Machine vs Hand Cleaning
- Thread starter DrCue'sProtege
- Start date
It is definitely faster. I have found that the balls need to sit for a while after they have been cleaned and polished. It takes a bit for the wax to harden. If you use them too quickly they spot from collisions.
I clean the balls, then the table, and then wait ten minutes or so for everything to dry.
A Dirt devil "sets" the nap and everything plays well.
I clean the balls, then the table, and then wait ten minutes or so for everything to dry.
A Dirt devil "sets" the nap and everything plays well.
Day before yesterday, I decided to give my pool room a hand. They seemed to be getting behind on cleaning their numerous sets of balls, using the ball cleaning machine I built for them.
I had read about some liquid that Leonard Bloodworth had mentioned, called Novus. It comes in 1, 2 & 3 grades. It was recommended to use only grade one, because the others are too strong (2 & 3 are primarily used to remove scratches from plastic surfaces and might reduce the size of the phenolic balls with use).
The ball cleaning machine I built wasn't being used because the bonnet was filthy dirty, so I purchased another along with some of the Novus 1 stuff. You can google it and find a distributor in your area. The local distributor had a $50 minimum but when I expressed that I had found it on the Internet and only needed the one 8 oz bottle and THAT I HAD CASH, they happily relented on the $50 minimum and sold me the one bottle for $8.
The small bottle covers a lot of area. It has a small spray nozzle and I sprayed every single ball, rubbed them by hand then threw them into the ball cleaning machine. By the time, I had rinsed the ball tray, the balls were clean as a whistle and very nicely polished. I can tell you one thing, I am sold on Novus as being a good product for cleaning and polishing the balls. There didn't seem to be any buildup on the balls and they played better than they have in months. The only downside was I dropped the plastic bottle after finishing the job and the spray head broke off. Just have to get another spray bottle and there should be plenty of cleaner polish to do another 23 sets of balls (for someone else, like maybe an employee that gets paid :wink
)
I had read about some liquid that Leonard Bloodworth had mentioned, called Novus. It comes in 1, 2 & 3 grades. It was recommended to use only grade one, because the others are too strong (2 & 3 are primarily used to remove scratches from plastic surfaces and might reduce the size of the phenolic balls with use).
The ball cleaning machine I built wasn't being used because the bonnet was filthy dirty, so I purchased another along with some of the Novus 1 stuff. You can google it and find a distributor in your area. The local distributor had a $50 minimum but when I expressed that I had found it on the Internet and only needed the one 8 oz bottle and THAT I HAD CASH, they happily relented on the $50 minimum and sold me the one bottle for $8.
The small bottle covers a lot of area. It has a small spray nozzle and I sprayed every single ball, rubbed them by hand then threw them into the ball cleaning machine. By the time, I had rinsed the ball tray, the balls were clean as a whistle and very nicely polished. I can tell you one thing, I am sold on Novus as being a good product for cleaning and polishing the balls. There didn't seem to be any buildup on the balls and they played better than they have in months. The only downside was I dropped the plastic bottle after finishing the job and the spray head broke off. Just have to get another spray bottle and there should be plenty of cleaner polish to do another 23 sets of balls (for someone else, like maybe an employee that gets paid :wink
)
Rick the new bonnet that I bought at Home depot this past week had no ribbons to tie and stretched to fit tight on the orbital buffer that we use for the ball cleaning machine. The original bonnets had the ribbons that could come loose. These are much better.
I'm looking for plans to build a ball polisher myself. The pool halls that I play at are clueless to say the least.
I'm not one for diluting the ability of the Main Forum to effect the most people but if there was ever a need for any sub-forum, it would be
PLANS-DIY
One place for all of the cool items that forum members have made over the years with DIY projects. It would keep the members who want to build a ball cleaning machine from searching around for the plans.
There was even a thread for building a pool table as I recall.
I can imagine that plans for a wooden cue case wouldn't be hard to provide.
There have been some unique designed DIY projects that members have made over the years and it would seem to me that a sub-forum for this would get the management's approval in a hurry.
I agree. Every year or so I get several requests for my ball polisher machine as new people learn about it. I would prefer to upload the file to a common area where anyone could download.
I also made a stimp meter for a pool table and several people have asked for it. A stimp meter is used by golfers to measure the speed of the green. I converted for use on pool tales. I also had a set of plans for a good set of table lights that I researched and could also make available. My daughter makes a set of portable bead counters for those who play 14.1 and there was some interest in her beads.
The stimp meter, table lights and ball polisher have plans that are free. My daughter's portable counters are custom made ($30.00 or so) when people request. She is a jewelry maker, mostly custom beads for women but makes the counters when requested. But not many people know about them until someone brings it up.
There is an excellent reference on the web for making a guitar case that can easily be used to make a custom pool case. And as I remember someone made a beautiful pool table with instructions. The bucket ball cleaners are a great idea that also comes up now and again.
Maybe Dr Dave might be interested in hosting plans for down loading if AZ is not interested. On the other hand I have been thinking about creating another web site for my stuff and referrals to other places for "free" or unique stuff.
I wonder what kind of interest there is in all this stuff or if anyone has other ideas ??
Last edited:
A DIY sub-forum is a must have.
With AZ help, i made an extension for my cue, I spend 5$ on it. On ebay extension sells for 30$ + shipping fees.
With AZ help, i made an extension for my cue, I spend 5$ on it. On ebay extension sells for 30$ + shipping fees.
OK, then a DIY forum is done.
Oh wait, let me ask Mike.
Is DIY self explanatory or do we need DIY PLANS?