Pool Ball Weights

[7stud]

Brand new, unhit Aramith Tournament Belgium pool balls (traditional colors). Here are the weights (oz) I measured:

1 - 5.94 oz
2 - 5.97
3 - 5.92
4 - 5.94
5 - 5.94
6 - 5.91
7 - 5.92
8 - 5.92
9 - 5.94
10 - 5.93
11 - 5.90
12 - 5.94
13 - 5.90
14 - 5.93
15 - 5.92
black logo cb - 5.91

My used Aramith measles ball - 5.91

Obviously impossible to draw when shooting the 11-ball or 13-ball.


In grams (using a calculator on the weights above):

heaviest: 169.2
lightest: 167.3
average(mean): 168.0
std dev: 0.51

1 - 168.4
2 - 169.2
3 - 167.8
4 - 168.4
5 - 168.4
6 - 167.5
7 - 167.8
8 - 167.8
9 - 168.4
10 - 168.1
11 - 167.3
12 - 168.4
13 - 167.3
14 - 168.1
15 - 167.8
black logo cb - 167.5

My used Aramith measles ball - 167.5

It's time to put my 2-ball on a diet.

 

[rexus31]

Brand new, unhit Aramith Tournament Belgium pool balls (traditional colors). Here are the weights (oz) I measured:

1 - 5.94 oz
2 - 5.97
3 - 5.92
4 - 5.94
5 - 5.94
6 - 5.91
7 - 5.92
8 - 5.92
9 - 5.94
10 - 5.93
11 - 5.90
12 - 5.94
13 - 5.90
14 - 5.93
15 - 5.92
black logo cb - 5.91

My used Aramith measles ball - 5.91

Obviously impossible to draw when shooting the 11-ball or 13-ball.

Nice to have other data points. Can you post in grams? That's the standard measure for pool balls.

 

[7stud]

Can you post in grams?

Done.

 

[nataddrho]

Fun fact,

The weight of a pool ball divided by its volume,

5.96 oz / (4/3*pi*1.125in^3) = 1.000 oz/in3.

Coincidentally, the nominal density of a pool ball is pretty much exactly 1 ounce per cubic inch.

 

[TwistedTexasStyle]

I was bored today so I weighed some of the ball sets I have for comparison purposes. About the sets at time of weight:

Aramith Tournament Set: Brand new, used a few times
Brunswick Centennial Set 1: Brand new, used a few times
Brunswick Centennial Set 2: Older, well used
Brunswick Centennial Set 3: Older, well used
Hyatt Bicentennial Set: Very Nice Condition, wouldn't be surprised if they were never played with
Dynashperes Bronze Set: Brand new
Dynashperes Platinume Set: Used condition, no blemishes
Dynaspheres Rhodium Set: Brand New
Original Cyclops Set: Used condition, no blemishes
Cyclops Athena Set: Used condition, no blemishes
Cyclops Hyperion Set: Used condition, no blemishes
Cosmos Diamond Ultra-C TV Set: Brand new, used a few times
Olhausen Signature Set: Brand new, used a few times
Predator Arcos I Prototype Set: Brand new, never played with
Predator Arcos II Set: Used condition, no blemishes
Vigma Zig-Zags Set: Brand new, used a few times
Vigma Diamonds Set: Brand new, used a few times

The Data:

View attachment 656547


View attachment 656549


View attachment 656550

Respectable collection!

 

[TwistedTexasStyle]

Quebec Canada, government is a bit dictator here.

I was thinking it was too early in the morning, geographical problem. You have a LOT bigger problem!

 

[Bob Jewett]

I just got this scale for postage items from Amazon. It can weigh up to 11 pounds. The thing that makes it very interesting for pool ball collecting applications is that it has a resolution of 0.1 grams in gram mode. Features:
Internal lithium battery with USB charging port. Also takes AAA batteries.
5kg (11 lb) max weight
A bunch of units including troy ounces and several I haven't deciphered
A tray for storage and weighing loose items
Amazingly, a 50 gram weight for calibration

This is the first scale I've seen with that combination of large weight and 0.1 gram resolution.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

Fun fact,

The weight of a pool ball divided by its volume,

5.96 oz / (4/3*pi*1.125in^3) = 1.000 oz/in3.

Coincidentally, the nominal density of a pool ball is pretty much exactly 1 ounce per cubic inch.

Cool factoid.

pj <- likes cool factoids
chgo

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here are the weights of my usual practice set taken with my new high-resolution scale. I weighed each ball three times to check on repeatability.

Aramith Tournament Pro, broken circle eye, traditional colors, made about 2016.
Weight is last two digits of reading .... divide by 10 and add 160 to get grams.

Ball	wt1	wt2	wt3	Average	Error
1	81	80	81	168.07	0.46
2	87	87	87	168.70	1.09
3	83	84	84	168.37	0.76
4	73	73	73	167.30	-0.31
5	73	73	73	167.30	-0.31
6	81	82	82	168.17	0.56
7	76	77	76	167.63	0.02
8	67	67	67	166.70	-0.91
9	73	74	74	167.37	-0.24
10	71	72	71	167.13	-0.48
11	76	77	77	167.67	0.06
12	74	74	74	167.40	-0.21
13	77	76	78	167.70	0.09
14	75	75	76	167.53	-0.08
15	76	76	77	167.63	0.02
Cue	71	70	72	167.10	-0.51
			Ave =	167.61

 

[sbrownn]

To me, they're one of the best values out there for pool balls. I've had mine about a year now and they look brand new. As far as weight is concerned, who is that good that they would notice a slight weight variance? For me, an intermediate player, I don't even have to weigh mine to feel like I've got a great set of pool balls. Even professional pool players wouldn't have a problem with these balls, as I believe it would have zero significance slight weight or size difference, if there is any difference at all in these balls. If I actually damaged them, I would turn around and buy the same set over again.

I just got a set and they all weighed in at 169g, including the cue ball, plus I love their traditional vivid colors and fonts. Now if I could just buy a separate Rhodium cue ball delivered to the Seattle, WA USA area (98053)

 

[sbrownn]

First page...lol.

View attachment 707297

Mine weighs in at 168g purchased from a reputable local shop (some on Amazon are not authentic even though they claim to be).

 

[nataddrho]

Here are the weights of my usual practice set taken with my new high-resolution scale. I weighed each ball three times to check on repeatability.

Aramith Tournament Pro, broken circle eye, traditional colors, made about 2016.
Weight is last two digits of reading .... divide by 10 and add 160 to get grams.

Ball	wt1	wt2	wt3	Average	Error
1	81	80	81	168.07	0.46
2	87	87	87	168.70	1.09
3	83	84	84	168.37	0.76
4	73	73	73	167.30	-0.31
5	73	73	73	167.30	-0.31
6	81	82	82	168.17	0.56
7	76	77	76	167.63	0.02
8	67	67	67	166.70	-0.91
9	73	74	74	167.37	-0.24
10	71	72	71	167.13	-0.48
11	76	77	77	167.67	0.06
12	74	74	74	167.40	-0.21
13	77	76	78	167.70	0.09
14	75	75	76	167.53	-0.08
15	76	76	77	167.63	0.02
Cue	71	70	72	167.10	-0.51
			Ave =	167.61

Not enough to make any difference in playability. Good data.

 

[sbrownn]

I just got a set and they all weighed in at 169g, including the cue ball, plus I love their traditional vivid colors and fonts. Now if I could just buy a separate Rhodium cue ball delivered to the Seattle, WA USA area (98053)

Played multiple games with multiple people on a nicely setup table yesterday with my new Dynaspheres Bronze set. Great set of balls that everyone liked for a great price.

 

[garczar]

Fun fact,

The weight of a pool ball divided by its volume,

5.96 oz / (4/3*pi*1.125in^3) = 1.000 oz/in3.

Coincidentally, the nominal density of a pool ball is pretty much exactly 1 ounce per cubic inch.

Really good to know when one gets thrown at you in a bar fight.

 

[snookered_again]

where I play we all pitched in and got a set of precision balls. More expensive, did not notice any difference in play. Point is you may be able to purchase balls that are selected by weight.

as here:

https://www.aramith.com/regular-range-snooker-billiards

are most of the ones you are collecting 2 1/4, or different in size?

I have a set that came with a brunswick 4x8 slate from 1970, the numbers are sort of stamped in and definitely have a low spot where the number is. they seemed to have a weird mottled appearance. I ran them through my dishwasher. I don't think i added detergent but I think it made them worse.

I think , but am not absolutely sure that the colored balls in snooker are solid all the way through , the same color, and the numbered ones have some sort, of I guess, silk screened or pad printed coating. the reason this interests me is that I've been considering making pool cue ferrules and other things from old pool balls. It actually a cheap material if you just seek out used balls and dont care about perfect. their round shape doesn't make them very usable from a material waste point but I think it can work.
other than the micrometer which may be the best you cna take a mold of one and compare to others by the dye transfer method, its common when fitting precision machined parts. You put bluing on one surface and put them in contact, the high spots transfer the bluing. when fitting parts, the blue can be removed by scraping , filing sanding etc, and when contact in all points is reached you have a pretty precision fit. a method like that may show imperfections. it wont give measurements It may show low spots and such , or bumps.

my uncle had a pad printing business, he'd print things like the name of a golf course on golf balls or inside ashtrays, unusual shapes. epoxy inks. he offered me the business when he got sensitive to the epoxy, I never took him up on it.

 

[brunswick1901]

I stopped playing pool 25 years ago and I was shocked to see the various cue balls weigh the same. In the 1970's the Blue Circle cue balls played better than all the other cue balls. After a Blue Circle hit the object ball the Blue Circle acted like it was heavier because the Blue Circle would go through the object ball while the other cue balls acted like they bounced off the object ball.The difference was subtle but you had to play position differently depending on the cue ball you were playing with.

I visited a pool room when the Measle Ball was being used and it felt very heavy to me and again I am shocked the Measle Ball is the same size and weight as the Blue Circle.

One of the things I did when checking out a rack of balls was to take two object balls then put the cue ball between the two object balls. I would use the flat part of a wood triangle to check if the cue ball was the same size as the object balls.

I did this because the cue ball would often be smaller than the object balls and I would have to adjust the way I played position depending on the size of the cue ball.

Was I picky? Yes but you are playing for something, I wanted the conditions to be what I expected them to be.

Interestingly no one I played objected to using a cue ball that was the same size as the objected balls.

Why were some of the cue balls smaller than the object balls? It's a guess but the cue ball is smaller because of compression and wear.

The cue ball is hit on every shot and the object balls suffer an impact much less often.

 

[ShootingArts]

I stopped playing pool 25 years ago and I was shocked to see the various cue balls weigh the same. In the 1970's the Blue Circle cue balls played better than all the other cue balls. After a Blue Circle hit the object ball the Blue Circle acted like it was heavier because the Blue Circle would go through the object ball while the other cue balls acted like they bounced off the object ball.The difference was subtle but you had to play position differently depending on the cue ball you were playing with.

I visited a pool room when the Measle Ball was being used and it felt very heavy to me and again I am shocked the Measle Ball is the same size and weight as the Blue Circle.

One of the things I did when checking out a rack of balls was to take two object balls then put the cue ball between the two object balls. I would use the flat part of a wood triangle to check if the cue ball was the same size as the object balls.

I did this because the cue ball would often be smaller than the object balls and I would have to adjust the way I played position depending on the size of the cue ball.

Was I picky? Yes but you are playing for something, I wanted the conditions to be what I expected them to be.

Interestingly no one I played objected to using a cue ball that was the same size as the objected balls.

Why were some of the cue balls smaller than the object balls? It's a guess but the cue ball is smaller because of compression and wear.

The cue ball is hit on every shot and the object balls suffer an impact much less often.

That is the story. Not compression, but wear and damage. Temporary compression and snap back causes very tiny flecks to come off of the balls. As you noted, the cue ball has the most collisions so gets the most wear.

I went in an old pool hall and the cue ball was visibly smaller than the other balls to the naked eye. I happened to have a measle ball in the truck and just walked out and got it. I was a stranger and didn't know if the counterman was playing games or not.

I bought the thirty dollar measle ball but quit playing with it because I found it played heavy too. I believe that pool balls are oven cured as part of the manufacturing process and I also think that measle balls are clear coated in an extra step before final cure. I think that some part of this different processing changes the hardness or rebound of the measles ball. Going four rails it seemed to roll a foot to a foot and a half further than the house cue balls. Made it worse than worthless to practice with. Took a couple years but I finally found somebody that was getting ready to play in an event the measle ball was going to be used in to give it away.

My usual long winded post to say that I found the measle ball to play heavy too. It was new and the cue balls I compared it to weren't but it seemed to play enough heavier to wreck practice using it.

Hu

 

[Island Drive]

The Green dot Aramith cue ball on the new Predator bar tables, are there any others that play exactly like them?
Not sure if they are standard issue, but this new room in CO is using em.

 

[snookered_again]

it looks like there is an anniversary edition 100 years of Aramith balls and it's in the 5th gen it says.

Aramith 100

Home | Aramith 100 - , Marketing, Photography, UI/UX, Coding,

www.aramith100.com

Kind of cool, 100 years ! maybe the markings are a bit confusing perhaps the 10 looks like 100
but most probably dont read the numbers that much if they recognize the colors.

so if there were 5 versions with different phenolic resins, maybe there is a difference between a younger set and an older and more experienced set of balls?

for snooker players you can get this : the Aramith Tournament Champion SuperPro1G snooker ball set is balanced to within 1 gram er ball and comes with the cueball.

https://www.aramith.com/regular-range-snooker-billiards

 

[brunswick1901]

That is the story. Not compression, but wear and damage. Temporary compression and snap back causes very tiny flecks to come off of the balls. As you noted, the cue ball has the most collisions so gets the most wear.

I went in an old pool hall and the cue ball was visibly smaller than the other balls to the naked eye. I happened to have a measle ball in the truck and just walked out and got it. I was a stranger and didn't know if the counterman was playing games or not.

I bought the thirty dollar measle ball but quit playing with it because I found it played heavy too. I believe that pool balls are oven cured as part of the manufacturing process and I also think that measle balls are clear coated in an extra step before final cure. I think that some part of this different processing changes the hardness or rebound of the measles ball. Going four rails it seemed to roll a foot to a foot and a half further than the house cue balls. Made it worse than worthless to practice with. Took a couple years but I finally found somebody that was getting ready to play in an event the measle ball was going to be used in to give it away.

My usual long winded post to say that I found the measle ball to play heavy too. It was new and the cue balls I compared it to weren't but it seemed to play enough heavier to wreck practice using it.

Hu

Thank you for confirming my suspicion, it's amazing to me that two cue balls with the same diameter and weigh would play so differently.