Cue ball worn out?

[jimtauer]

Is it possible for a cue ball to get "worn out", even if cleaned regularly? I've seen cue balls at bars that are obviously chipped etc, but this week I was getting frustrated, practicing on my home table and not being able to get as much spin/action on the CB as normal, and not pocketing as many balls as I do normally. I swapped it out for a brand new cueball, and everything was back as expected. The old CB has some marks on it from chalk etc that I cannot get out with normal cleaning, but no cracks or indentations... it is about 9 years old. Due cue balls have an expected life span? It's an Aramith ball.

 

[Black-Balled]

Sure. It is the most used ball on the table, ya know?

 

[pool101]

I have seen the red circle wore off, the ball gets lighter and smaller. Draw gets easier with a lighter ball.

 

[garczar]

Is it possible for a cue ball to get "worn out", even if cleaned regularly? I've seen cue balls at bars that are obviously chipped etc, but this week I was getting frustrated, practicing on my home table and not being able to get as much spin/action on the CB as normal, and not pocketing as many balls as I do normally. I swapped it out for a brand new cueball, and everything was back as expected. The old CB has some marks on it from chalk etc that I cannot get out with normal cleaning, but no cracks or indentations... it is about 9 years old. Due cue balls have an expected life span? It's an Aramith ball.

Find a level glass plate. Roll cue ball on it. If its old it could be out-of-round. It'll show very quick on the plate.

 

[Bob Jewett]

Is it possible for a cue ball to get "worn out", even if cleaned regularly? I've seen cue balls at bars that are obviously chipped etc, but this week I was getting frustrated, practicing on my home table and not being able to get as much spin/action on the CB as normal, and not pocketing as many balls as I do normally. I swapped it out for a brand new cueball, and everything was back as expected. The old CB has some marks on it from chalk etc that I cannot get out with normal cleaning, but no cracks or indentations... it is about 9 years old. Due cue balls have an expected life span? It's an Aramith ball.

First I'd try polishing it with Aramith polish or similar. The surface of the ball gets rough with wear and that causes more friction between the ball and the cloth. For a quick fix without polish, wax the ball or rub it with a silicone product like ArmorAll, and see if that restores the action you miss.

If you use a very hard (phenolic) break tip, it will roughen the cue ball a lot faster than normal leather tip because it forces the grit in the chalk into the cue ball. In the old days players used a "break ball" to break with to avoid damaging the cue ball on smash break shots. Maybe we should bring that back.

 

[WildWing]

In the old days players used a "break ball" to break with to avoid damaging the cue ball on smash break shots. Maybe we should bring that back.

Agree. Here's an example of what a break ball would have been back in the day. Made of bakelite, pretty tough. Obviously, it's the one on the right.

All the best,
WW

 

[hang-the-9]

First I'd try polishing it with Aramith polish or similar. The surface of the ball gets rough with wear and that causes more friction between the ball and the cloth. For a quick fix without polish, wax the ball or rub it with a silicone product like ArmorAll, and see if that restores the action you miss.

If you use a very hard (phenolic) break tip, it will roughen the cue ball a lot faster than normal leather tip because it forces the grit in the chalk into the cue ball. In the old days players used a "break ball" to break with to avoid damaging the cue ball on smash break shots. Maybe we should bring that back.

Never heard of someone using a different cueball to break with. But maybe not a bad idea for a home table, especially for practice.

This is also why I did a post a while back about racking 8 ball and making a point not to use the 1 ball at the apex, it gets enough beatings from 9 and 10 ball, rotate some other balls to the front for 8 ball to even the wear.

 

[WildWing]

Never heard of someone using a different cueball to break with. But maybe not a bad idea for a home table, especially for practice.

It was probably most common when balls were either ivory or clay, as hard hits tended to crack them. A bakelite cue ball, or some other hard material was a good break ball.

All the best,
WW