Balls Wear Down?

tucson9ball

tucson9ball

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Redford to be exact, my folks bought a pool table in 1969 or 1970. In 1976 we moved to Tucson and I played on that table until 2007. My nephew has the table now and I don't think the balls are any smaller now than when the table was new.

I bought a Diamond Pro for Xmas 2007 and a friend let me use his set of Centennials, which are still on the table.

I haven't broke out my micrometer lately, but it seems that the balls have not shrunk.

I see many people saying how balls wear out and get smaller. Is this wearing out due to cleaning balls in machines? I just don't see my balls wearing out from normal play. I clean them periodically with a cleaner/wax.
 
I am guessing there is a big difference in "wear rate" between balls used on a home table and balls used in a pool hall.
 
tucson9ball said:
I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Redford to be exact, my folks bought a pool table in 1969 or 1970. In 1976 we moved to Tucson and I played on that table until 2007. My nephew has the table now and I don't think the balls are any smaller now than when the table was new.

I bought a Diamond Pro for Xmas 2007 and a friend let me use his set of Centennials, which are still on the table.

I haven't broke out my micrometer lately, but it seems that the balls have not shrunk.

I see many people saying how balls wear out and get smaller. Is this wearing out due to cleaning balls in machines? I just don't see my balls wearing out from normal play. I clean them periodically with a cleaner/wax.
Click to expand...

A dirty environment will wear the balls faster. Pollutants on the table scratch the balls (like sandpaper). Come down to my local room and I'll show you some visibly worn balls. They haven't been cleaned in years.
 
I play in a pool room where the balls are so worn down that on some of the Blue circle cue balls the circle is half worn off. Plus in a pool room at least the ones that try they polish the balls all the time. Over thirty years the balls certainly get worn down there is no question about it. Perhaps using the balls at home they first off get much less use and secondly I doubt that they are polished as often.
 
It's an optical illusion.

The balls don't really get smaller, the pocket they're in just sags a little more..

:groucho:
 
tucson9ball said:
... I just don't see my balls wearing out from normal play. ...
Click to expand...

Let's assume your balls were all the same size when new. That's probably a decent assumption for the Centennials (if you have a blue-circle CB), but who knows for the 40-year-old set.

Take two of your high-numbered object balls (they normally receive the least use) and your cue ball (it receives the most use).

Put the two object balls on the table with a few inches between them. Put a straight edge (the side of a rack, for example) across the top of the two object balls. Then roll the CB into the center space between the two object balls. If it passes cleanly under the straight edge, it's smaller than the object balls. If it just barely touches the straight edge, it's still about the same diameter as the object balls. Since the Centennials date back to at least 2007, if the CB is the original one I'd bet that it is smaller. This would demonstrate that your set of balls is getting smaller from play. (You don't have a cleaning machine, right?)
 
Easy to measure .... anyone measure balls over time ? Someone send me a nice new set of Centenial balls and I'll post measurements every 3 months ... Just trying to help.

Dave
 
DaveK said:
Easy to measure .... anyone measure balls over time ? Someone send me a nice new set of Centenial balls and I'll post measurements every 3 months ... Just trying to help.

Dave
Click to expand...

I'll do the same, just to validate the results:D
 
I have a set of Centenials with the blue circle cueball,,,,,,17 years old,,,,,,some yellowing from age, but the size hasn't changed. Never been in a ball washer.
 
AtLarge said:
Let's assume your balls were all the same size when new. That's probably a decent assumption for the Centennials (if you have a blue-circle CB), but who knows for the 40-year-old set.

Take two of your high-numbered object balls (they normally receive the least use) and your cue ball (it receives the most use).

Put the two object balls on the table with a few inches between them. Put a straight edge (the side of a rack, for example) across the top of the two object balls. Then roll the CB into the center space between the two object balls. If it passes cleanly under the straight edge, it's smaller than the object balls. If it just barely touches the straight edge, it's still about the same diameter as the object balls. Since the Centennials date back to at least 2007, if the CB is the original one I'd bet that it is smaller. This would demonstrate that your set of balls is getting smaller from play. (You don't have a cleaning machine, right?)
Click to expand...


I saw this on Jerry Briesath's new dvd. I had never heard of cue balls shrinking. It was really cool to see it on the video :)


Sent from my BlackBerry 9780 using Tapatalk
 
I've been looking into this. Yes, they wear down. I have a set of old (1960's?) "Gold Crown Centennials" (maybe they were all called that) that range in size from 2.19 to 2.24, if I recall correctly. That means they are all too small to use in BCA/WPA tournament play.

I also know that my local room has some sets of balls that are too worn down for a Magic Rack to make all the balls touch. I asked the Magic Rack folks in Germany, and they said that this could indeed happen (and now I know it does).

I think the biggest impact is not the smaller size, but the reduced weight. A 2.15" ball weighs 8%-9% less than a 2.25" ball (about a half ounce). I think that makes a difference during play.

Other than that, smaller balls in some ways are like having larger pockets. So there is that side of it.

EDIT: I solved my issues with pool room equipment very nicely by buying my own Delta rack & case and a set of Aramith Tournament balls. Now I just complain about the tables and the lighting. :)
 
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If you measure over the numbers, they are usually .003-.005 bigger than measuring the other way.

So if you have trouble racking and they don't get tight, put the numbers facing each other.
 
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