best cue ball
- Thread starter Slickstick9
- Start date
I agree with this. I have an Aramith measle ball and an Aramith red logo ball that came with my set of Super Aramiths. The measle weighs 168 grams and the red logo weighs 169, and are as far as I can tell, the same size.
The measle ball really holds chalk and is difficult to clean, which is what I take bignick's "burn marks" to mean.
Recently I've been playing regularly with Staurated Fats and he mentioned the same thing, about the measle ball hlding chalk. He has a blue Aramith logo ball which we sometimes play with instead of the measle balls provided by the house (don't know for sure they are Aramiths, but they look just like mine and hold chalk like mine). His blue logo Aramith is also much more impervious to chalk, like my red logo Aramith.
I have noticed, though I'm not sure he would agree, that when we use his blue logo Aramith that the ball seems to slide a little more, and draw a little further, but perhaps it's my imagination. We weighed it too, with the same scale, and though I don't remember the exact weight, I do remember it was either the same as the measle ball or one gram heavier.
I don't know the tolerance of this scale, but I weighed my set of Super Aramiths and eleven of the Super Aramith balls weigh 169, 2 swapped back and forth between 169 and 170, one weighed 170 and one swapped back and forth between 170 & 171. I measured each three times. Maybe all are really 169.5 plus or minus .25 grams, with one small aberation.
I'd like to make a correction to my comment above. I hadn't played with the Aramith red logo ball in a very long time and misremembered its characteristics. I played with it yesterday and it holds chalk just like the Aramith measle ball I have and the measle balls at the pool halls I frequent. It does clean up much easier than the measle balls, but that may be a function of its not having been used much.
I played again with the Aramith blue logo cue ball yesterday as well. I remain amazed at its ability to keep from getting marked up by chalk at all. It doesn't just clean up well, it stays clean throughout the match. If they're all like this one, HIGHLY recommended. I know I'm buying one.
I played again with the Aramith blue logo cue ball yesterday as well. I remain amazed at its ability to keep from getting marked up by chalk at all. It doesn't just clean up well, it stays clean throughout the match. If they're all like this one, HIGHLY recommended. I know I'm buying one.
Whether the ball is polished and clean makes far more difference to how it plays than which specific brand it is.
This will be the case for a clean, polished ball. You can get a similar effect by using a little silicone spray on the ball but with a lot more initial slide and it wears off quickly.
True that, but what is so unusual about this cue ball is that it stays this way without being cleaned, or polished. Not with any liquid, not even with a dry cloth. The ball has been used off and on for over a year and wasn't new when he bought it, though the history with the previous owner is unknown.
Aramith seems to say that this ball is like many of their other cue balls, but I'm having a hard time believing it. The blue logo ball we play with certainly has had less use than any of the house measle balls I've compared it to, but my red logo ball is practically unused, though 5 years old and it holds chalk with the worst of them. Standard blue Master chalk, just to cover the details.
That's very interesting. Does it look like this:
In the picture the surface looks "flat" compared to some cue balls which have a somewhat translucent surface so it seems like you can look into the ball a little (and the edges of shapes are not sharp). Does your cue ball have a "flat" surface?
I don't remember, I'll take a look today when we play. My red logo ball and my measle ball have the translucent effect you refer to, like a minor bleeding of the color into the background, but below the surface. Your photo doesn't seem to have this, nor did the photo on Keith's Billiards where I eventually found one I could purchase.
It doesn't make any sense to me that this ball, which Aramith says belongs to their Premium set, which is sold for almost $100 less than the Aramith Super Pros, would seem clearly superior to the higher end ball. If you can find one to actually buy, it sells for a little more than half the cost of an Aramith red logo ball. I'm suspicious that it's the same as the ball Staurated Fats has.
I'll let you know about the ball I ordered as soon as it comes, but it'll probably be a week due to USPS regular shipping.
The Aramith blue logo ball in question does have the translucent effect around it, like the red logo ball and the Aramith measle ball. Here's a photo. The blue logo ball has been used far more than the red logo ball, but note the difference in appearance!
Were they used on the same table? Dirty cloth can mark a ball.
No, they were not used on the same table. The red logo ball was used on my home table, the most recent 20 games or so of the blue logo were on tables at Corner Pocket in Largo, FL. All tables have the same tournament blue cloth.
My table's cloth is older, 6 years, but it is in great shape, I brush it often and vacuum occassionally.
I really do't think it's the cloth, since when you hit a clean red logo ball, or a clean Aramith measle ball for that matter, you can see the tip contact point immediately after the ball has been hit. This is, afterall, how many instructors show beginners where on the cue ball they're actually hitting as opposed to where they think they're hitting. To me, the chalk on the ball is clearly coming from the cue tip.
Just to be sure though, I'll play with the red logo ball at Corner Pocket on Sunday or Monday.
My table's cloth is older, 6 years, but it is in great shape, I brush it often and vacuum occassionally.
I really do't think it's the cloth, since when you hit a clean red logo ball, or a clean Aramith measle ball for that matter, you can see the tip contact point immediately after the ball has been hit. This is, afterall, how many instructors show beginners where on the cue ball they're actually hitting as opposed to where they think they're hitting. To me, the chalk on the ball is clearly coming from the cue tip.
Just to be sure though, I'll play with the red logo ball at Corner Pocket on Sunday or Monday.
It could be that the Super Aramith Pro Resin used in the measles ball makes a better object ball (say in terms of longevity and resilience), while the cheaper Aramith Premium Resin makes object balls with less longevity, but a cue ball that takes less chalk marks. I can see Aramith wanting all balls to match.
Or it could be something else entirely.
Thank you kindly.
Corwyn_8, your theory makes good sense. I just tested a striped ball from my set of Aramith Super Pros and it holds chalk just like the cue ball does. This is a very minor issue for object balls, but . . .
Now what we need is for someone with a set of Aramith Premium balls to do this same test with the cue ball and an object ball. If you're right they ought to both be more or less impervious to chalk.
I don't really see this as a 14.1 thread so much as a best cue ball in general, since I'm not looking for a cue ball that gets me something extra (better draw for instance) but a cue ball that behaves appropriately and stays clean. I've created a thread on the main forum to do just that. Plus, I hope to get a lot more feedback. My thanks to OP for getting this thread started, it's been enlightening.
I received the blue logo ball I ordered yesterday and it looks exactly like the one I've been playing with with Saturated Fats, see photo above. See other thread for details on testing.
I received the blue logo ball I ordered yesterday and it looks exactly like the one I've been playing with with Saturated Fats, see photo above. See other thread for details on testing.
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I don't like the measel ball for anything, and it's the only cueball I ever get to play with. All that ball ever wants to do is roll, roll, roll. Someone sneezes on the other side of the room and the ball turns over. And of course it will slide off the object balls like it's covered with teflon. Not to mention the tendency to "settle" on the worn down red spots.
Some time ago a friend of mine bought a ball set from my old pool hall (centennials) with the original cueball, and boy were they great. Suddenly it was possible to make the cueball slide into position once in a while, instead of constantly rolling it. and it didn't take off like a bat out of hell on the power shots, either. But the biggest difference, by far, was the control on the "small shots". The blue circle just acts more natural and has a predictable response on these shots. I'm convinced that the measel ball is made by the most evil employees of Saluc and that each one is individually cursed by gypsies on it's way out of the factory. Blue circle for me, please.
Some time ago a friend of mine bought a ball set from my old pool hall (centennials) with the original cueball, and boy were they great. Suddenly it was possible to make the cueball slide into position once in a while, instead of constantly rolling it. and it didn't take off like a bat out of hell on the power shots, either. But the biggest difference, by far, was the control on the "small shots". The blue circle just acts more natural and has a predictable response on these shots. I'm convinced that the measel ball is made by the most evil employees of Saluc and that each one is individually cursed by gypsies on it's way out of the factory. Blue circle for me, please.