Diamond Ball Polisher vs Bludworth Ball Polisher

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is my opinion on the Diamond ball polisher versus Bludworth ball polisher. I don’t even know if the Bludworth Polisher is even still available, but I’ve had one for 26+ years. I love my new Diamond polisher and I would consider it as an exceptional $ value for the price.

The Diamond polisher, which I’ve only had for a month, is an attractive, well made, heavy duty solid unit. It is unbelievably quiet and hardly even vibrates while running. I can leave it running to do other things with 100% confidence that nothing will happen. The only issue I have with my new Diamond unit is the pads they use on the sprocket, on the platter surface, and on the sides that the spinning balls come in contact with are in my opinion too abrasive to obtain a high polished finish on the balls.

My Bludworth polisher has lasted me 26+ years and has held up for 26,000+ cycles of balls, on the same motor, replacing the pads every couple years with F1 felt. Although the motor still works fine, the unit itself (the plastic housing and lid) is virtually falling apart and I have to hold the lid down constantly while operating to prevent the lid from popping up and balls flying all over the place.

Using the same solution, the balls come out of my Bludworth polisher with a noticeably higher luster than the Diamond polisher. I can only attribute this to the F1 felt pads on my Bludworth compared to the coarser pads on the Diamond. The F1 felt pads get dirtier and need replacing I’m guessing more frequently than the pads on the Diamond unit will require changing out. Does anyone know, has Diamond recently changed the material they use on their pads, or is it has it always been the same as what they are currently using?
 
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rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not sure how long Diamond has used the blue carpet but I had a similar experience with the ball polisher I build. I made a polisher using the same engineering as the Diamond unit but mine looks like a Gold Crown. I initially used the Diamond pad set and sprocket in mine and was not impressed with the finish it left on the balls. I switched to pile carpet on the wall of the opening, a microfiber bonnet on the platter and left the original carpet on the sprocket. The unit now polishes the balls to a very high luster.
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm not sure how long Diamond has used the blue carpet but I had a similar experience with the ball polisher I build. I made a polisher using the same engineering as the Diamond unit but mine looks like a Gold Crown. I initially used the Diamond pad set and sprocket in mine and was not impressed with the finish it left on the balls. I switched to pile carpet on the wall of the opening, a microfiber bonnet on the platter and left the original carpet on the sprocket. The unit now polishes the balls to a very high luster.
If Diamond did switch the padding material they use in their units, I’m just curious why and how much actual trial and error they performed using different materials before deciding on this material? It feels nearly as coarse as a Scotch-Brite sponge pad.
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My Diamond polisher is old. Glen knows when I got it better than me. It’s blue carpet if some sort. I can get a old set of centennials to look brand new mirror polish in mine. I’ve spun 100’s of sets for look brand new(exactly they are yellowed with age). Idk what carpet is in mine, it’s wore out and needs changed
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My Diamond polisher is old. Glen knows when I got it better than me. It’s blue carpet if some sort. I can get a old set of centennials to look brand new mirror polish in mine. I’ve spun 100’s of sets for look brand new(exactly they are yellowed with age). Idk what carpet is in mine, it’s wore out and needs changed
Not sure I’d change the pads out if the balls are coming out looking mirror polish new! That could my problem - the new pads are still too coarse and not worn in yet?
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not sure I’d change the pads out if the balls are coming out looking mirror polish new! That could my problem - the new pads are still too coarse and not worn in yet?
Mine were giving me mirror polished balls from day one.

I got it to clean my own balls and also to restore sets of balls Jay and I were buying with tables. So it really got used.

Sounds to me like it’s the pads in your case. They might be too course or abrasive. I just used Maguires like Glen suggested. And as I mentioned in a thread the other day. When I was doing multiple sets in a session, I’d use less Maguires after a couple sets as it builds up on the “wet” side. I have the 2 sided model. Glen hooked me up when they first came out. It works sooooooo good.

My carpet is worn out, it’s down to cords and hard now. But for the amount of use I’ve put on it, it outlasted anything I’d have expected.

I’ll get a pic of it when I’m home next week.

Hope that helps
Fatboy😃
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How could that be - it’s a brand new unit?
Idk what pads you have.

Of your not getting a mirror polish it’s 1 of 2 things. The pads/carpet or compound your polishing with.

There’s no reason a Diamond polisher should not be getting your balls to look brand new with zero collision marks.

Im not a Diamond fanboy. Their tables are meh. But their polisher is fantastic. Something else is happening if your not getting mirror polish with no scratches or collision marks on your balls.

What balls are you polishing? If they are plastic that’s the last reason they aren’t mirrored up. But I doubt that’s the case. Plastic balls won’t polish as well. I’m assuming your using aimith, centennial or something made by saluc or cyclop or rashig. Proper balls
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Idk what pads you have.

Of your not getting a mirror polish it’s 1 of 2 things. The pads/carpet or compound your polishing with.

There’s no reason a Diamond polisher should not be getting your balls to look brand new with zero collision marks.

Im not a Diamond fanboy. Their tables are meh. But their polisher is fantastic. Something else is happening if your not getting mirror polish with no scratches or collision marks on your balls.

What balls are you polishing? If they are plastic that’s the last reason they aren’t mirrored up. But I doubt that’s the case. Plastic balls won’t polish as well. I’m assuming your using aimith, centennial or something made by saluc or cyclop or rashig. Proper balls
Aramith Tournaments and Brunswick Centennials, and using the highly recommended Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik detailer which I’ve been using for decades in my Bludworth unit.
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Aramith Tournaments and Brunswick Centennials, and using the highly recommended Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik detailer which I’ve been using for decades in my Bludworth unit.
When I get home I’ll take a couple pics, show you what I’m working with. Everything sounds right.

Those are all excellent balls(I was 99.99684% sure you were using good balls).
 

rexus31

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Aramith Tournaments and Brunswick Centennials, and using the highly recommended Meguiar’s Ultimate Quik detailer which I’ve been using for decades in my Bludworth unit.
There's your problem. The recommended solution to use in the Diamond unit is Meguair's Cleaner Wax. The Quick Detailer will not dry and the carpet Diamond uses doesn't absorb the liquid so all it is doing is covering the balls with the cleaning solution. I had the same problem using the Tiger Products ball cleaner. The wax works because it eventually dries and the carpet then buffs off the haze to a mirror polish. I don't like using car wax on the balls because they play goofy (too slick) for a good 45 minutes fresh out of the polisher. If you use any kind of liquid other than car wax you'll need to modify the cleaning surface in the unit.
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
There's your problem. The recommended solution to use in the Diamond unit is Meguair's Cleaner Wax. The Quick Detailer will not dry and the carpet Diamond uses doesn't absorb the liquid so all it is doing is covering the balls with the cleaning solution. I had the same problem using the Tiger Products ball cleaner. The wax works because it eventually dries and the carpet then buffs off the haze to a mirror polish. I don't like using car wax on the balls because they play goofy (too slick) for a good 45 minutes fresh out of the polisher. If you use any kind of liquid other than car wax you'll need to modify the cleaning surface in the unit.
I see four different Meguiar’s cleaner wax options when I look on Amazon. What color is the container you recommend? I see a red, blue, tan and black container, all four different products, all called cleaner / wax.

Would it be asking much for Diamond to include some recommended cleaner / polish options when you purchase an $800 unit? I could have sworn the people at Diamond recommended the Meguiar’s quick detailer as the product of choice to use when spinning balls in this unit.
 
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Korsakoff

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
I purchased mine from Heath Manning when I purchased the table and accessories.

He recommended 1 drop of Aramith Billiard Ball Cleaner at 12:00 and 1 drop at 6:00. I have the dual polisher, so I do that each side. It’s a home environment, and that works well for me.

 

mrpiper

Registered
I have a CleanGleem polisher. They recommend a solution of 1 Tablespoon of Aramith Cleaner to 1 cup of 91% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle, applied while the machine is running. This MINIMAL wax in the alcohol dries quickly, and polishes really well. All of my sets look brand new with a very high gloss finish and feel like they just came out of the box new. No residue of any kind.

The longer I own and use this machine, I become more and more convinced that the cleaning mix is the real secret to the amazing results.

I have never owned, or even seen a Diamond polisher in person so I can not comment on the padding, but the pads in my cleaner are just standard VELCRO loop tape around the holes the balls drop in. It seems very smooth and is cheap and easy to replace.
 

Miller

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
they are both incredibly flawed.

i figured out something better (spent a couple years on it), but the price point/return on investment isn't worth the time.....there are about 30 of them out there....
 

Miller

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
btw....guy that does the "clean gleam" or whatever he calls it. clever. but still misses it....

what kind of tires would you put on a porsche?

level loop - there's a hint for you goofs that think you can make $ on ball polishers...lol....
 

theyonger

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Mine were giving me mirror polished balls from day one.

I got it to clean my own balls and also to restore sets of balls Jay and I were buying with tables. So it really got used.

Sounds to me like it’s the pads in your case. They might be too course or abrasive. I just used Maguires like Glen suggested. And as I mentioned in a thread the other day. When I was doing multiple sets in a session, I’d use less Maguires after a couple sets as it builds up on the “wet” side. I have the 2 sided model. Glen hooked me up when they first came out. It works sooooooo good.

My carpet is worn out, it’s down to cords and hard now. But for the amount of use I’ve put on it, it outlasted anything I’d have expected.

I’ll get a pic of it when I’m home next week.

Hope that helps
Fatboy😃
Wet side = one platter you use with the cleaning wax and other platter you just use dry to buff (no product)?
 

Fatboy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wet side = one platter you use with the cleaning wax and other platter you just use dry to buff (no product)?
Yes that’s correct.

I also wipe the balls off with a towel when switching sides. So the clean side stays clean. I do that very quickly. Grab 2-3 at a time and wipe them off. I don’t use a ton of Maguires in the “wet” but after a few sets there’s a little left on the balls. I’m not meticulous about it, but after 100’s of sets it keeps it clean. Also I shop vac the pads after they are 100% dry after a lot of use-when I see a build up of used Maguires in it.
 
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