I don’t collect new sets. Nothing wrong with them but not just my thing . I go to the thrift stores and look more for vintage balls or unique balls from other billiard games. If there is a new or nearly new set or amariths for $20 or so, I’ll nab them but no interest in logos, newershiny sets in boxes, etc.
Re quality. A fun thing is taking balls into our research lab and measuring them....symmetry, density, weight.. Balls today, are not just more consistent in all three but ‘way’ more consistent. To within almost a thousandth of a cm as opposed to a hundredth of a cm of any set older than 35 years. Likely due to computerized machine tooling. Weights similar...balls very consistent today. It would be interesting to hear from members here w ho understand today’s machining..at age 15 I worked in a brass fittings factory (literally 51 years ago) and everything was done manually with callipers..
I have a couple of older sets ( sort of a Bakelite?)from The 1930s and they were likely thought to be ‘good enough’...gives me new admiration for those guys back then. They must have learned not just to read the cloth but got to know individual balls on the table.
Balls wear but even with older balls that were not used there is inconsistency in a set that isn’t found today.
Re quality. A fun thing is taking balls into our research lab and measuring them....symmetry, density, weight.. Balls today, are not just more consistent in all three but ‘way’ more consistent. To within almost a thousandth of a cm as opposed to a hundredth of a cm of any set older than 35 years. Likely due to computerized machine tooling. Weights similar...balls very consistent today. It would be interesting to hear from members here w ho understand today’s machining..at age 15 I worked in a brass fittings factory (literally 51 years ago) and everything was done manually with callipers..
I have a couple of older sets ( sort of a Bakelite?)from The 1930s and they were likely thought to be ‘good enough’...gives me new admiration for those guys back then. They must have learned not just to read the cloth but got to know individual balls on the table.
Balls wear but even with older balls that were not used there is inconsistency in a set that isn’t found today.