How long should billiard balls last?

Skippy27 said:
I believe they say home use balls will last 20-30 years.

Commercial use will probably last 3-5 years. Not only from the additional play time on them but they are probably "abused" a lot more by flying off the table on to hard surfaces or into steal chair/table legs.

I know the place I frequent can use 8 new sets. They have mismatched balls, balls with nicks and balls that are smaller than others.
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I have some Aramith Brunswick Centennial Balls on my home table that are 17 years old... still look good. They play well too.
 
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They are 2.240... same size as my new measles Cue Ball.

I know that 2 1/4 equals 2.250, meaning these balls are 0.010 light. You'll have to talk to Brunswick or Aramith about their allowed manufacturing tolerances.
 
Ralph Kramden said:
When I played in bar leagues there was a table with an oversize CB.
After 10 years of play that ball was still way oversize.. but not round.

I haven't been in that bar for years. Maybe I'll stop to see if it's still there. ;)

.
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When it gets to the point you can recognize a particular cue ball because of its unique shape it's probably time to change it out. :grin-square:
 
ceebee said:
They are 2.240... same size as my new measles Cue Ball.

I know that 2 1/4 equals 2.250, meaning these balls are 0.010 light. You'll have to talk to Brunswick or Aramith about their allowed manufacturing tolerances.
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As mentioned above, the object balls may have been perfect when you bought them. The spec is +-0.005 and the last time I measured Aramiths they were more like +-0.001.

If that new cue ball really is 2.240 something is wrong.
 
Bob Jewett said:
If the mismatch is between the cue ball and object ball, it can make a huge difference in the draw/follow you get.
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I definitely believe that to be the case. I have only been playing for 5 years now so I have not had the fortunate opportunity of playing with one of those big cue balls yet.
 
Older mismatched balls, especially if they are used for 9 ball, will change the break dynamics when used for the One Pocket and Straight Pool breaks.

If breaking from the right, using the stripe balls on the left side of the One Pocket rack can give a better break by reducing the chance of the corner ball breaking out to the opponents pocket. Why? Because the larger, more uniform balls will have better contact. If the 14 and 10 do not have contact, the corner 2 ball is more likely to break out to the opponents pocket.

In Straight Pool, the uniform stripes should be in the back row with all balls in the back row contacting the other balls in the back row.

Please excuse the looseness on the balls in the racked diagram; it was difficult to place them correctly.




 
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