Old balls - Ivory

actually they could all be ivory, however not likely. in fact just b/c the cue is fractured and has aging doesnt guarantee that it is ivory either. there were a couple of composites to simulate ivory back in the 20' and 30's. ithink one was carmalate and the other vitalate. cant really say i have the names and spelling right. ivory has a grain, like wood, and you have to look very closely to determine the grain. from your pic on ebay that might be an ivory ball, but hard to tell from the picture. a much much closer view would help in this case.
 
mr3cushion said:
The cue ball that is priced $49.95, is !00% an IVORY cue ball!
Bill Smith "Mr3Cushion"
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That cue ball is not part of the auction that I think the OP was asking about. That's a "teaser" that eBay puts up and is subject to change with each viewing of that page. Down further on the page is a picture of 12 ratty plastic balls and the questionable cue ball in a group.

The cue ball I think you're referring to is http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330372604004 and is clearly an ivory ball and in good condition for a used ivory ball.
 
gmillioni said:
actually they could all be ivory, however not likely. in fact just b/c the cue is fractured and has aging doesnt guarantee that it is ivory either. there were a couple of composites to simulate ivory back in the 20' and 30's. ithink one was carmalate and the other vitalate. cant really say i have the names and spelling right. ivory has a grain, like wood, and you have to look very closely to determine the grain. from your pic on ebay that might be an ivory ball, but hard to tell from the picture. a much much closer view would help in this case.
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the old bonsoline balls were a poor substitute for ivory - vitalite balls were used in canada and south america into the 1980's - they were excellent but a bit lighter than today's balls
 
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None of those balls including the cue is ivory! I currently have over 500 ivory balls in my collection and that cue is DEFINITELY NOT IVORY! Ivory has a very unique crazing,cracking pattern that is very easy to spot. Ivory even when not cracked has a grain pattern to it.
 
Bob Jewett said:
The object balls shown in that auction are worn, cheap phenolic balls, not worth the shipping cost. The cue ball I'm not sure about, but it could be ivory in which case the buyer got a reasonable deal. Or, it could be a badly-cracked and -marked plastic cue ball.
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I swear there was a post in here a few months ago about using cue balls as joint material. In that post there were three cue balls lined up that, if memory serves me correct, were in fact ivory. Can't find the post now. In any case, it seemed that aside from the cracks or grain, some of the cue balls had a red speckling throughout. Guess that led me to believe the auction had at least an ivory cue ball.
 
scruffy1 said:
None of those balls including the cue is ivory! I currently have over 500 ivory balls in my collection and that cue is DEFINITELY NOT IVORY! Ivory has a very unique crazing,cracking pattern that is very easy to spot. Ivory even when not cracked has a grain pattern to it.
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Scruffy, is it true that ivory balls begin to grow white at around age 150? Just something I picked up from a Zulu warlord when I was fishing in a remote desert oasis.
 
hdgis1 said:
... Guess that led me to believe the auction had at least an ivory cue ball.
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Scruffy is probably right about it not being ivory, but the picture is bad enough it's hard to tell. The cracks are not the pattern you usually see on an ivory ball, and the balls in the set are not the vintage you commonly see with ivory cue balls -- "clay" balls are more common.

For a good example of a real ivory ball with more or less standard cracking, see the pictures in http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330372604004
 
Bob Jewett said:
Scruffy is probably right about it not being ivory, but the picture is bad enough it's hard to tell. The cracks are not the pattern you usually see on an ivory ball, and the balls in the set are not the vintage you commonly see with ivory cue balls -- "clay" balls are more common.

For a good example of a real ivory ball with more or less standard cracking, see the pictures in http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330372604004
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I am surprised that one has not been snatched up already. It must be the flat spot? I thought they usually go for $75 to $100.

Kelly
 
NewStroke said:
Scruffy, is it true that ivory balls begin to grow white at around age 150? Just something I picked up from a Zulu warlord when I was fishing in a remote desert oasis.
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actually a good question about color. One of the ways balls were graded was color. The whitest,clearest balls came from the center of mature tusks. These balls were more costly.
 
Kelly_Guy said:
I am surprised that one has not been snatched up already. It must be the flat spot? I thought they usually go for $75 to $100.

Kelly
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It's been a while since I followed them, but it used to be that a good 3-ball set in a Brunswick wooden box would go for about $400. The box was about $100 by itself. The last complete pool-ball ivory set I saw on eBay went for $4600.
 
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