Ball Cleaner - Fact Or Fiction

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BANKONIT

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Someone Told Me That Ball Cleaners Wear The Balls Uneven. Never Heard Of This. Fact Or Fiction ?
 
BANKONIT said:
Someone Told Me That Ball Cleaners Wear The Balls Uneven. Never Heard Of This. Fact Or Fiction ?
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True and false. If you have a ball cleaner that does not allow the balls to touch while spinning, little or no wear. If you have a ball cleaner that has the balls rubbing against each other during the polishing cycle, you may lose some ball surface. I also believe the auto ball returns wear the balls down.
JMHO
Purdman:cool:
 
Hmmm. I can see that the one I design for my use will need to have individual holes for each ball. Thanks Purdman and Bankonit ... I don't know that I would have understood the importance of that feature.
 
Well I Never Thought Of It Much, I Never Played With Egg Shaped Or Way Under Sized Balls. I Guess It Could Happen. But Now I Have Something To Blame That Thin Cut I Missed Last Night.
 
BANKONIT said:
Well I Never Thought Of It Much, I Never Played With Egg Shaped Or Way Under Sized Balls. I Guess It Could Happen. But Now I Have Something To Blame That Thin Cut I Missed Last Night.
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If you had the correct measuring device, you would find that the cue ball is the smallest ball on the table. The 1 ball is next. These two balls take more of a beating than any of the others.
Purdman:cool:
 
BANKONIT said:
Why Is That Purdman. I Have A 2-3 In. Mic. Will Check That Out Tonight.
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Because the one is used most often as a head ball. Its especially true in rotation games. The cue ball is used most so it will be the small ball. They take a beating and will wear down. If lots of nine ball is played the 1 through nine are the smallest ball of the set.

Older balls are out of round, measure them 2 directions. I've seen them over .025 out of round. If you ever wondered why racks don't freeze, this is one real big reason. Even if they were racked near perfect there are still gaps.

With new ball sets (when racked correct) always sit in the same spot. Not so with worn balls. There is more friction in pool than most people realize and it wears out balls. Same goes for a ball polisher; when a ball stops spinning it wears on one side more than the other. Of course polishers wear balls anyway but a poor setup ruins a ball set much quicker. Like the drill polisher, what a joke. Hard to believe people fall for that junk.

Rod
 
Never Give 1-9 Much Thought. Checked Balls Last Night, Most Balls Were Very Close But Cue Ball Was Way Under (red Circle), That Did Suprise Me. Have To Get Mic Calabrated Today But I Think It Is Very Close. This Site Is So Great. Thanks Guys.
 
Put a heavily played set in a good rack and see how the gaps show up. Now insert the cue ball in place of one of them.

If Rod and/or Purdman say it you can put it in the bank! :D
 
BANKONIT said:
Someone Told Me That Ball Cleaners Wear The Balls Uneven. Never Heard Of This. Fact Or Fiction ?
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I would have to say fact. We have a sets of Brunswick Cent. that are tiny because they have worn so much from play. Imagine balls wearing down by rolling on felt, now imagine getting brushed faster and more abrasively with a machine.
 
Purdman said:
True and false. If you have a ball cleaner that does not allow the balls to touch while spinning, little or no wear. If you have a ball cleaner that has the balls rubbing against each other during the polishing cycle, you may lose some ball surface. I also believe the auto ball returns wear the balls down.
JMHO
Purdman:cool:
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I have to disagree a bit. I say they will still wear but not as quickly. There are machines that use water with sand particles to cut through steel. Even though the water is shot at a terrific speed in these machines, it still shows that even water is an abrasive.

Add in the cleaners in a ball wash and over time, it has to wear.
 
pete lafond said:
I have to disagree a bit. I say they will still wear but not as quickly. There are machines that use water with sand particles to cut through steel. Even though the water is shot at a terrific speed in these machines, it still shows that even water is an abrasive.

Add in the cleaners in a ball wash and over time, it has to wear.
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Hey pete, I think ball returns cause excessive wear also. What is your take on that?
Purdman:rolleyes:
 
Purdman said:
Hey pete, I think ball returns cause excessive wear also. What is your take on that?
Purdman:rolleyes:
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I think it might be near zero because the balls generally roll rather than skid down the track. Never thought of it though.
 
Purdman said:
Hey pete, I think ball returns cause excessive wear also. What is your take on that?
Purdman:rolleyes:
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Metal ball returns can cause chips & scratches on balls especially if they are not smooth... this happened to by new set of pro cup tv's:(


I guess here are the conditions that your balls will wear in an automated ball buffer:
1. Type of fiber/cloth on the buffer and/or on the "lip" or opening
2. Presence of dirt on the cloth and/or balls
3. Absence of polish/wax on balls

The first two may act like a sandpaper to your balls. Absence of a protective layer by polish/wax while the balls roll on the machine can also wear the surface of the balls as they "grind" with the cloth. The polish/wax helps the ball to "slide" while it is being buffed. Moreover, most buffers let the ball roll in different directions so I guess they wear evenly.

I believe the wear is very minimal if these factors are present.

ea6e60f9.jpg

the other 2 openings have protective linings in which the balls are also being buffed
 
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