Ball size testing

[jtompilot]

I’m tired of all the screwed up balls not racking properly so I bought a test gage and tested a set of Aramith Tournament balls. The six ball fell through the smallest hole, didn’t really come close to touching the template. Three balls wouldn’t fall through the 2.25 but did fall through the 2.255, in tolerance on the large side. The other 11 balls and the cue ball just barely fell through the 2.25 hole but wouldn’t fall through the 2.245 hole.

I also tested my 25 year old Centennial balls. All the balls fell through the 2.25 hole and about half of them fell through the small hole. However difference between the smallest and largest was much closer than the newer Tournament balls. The Centennial balls also racked tight in my Elite rack.

I can’t seem to add the pic from my iPad

 

[mnb]

where did you buy the test gage?

 

[jtompilot]

where did you buy the test gage?

Unique Billiard Ball Gage. $10.95 on eBay

I was thinking of making one out of aluminum but this plastic one seems good enough

 

[Bavafongoul]

Cool tool......never saw these before......cue tip templates for sure but not for billiard balls.
There were two sets available on eBay. It’s now down to one; I just bought the other set.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Unique Billiard Ball Gage. $10.95 on eBay

I was thinking of making one out of aluminum but this plastic one seems good enough

I have three gages made from steel. Each only has two holes, though. I would think that maintaining roundness in a plastic gage could be tough. And roundness is hard to measure since a hole can have all diameters equal but not be round.

I got my first gage in 1974 or so. It only had +0.005 and -0.005 holes. At one tournament I tested the balls and the 3, 5 and 7 balls hung up in the large hole but only on the eyes. Bulging eyes. They had enough sets to make up enough good racks for the tournament tables.

 

[Nick B]

I have three gages made from steel. Each only has two holes, though. I would think that maintaining roundness in a plastic gage could be tough. And roundness is hard to measure since a hole can have all diameters equal but not be round.

I got my first gage in 1974 or so. It only had +0.005 and -0.005 holes. At one tournament I tested the balls and the 3, 5 and 7 balls hung up in the large hole but only on the eyes. Bulging eyes. They had enough sets to make up enough good racks for the tournament tables.

I was thinking that myself. You need to test the tester.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I was thinking that myself. You need to test the tester.

I'm not sure, but I think a three-legged caliper is sufficient to ensure roundness of a hole.

 

[Nick B]

I'm not sure, but I think a three-legged caliper is sufficient to ensure roundness of a hole.

I have been told that (not my field of STEM). Reading for the nerds: https://www.mahr.com/en/Services/Pr...metry-Gaging-Tips/?ContentID=19063&Overview=0

 

[Bavafongoul]

If you ever had to double check the many trays of balls in a pool hall for a tournament,
this is the way to go. Hard plastic is durable and just double check the opening using a
caliper occasionally which is easier than using that same caliper to check all the balls.
I carry a digital caliper and scale in my pool equipment bag that’s kept in my car trunk.

 

[Bob Jewett]

If you ever had to double check the many trays of balls in a pool hall for a tournament, this is the way to go. ...

But what do you do when all of the balls drop through the smallest hole? I used to play in a room where that would happen for all balls except those that had been replaced recently.

 

[jtompilot]

Here’s the pic

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here’s the pic

Neat. It looks a lot easier to carry around than mine. The unlabeled one is +-0.005.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Well, hopefully you already started to eliminate and replace mismatched sets.
I know it took Tommy five to six months to swap balls and sets at his pool hall.
I carry calipers & scale in auto’s trunk but these can slip in my Aramith ball case.
For only $12 bucks, it costs about a cube & a half of fancy chalk & doesn’t wear out.

 

[w0409@aol.com]

I have had no success in finding a Billiards ball gage for sale, Willy’s or otherwise. We have 8 sets of ball at our Senior Center and would find this useful to determine when we should replace ball sets. Any help in finding a place to buy a ball gage would be a help to us.


Sent from my iPad using AzBilliards Forums

 

[Bob Jewett]

I have had no success in finding a Billiards ball gage for sale, Willy’s or otherwise. We have 8 sets of ball at our Senior Center and would find this useful to determine when we should replace ball sets. Any help in finding a place to buy a ball gage would be a help to us.

Here are three alternatives.

Get a pair of calipers that has a long enough jaw.

Get a new ball. Take six suspect balls and place them around the new ball like this:



If the balls are small, there will be a gap as shown. The gap is three times the average error in the diameters of the six balls in the ring. If a small ball is in the middle you can still arrange the ring of larger balls so there is only one gap. That single gap is also three times the average diameter difference of the middle ball and the ring-of-six balls.

If you have some tools, make a sorting fixture like this (top view):



The taper on the opening is greatly exaggerated in the drawing. You will still need calipers or some cleverness to set the opening of the rods. Start a ball at the small end of the fixture and where it falls through will show its relative size. This could also let you sort the balls according to size.

But if the balls are more than five years old, they almost certainly are smaller than regulation.

 

[Cuebuddy]

These go on sale very often and I bought on a few weeks ago on sale for $9.99. They are accurate and with a coupon can be had for $7.99. They include a hard case and an extra battery. It can be zeroed and turns itself on when you open the jaws and turns itself off after a few minutes. The battery lasts for years under normal use and can be chanced from inches to metric with the push of a button. The plastic one is nearly as good and a little cheaper and light weight.


https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-...ional-readings-63731.html?_br_psugg_q=caliper

 

[Bob Jewett]

These go on sale very often and I bought on a few weeks ago on sale for $9.99. They are accurate and with a coupon can be had for $7.99. They include a hard case and an extra battery. It can be zeroed and turns itself on when you open the jaws and turns itself off after a few minutes. The battery lasts for years under normal use and can be chanced from inches to metric with the push of a button. The plastic one is nearly as good and a little cheaper and light weight.


https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-...ional-readings-63731.html?_br_psugg_q=caliper

Jaw depth: 1/2 in. (inside) / 1-3/16 in. (outside)

which means it will work for pool balls which have a requirement of 1 1/8 inches.

 

[Cuebuddy]

Jaw depth: 1/2 in. (inside) / 1-3/16 in. (outside)

which means it will work for pool balls which have a requirement of 1 1/8 inches.

Yes with the outside measuring points it reaches past the center of a standard 2.25 pool ball. You can rotate the ball and easily check to see if it is out of round and many are.

 

[jtompilot]

These go on sale very often and I bought on a few weeks ago on sale for $9.99. They are accurate and with a coupon can be had for $7.99. They include a hard case and an extra battery. It can be zeroed and turns itself on when you open the jaws and turns itself off after a few minutes. The battery lasts for years under normal use and can be chanced from inches to metric with the push of a button. The plastic one is nearly as good and a little cheaper and light weight.


https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-...ional-readings-63731.html?_br_psugg_q=caliper

I bought the composite ones. For ten bucks it’s ok but not anywhere as good as using Willys gage

 

[Bavafongoul]

As of 2:00 pm today, there were two more sets of Willys billiard ball gauges on eBay.....just do a search using unique billiard ball gauge.