010 said:
Thanks for the data! I will have a look. Let's say they are the best high end ball set for the money. I have heard that it is best to practice with balls similar to the look of what you will be playing with. I just notice that the Dynaspheres have that rotor shape around the ball numbers, while most pool halls carry balls with round circles around numbers. I feel like practicing with those would promote a bad playing habit such as using the rotors to help align CB contact.
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That is only one of their sets.

dynaspheres.com

Dyna|spheres® - Next Gen Phenolic Resin Billiard Balls

Next Gen Phenolic Resin billiard balls for Pool, Carom, Bumper Pool and Snooker. Better quality, better service, better pricing!
dynaspheres.com dynaspheres.com
 
I would not buy any of the sets that are made with the Dynaphex Resin. Stick with the sets that are phenolic: Palladium, Rhodium, Tungsten, Vanadium. If you can find the Gold, Silver or Bronze sets those are good too.
 
Yes, I forgot Dynasphere has a low end line NOT made of phenolic. All of their phenolic balls are great, however. They have changed the model names and aesthetic designs a bit over the years. Their cheapest (Phenolic) set was called the Tungsten about 5 years ago. IDK if it's still available. It had funky colors and was $70. Their Silver set had the traditional colors and was about $125 range. IDK what the current prices are.
 
cueball2010 said:
Thanks for the data! I will have a look. Let's say they are the best high end ball set for the money. I have heard that it is best to practice with balls similar to the look of what you will be playing with. I just notice that the Dynaspheres have that rotor shape around the ball numbers, while most pool halls carry balls with round circles around numbers. I feel like practicing with those would promote a bad playing habit such as using the rotors to help align CB contact.
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Screenshot_20251020-114423.jpg
 
cueball2010 said:
I bought my first set of pool balls. They costed about $70 (on prime day) which is cheapest I could find any real Phenolic Resin balls. They are made by Konllen which is a semi-decent brand. I know that they make some pretty decent carbon fiber cues and dirt cheap prices. But I still question the quality. Is there anyway to test how round they are?
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You could always buy the go/no-go gage built specifially for pool ball measurement to ensure they're in specification. But, if you were going to go that route and spend the money on the gage, you wouldn't have been looking for the cheapest balls.
 
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