Yes, my 22+ year old Bludworth ball polishing unit does an awesome job with one squirt of Meguiar's detailer spray, and about 60-90 seconds of spinning. I do clean the cue balls by hand first, with denatured alcohol doused on a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser pad, to get out the deeper miscue marks on the cue balls - which no polishing machine will remove.
Best ball polisher
- Thread starter maxeypad2007
- Start date
People who have home rooms and have spent a ton of dough on them are pretty picky about what goes in them. The bludworths are straight up ugly...
The Diamond does a great job and also looks good, a winning combo. No need to store it because it is nice looking and deserves its own permanent place in a home room or pool room.
Trent from Toledo
Agreed, but our poolroom just doesn't have room anywhere to keep it displayed permanently or even to keep it in our small storage room. I can keep the smaller and lighter Bludworth unit in our storage room and once a week when I polish the balls, I take it out and place it on the pool table closest to the storage room door (after I put a table cover over the pool table to protect it) use the machine to clean all our sets, then return it to the storage room until the next week. The double platter Diamond would just be too heavy to lug in and out of our storage room and it would take up too much room in our very small storage room. I'm sure the Diamond unit does work very well, but I've been perfectly satisfied with the Bludworth unit.
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You can always install swivel caster wheels on the Diamond, but you can't rotate the balls spinning in the bludworth ball polisher, they polish the balls like a yoyo, always have.
Even though what you describe appears to indeed be the case with the Bludworth unit, the 1-inch felt pad strips glued around the diameter of each circular compartment each ball sets in still makes contact with the entire surface of the balls even if the spinning base plate felt pad does not, so personally I've never seen that as a causing any issue - the balls still look great when they come out of the unit.
Watch the balls spin, they don't rotate, cectrificle force keeps them spinning in the same circle, which means the centers of the balls never get polished unless the spin is disturbed some how. And if one of those buffing pads come out, you can kiss that ball good buy as it'll get tore up.
Glen, like I said, the center of the balls get polished by the vertical side pads. I've not tried any other polishing machine to be able to make a comparison. All I'm saying is 22 years of using this machine every week and no problems. Balls come up looking great every time.
Yes, you do have to hold the top plate/lid down while they are spinning just as a precaution - if the lid pops up and the balls come out of their holes while the machine is on it is bad news, as I unfortunately found out a long time ago. For that reason, no one operates this machine other than myself.
Doesn't sound like you've owned one of these. I've had one for a long time and it works just fine. If the balls are not rocking back and forth slowly in the machine then there is a problem. The disk that the balls rest on while it spins is designed to be slightly offset so there is a little wobble. When operating correctly the tray that holds the balls should be jittering back and forth a little making the balls rock back and forth. If all the balls are spinning quietly in place then you should bump the side of the polisher gently and see if that gets the balls rocking. If that doesn't work you can call Bludworth and I believe there is a way to adjust the plate to make it right.
IMO, to the OP spend a little extra $ if you can and get a machine that does all 16 at the same time. You won't miss the $ a year from now but you will appreciate the larger capacity for as long as you own it.
Does that mean you can't remove the carpet at all? Wow, that would be really bad. I got a relatively cheap ball cleaner made by a German guy
http://www.billardball-poliermaschine.de/Index2.htm
I don't know if this machine is the best in the market but it does it's job quite nicely. The felts can be taken out and washed (both the top felt and the rotating disc one). If that were not the case, it would be quite unuseable by now due to Kamui chalk badly messing it up (which I don't use any more). Still, any other chalk would probably mess it up in a little longer time frame. So, if you can't wash the felt/carpet, this would be a no-go for me.
You can order 1/4-inch thick F-1 felt sheets from Grainger or other similar suppliers. We replace the felt on our machine every few years with new felt.
I highly recommend the Diamond.
It looks like a piece of furniture, instead of a machine stuck in the corner or behind a bar.
Solid, well built, Made in America, lasts forever, handsome, and, oh yeah, they work better than anything on the market today, IMHO.
-von
BTW, the dude selling the homemade ball polisher on FB - the one who used to sell on here - I bought one of his for around $200 IIRC. Lasted 3-months.
It looks like a piece of furniture, instead of a machine stuck in the corner or behind a bar.
Solid, well built, Made in America, lasts forever, handsome, and, oh yeah, they work better than anything on the market today, IMHO.
-von
BTW, the dude selling the homemade ball polisher on FB - the one who used to sell on here - I bought one of his for around $200 IIRC. Lasted 3-months.
I'm curious if you've used the Bludworth machine. It's just that I don't know anybody who has used all of the leading ball machines out there, including me. The Bludworth has always been reliable for me but I've never tried the Diamond machine. Maybe it works better. I was just looking for someone out there who has used both and has an informed opinion.
You betcha. The Bludworth works fine, probably better than all the others after the Diamond.
The Blud is all plastic, Diamond is wood. Blud weights around 25lbs, Diamond around 70lbs. Blud is manufactured, Diamond are built by hand after you order, right in Jeffersonville IN.
A plastic machine works fine, but it looks and sounds much different than the Diamond.
It's not really less expensive, yet is made cheaper.
[EDIT S-Class to Suzuki was too extreme. The Blud is a fine ball polisher, and the one I would choose if Diamond didn't exist. However, I do prefer the solid construction and appearance of the Diamond.]
-von
The Blud is all plastic, Diamond is wood. Blud weights around 25lbs, Diamond around 70lbs. Blud is manufactured, Diamond are built by hand after you order, right in Jeffersonville IN.
A plastic machine works fine, but it looks and sounds much different than the Diamond.
It's not really less expensive, yet is made cheaper.
[EDIT S-Class to Suzuki was too extreme. The Blud is a fine ball polisher, and the one I would choose if Diamond didn't exist. However, I do prefer the solid construction and appearance of the Diamond.]
-von
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No complaints here.
Down to 5 min. now. They always look great!
Time will tell with the durability.
If I go a year with no issues. Then I will post up for sure!
If it's 3 months...... then I will def post up FOR SURE!! ha
if you would have told him about it he would have fixed it free
ive had mine for 2yrs now, no issues
i certainly dont
I am planning on purchasing a dual platter diamond polisher as soon as my Bludworth wears out, which may be tomorrow, or may be in another 22 years!
I hear that. Seems like a great dude!
Folks, I am by no means implying that they don't work. I know a few people who are satisfied with theirs.
Having said that, given the materials and construction, I do not expect them to last for many years.
They are not well made. Period. That doesn't mean they won't clean pool balls for a while, and they do a better job than the single ball contraption.
I do wonder if someone else is on FB selling a ball cleaner? The one I received was really a POS.
We might be talking about 2 different sellers and 2 different products.
-von
Having said that, given the materials and construction, I do not expect them to last for many years.
They are not well made. Period. That doesn't mean they won't clean pool balls for a while, and they do a better job than the single ball contraption.
I do wonder if someone else is on FB selling a ball cleaner? The one I received was really a POS.
We might be talking about 2 different sellers and 2 different products.
-von