Ball Polisher for 15 balls

[JoeW]

Made this today from suggestions in another thread. It seems to work quite well. No more ball polishing for me

Bought this bucket for $6.00 from the Dollar store and used contact cement to place the rug inside. Two holes were cut in the bucket, one for the buffer and one to install the buffer plate.

I already own a Chicago Buffer so I designed a way to use it. Cut 3/4 inch plywood to fit the base of the bucket and offset a dowel for the buffer handle. Used a 15/16 drill to counter sink the dowel then placed a deck screw through the plywood and the dowel. Used Duct tape to bring the dowel up to the same size as the hole in the buffer handle.

Used wallboard screws to screw the buffer plate to the center of another piece of 3/4 inchplywood cut to fit the inside of the bucket. The mounted buffer can be seen in the background

Mounted rug to the 3/4 inch plywood. Next figure shows what it looks like inside the bucket

As shown below, 16 balls can be placed in this polisher. It spins pretty fast and I may place some paint rollers in it per 3andstop?s suggestion.

 

[mattman]

That looks like the industrial model. I just have the economy model...lol

You must have some good engineering skills to determine exactly where to mount the dow and handle for the buffer. Otherwise it would have one hell of a wobble.

 

[JoeW]

Yeah, I think its really cool. Thank you for the suggestions. Had me so excited I had to go buy the bucket right now. Hate to think what this thing would have cost if I bought it. I have drooled on some of the places that sell them but simply could not justify the cost. But now ----

And I can still use the buffer for the car and other things takes about 5 minutes to disassemble.

 

[scottycoyote]

so is that last picture the entire buffer? or is there another piece that fits down in there that sits on top of the balls? Ive never seen a ball polisher in person or in action, just tryin to get my mind around how it works.

 

[JoeW]

If you could just wrap the bucket around the fourth picture (where the buffer is shown attached to the base with the buffer plate on top) that is all there is too it. Hit the switch and the plate spins. The balls rub against the walls and get polished. They get cleaned with ball cleaner.

I cut the top plate (with the rug on it) about 1/4 inch less than the diameter of the bucket so it could spin free. The base of the balls are 1.25 inches off the wall so they can't get into the crack.

Hope that helps

In the fourth picture the top plate look like it is sloped, I simply did not take the time to screw it all the way down for the picture. When it is in the bucket it is level.

 

[mattman]

There is really no need for a top. The balls roll around enough that all surface space of the balls will make contact with the carpet. These are fairly cheap designs and work extremely well...at least for the homeowner. If I had a pool hall, I am sure I would go with a commercial unit.

 

[Poolshootindon]

Polishing Balls

I Like to sit in front of the TV and polish my balls.. Are there 18 balls in a set? ..Hmmm..LOL...Real nice, and the price is right..Thanks for sharing...Don

 

[scottycoyote]

cool, im gonna make me one of these

 

[DennyS]

Looks Great!

 

[JoeW]

You must have some good engineering skills to determine exactly where to mount the dow and handle for the buffer. Otherwise it would have one hell of a wobble.

I set the buffer in the center hole and used a metal ruler to line up the center line through the buffer It can be see in one of the photos. Then I scribed a line perpendicular to it with the buffer and handle in place. No big deal. As noted the spinning platform is 1/4 inch undersize and though there is a little wobble I hold the trigger and stabilize as needed.

 

[olauzon]

thought this was a work add first, one i'd decline. speaking of it, i do mine while watching tv too, but not in a bucket, yet.

 

[poolcuemaster]

Great job Joe and I was just thinking about mounting a center post of maybe 2 by 4 through the carpet pad that was slotted for double thickness of the carpet formed and glued inside to make a S shape to push the balls around and hold them to the side carpet.

You would have to wrap the 2 by 4 piece to protect the balls or try a round dowel which you couldn't screw from the bottom as easy as the 2 by 4, I think 4 screws under the metal plate into 2 by 4 might work. Tell me if you understand what I'm talking about and what you think.

Leonard

 

[poolcuemaster]

Now we need to find out how to buy the Aramith cleaner in bulk and devide it up to save a bundle.

Leonard

 

[JoeW]

Great job Joe and I was just thinking about mounting a center post of maybe 2 by 4 through the carpet pad that was slotted for double thickness of the carpet formed and glued inside to make a S shape to push the balls around and hold them to the side carpet.

Oh the centrifical force is pretty strong so an S shape might turn the pool balls into deadly Jaili balls

You would have to wrap the 2 by 4 piece to protect the balls or try a round dowel which you couldn't screw from the bottom as easy as the 2 by 4, I think 4 screws under the metal plate into 2 by 4 might work. Tell me if you understand what I'm talking about and what you think.

Leonard

I follow your idea and think that it is worth a try. What I like is the idea that the "S" rail could be screwed through the bottom of the spinning pad. I could make an S rail from a 2 X4 by notching and shaping the 3.5 inch side. I think a terry cloth towel )or similar) would probably be enough to protect the balls. This could be wraped and tacked to the bottem of the S rail.

I looked at a commercial cleaner and they appear to make pie shapes to contain each ball. This too is not a bad idea if it is lined with a soft cloth for polishing. I might try that as it would polish better

The carpet seems to be a litlle stronger than I need and it took some of the cleaner off when I put them in dry for the photo.

I also like 3and stops's idea about placing a paint roller above the spinning plate, seems that may be the best solution yet.

 

[poolcuemaster]

Joe I meant that the carpet glued back to back to form the S shape that would flex somewhat threaded through a slot in the 2 by 4 like thread in a needle.

Leonard

 

[JoeW]

Joe I meant that the carpet glued back to back to form the S shape that would flex somewhat threaded through a slot in the 2 by 4 like thread in a needle.

Leonard

Gotcha. I can be pretty dumb sometimes. That would work but is not needed as centifical forces keeps them against the outside of the bucket.

I got lucky in that the carpet did not quite meet inside the walls and that causes a bump that makes the balls rotate each time they hit the crack. Another "crack" or two might be useful for bumping. At the rate they spin they seem to be OK for now as the balls are pretty evenly polished.

You know what might help though is a bump in the floor this would shake things up a bit and might polish faster.

If you used your sweeper type thing I would use something softer than carpet.

 

[Solartje]

whats the diameter of the bucket so it can contain 16 balls at least?

 

[JoeW]

whats the diameter of the bucket so it can contain 16 balls at least?

The diameter between the rug walls measures 17.5 inches on the one in the photo. As you can see that is more than sufficient.

 

[Solartje]

any advice on what rug/carpet will work best?

can i just use any type of carpet i have left, or is it better to find the type of material used to paint?

 

[realkingcobra]

What do you do to keep the balls from hitting each other while they're spinning around? I guarantee there's little marks all over the balls from touching each other while they're trying to get clean. Do you try and hand shine those marks out of the finish of the shine after they're done in the machine? Or do you just forget about them, and call them done?

Glen