I don't think anyone denies that, but once again for a cue ball or any ball to pick up more chalk than what wears off the table would probably have to be beyond extremely dirty.
ChalkGate Definitive Answers
- Thread starter dr_dave
- Start date
This. If premium chalks really are so cheap to make as some contend, despite their high cost, why doesn't Masters produce its own high-quality cheap chalk?
Or, maybe, premium chalk is notably more costly to make. I don't know.
Whatever the case, bars and poolhalls will always buy dirt-cheap chalk. Maybe Masters is content to make cheap chalk forever.
The chalk that wears off the cb in the test is not a real life scenario as the cb is being hit over and over with freshly chalked tips.
In tournaments the cb is being cleaned between racks and when a player requests it. In normal amateur play the cb might get cleaned between racks but the he object balls don’t.
I’ve seen balls sets in clubs that are never get washed and tables with dust bunnies…
So you are saying that chalk does not wear off of balls during play? I have seen large blue marks on the cue ball after someone breaks, a few shots later that blue mark has almost vanished, where does it go?? The majority of people that I see play generally wipe the cue ball off before they break, even league players. Of course you will see balls in bars especially that look like they rolling them around outside on the concrete sidewalk, you just have to know that those will throw a lot.
It does wears off but slower than picking up new chalk marks
When balls are cleaned daily, what is the cleaning liquid or fluid used since Aramith cleaner definitely affects cling afte4 being polished. I know because I have two sets of Centennial pool balls I rotate for play and one new unused set on the shelf as backup for comparison purposes. After being used for a few hours, the pool balls throw better than after being going thru the Ballstar using Aramith. I prefer glossy, shiny pool balls for overall aiming but want to play with pool balls that’s been in use. So upon reading that your club cleans the pool balls daily, I became curious what is used to clean the pool balls or suffer the same fate as everyone else using polish that does change the cling of pool balls for awhile?
You have to fade the conditions bottom line. There will never be a day where poolhalls use hi-dollar chalk so you might as well get used to 'Master gunk'. IMO if you play a lot at home in perfect clean conditions you will be at a disadvantage when u step into the real world. I use Taom green and love it but i also know that most tables will have chalk residue to some degree. Deal with it, bitching about it is just an excuse.
Taom is actually handmade in Finland. Finland have high cost salaries so unless you move your production to elsewhere it won´t be so cheap to make as many think. I also know they want keep it Finnish product to support our country and to make sure quality is always good!
Well I just wrote a some stuff that was wrong - which I’ve now erased!
Dr Dave’s testing showed that new out of the box balls throw slightly less than used balls, a fair bit less than balls washed with dish soap or alcohol and more than ones cleaned with Aramith cleaner. The ones cleaned with Aramith throw less than either new balls or used balls.
Here is the chart. The measurements for new out of the box is not on the chart but earlier he measures it at 7”.
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I played today with a newly polished set of Centennials and the shots I noticed where throw was the toughest was
long backwards cuts or really severe ones to a side pocket. Inside English applications seem to take better than
Outside and we played for 2 1/2 hours 9 ball and 10 ball. By the time we finished, the throw improved and I’d guess
another couple of hours of play would render the balls even a little better. I’ll play tomorrow and the weekend so I am
curious to see what to expect after polishing the pool balls. I’m going to always polish so it makes sense to learn more.
long backwards cuts or really severe ones to a side pocket. Inside English applications seem to take better than
Outside and we played for 2 1/2 hours 9 ball and 10 ball. By the time we finished, the throw improved and I’d guess
another couple of hours of play would render the balls even a little better. I’ll play tomorrow and the weekend so I am
curious to see what to expect after polishing the pool balls. I’m going to always polish so it makes sense to learn more.
Well I just wrote a some stuff that was wrong - which I’ve now erased!
Dr Dave’s testing showed that new out of the box balls throw slightly less than used balls, a fair bit less than balls washed with dish soap or alcohol and more than ones cleaned with Aramith cleaner. The ones cleaned with Aramith throw less than either new balls or used balls.
Here is the chart. The measurements for new out of the box is not on the chart but earlier he measures it at 7”.
It depends on the “box” and the company and whether the balls are waxed before shipping (which should not be done). I have seen brand new “out of the box” balls throw very little at first (because a waxy polish was used). The problem with this is as the wax starts rubbing off different parts of the balls during play, throw become a bit erratic and unpredictable.
This makes me think the tip shaping devices that puncture deeper in to the tip may cause crevices that will hold chalk longer and cause more frequent skids. Just a thought.
I don’t understand your thought here. The skid is caused by chalk on the CB (or OB) not on the tip. I guess if you have tons of excess chalk on the tip you might get “extra” thick chalk marks - is that your point?
That is exactly my point. Some what remote, but it could cause a skid.