Red Circles

[lfigueroa]

Has anyone bought a red circle cue ball lately?

The reason I ask is that I have my own set of balls that I haul to the pool room and, it having been a few years, felt it was time to replace the CB. So I ordered one from a big name internet pool supplier. It was advertised as an Aramith red circle and it got here, and... I was shocked at how yellow it was. Far yellower than the Aramith red circle it was replacing. The circle itself looks good, it's just that the ball is really yellow.

I haven't played with it yet but I'm just curious about the color -- anyone else bought one lately and noticed a color shift, cue ball-wise?

Lou Figueroa

 

[dabarbr]

Don't know about the red circles but on my last purchase of a measle ball I got one like you described. Maybe it's a knock off. I really don't see any difference in the way it plays.

 

[Flintlock]

Most of the more modern ones that I've seen have a definite yellowish tone to their color.

 

[pt109]

Has anyone bought a red circle cue ball lately?

The reason I ask is that I have my own set of balls that I haul to the pool room and, it having been a few years, felt it was time to replace the CB. So I ordered one from a big name internet pool supplier. It was advertised as an Aramith red circle and it got here, and... I was shocked at how yellow it was. Far yellower than the Aramith red circle it was replacing. The circle itself looks good, it's just that the ball is really yellow.

I haven't played with it yet but I'm just curious about the color -- anyone else bought one lately and noticed a color shift, cue ball-wise?

Lou Figueroa

It will turn white again from use.
We've had threads on this problem before and not everyone believes that...
...but I've never seen them fail to whiten.

 

[Houstoer]

just means its been out of the light for awhile. In the leagues here we play all games with a red circle. I have one or two in my bag at all times. Also a measle ball. What I have found is that if they don't get enough light they turn yellowish; but they bounce back and turn white after you play with them. No worries.

 

[Rain-Man]

Yes

Yes, they are a yellowish color.. Here is a pic of a brand new case of Aramith Red Circles I just received from my supplier... And a pic of one after it 'seen the light' for awhile..

 

[ROB.M]

Post

Yes, they are a yellowish color.. Here is a pic of a brand new case of Aramith Red Circles I just received from my supplier... And a pic of one after it 'seen the light' for awhile..

-
+1
Very true, the red circle will whiten after use.

Rob.M

 

[lfigueroa]

Thanks to all who replied with assurances. I had no idea a CB would get whiter with use, I always thought it was the udder way around and would get yellower. I guess I'll wait for the magic

Lou Figueroa

 

[SCCues]

Thanks to all who replied with assurances. I had no idea a CB would get whiter with use, I always thought it was the udder way around and would get yellower. I guess I'll wait for the magic

Lou Figueroa

I've never heard this before and I have a couple of real red circle cue balls that i've had for years and one of them is a darker color than the other one. Maybe I need to put them in brighter light to see if they'll lighten up to the same color.

James

 

[lfigueroa]

I've never heard this before and I have a couple of real red circle cue balls that i've had for years and one of them is a darker color than the other one. Maybe I need to put them in brighter light to see if they'll lighten up to the same color.

James

yup. News to me too.

Lou Figueroa

 

[decent dennis]

Thanks to all who replied with assurances. I had no idea a CB would get whiter with use, I always thought it was the udder way around and would get yellower. I guess I'll wait for the magic

Lou Figueroa

Sounds to me they should go into the toothpaste business.:grin:

 

[lfigueroa]

Sounds to me they should go into the toothpaste business.:grin:

I guess.

So, just in the interest of science and all that, here's a photo of the new ball on the left and the old ball on the right. Both are advertised as Aramiths. My plan is to take another photo in a few months or a year (if I remember or someone reminds me).

Lou Figueroa

 

[Rain-Man]

Good example

Hi all...
Heres a pretty good example of how the Aramith balls 'whiten' up over time (under light, from use, not really sure why this occurs, it just does...)

I rotate the Aramith Super Pro ball set out on my tables about every 8-10 months with a new set (I sell the used sets for $150 a set). So this morning I had a customer that came in to buy a used set and an Aramith carrying case. I put the new set on the table while I was cleaning up the used set for him and noticed the color difference between the sets. Its pretty striking to see the difference here. The set on the right in the pictures is the NEW set, and the set on the left is the used set... Both of these set were ordered and delivered to me at the same time, obviously from the same supplier. Only difference is the new set was only taken out of the plastic today, while the used set has been under lights for 16 hours a day and heavily used for about 8 months... Pretty crazy how they turn whiter...

 

[backplaying]

I have my own set I leave at the poolroom and my red circle is whiter than all the other red circles there, and mine very seldom come out of the box. Ricky Peppers has about 10 red circles in a bag and they are mixed colors and almost all weighed different on postal scales. I have found some big differences in one red circle to another. There must be a lot of knock offs being sold.

 

[FranCrimi]

A lot of retail stores will keep the balls out in the open to avoid yellowing. Leave the ball in a sunny spot and eventually it will whiten.

I would say that the demand for red circles has decreased with the production of the measle balls. It makes sense that the red circles might be tucked away in a box on a shelf in some places.

 

[Rain-Man]

I have my own set I leave at the poolroom and my red circle is whiter than all the other red circles there, and mine very seldom come out of the box. Ricky Peppers has about 10 red circles in a bag and they are mixed colors and almost all weighed different on postal scales. I have found some big differences in one red circle to another. There must be a lot of knock offs being sold.

Here is a picture of a brand new box of Aramith Red Circle balls I just received a few weeks ago. Every single ball in this box was within 1 or 2 grams of each other, which is EXCELLENT as far as tolerances go. I order a few boxes of these a year, and they are always the same, within a few grams of each other (yes, I weigh each one EVERY time). If I would ever get a box of them and there were any in there that just were outside an acceptable tolerance range for the variation in weight (maybe 4-5 or more grams of the others in either direction), I would simply send them back. But I personally have never had to do that. So what that tells me is that there must be quite a few people selling knock-offs of these and passing them off as genuine Aramith balls..?

-Or-

Now, im pretty sure everyone here already knows this (but you would be surprised at how many people do not), but you CANNOT compare the weight of a used ball against the weight of a new ball (or even used balls of vastly different age and amount of use they have received, respectively...). Balls naturally loose weight (and circumference) over time due to the friction of play and cleaning of them... What I guess im trying to say, is just because a few Arimith Red Circles have different weights, doesnt necessarily mean they arent genuine Aramith balls..:smilewinkgrin:

 

[backplaying]

Here is a picture of a brand new box of Aramith Red Circle balls I just received a few weeks ago. Every single ball in this box was within 1 or 2 grams of each other, which is EXCELLENT as far as tolerances go. I order a few boxes of these a year, and they are always the same, within a few grams of each other (yes, I weigh each one EVERY time). If I would ever get a box of them and there were any in there that just were outside an acceptable tolerance range for the variation in weight (maybe 4-5 or more grams of the others in either direction), I would simply send them back. But I personally have never had to do that. So what that tells me is that there must be quite a few people selling knock-offs of these and passing them off as genuine Aramith balls..?

-Or-

Now, im pretty sure everyone here already knows this (but you would be surprised at how many people do not), but you CANNOT compare the weight of a used ball against the weight of a new ball (or even used balls of vastly different age and amount of use they have received, respectively...). Balls naturally loose weight (and circumference) over time due to the friction of play and cleaning of them... What I guess im trying to say, is just because a few Arimith Red Circles have different weights, doesnt necessarily mean they arent genuine Aramith balls..:smilewinkgrin:

I have bought a couple off e-bay that I'm sure are knock offs. They played different, had a whiter color even when kept out of the light for months. Ricky has one red circle that weighs much more than any we have weighted and its super tough to draw.

 

[WildWing]

I understand the light, and use aspects of whitening a cue ball. It is true. However, I think there's a composition aspect as well. Here are two brand new cue balls, a red circle and a blue dot. Remember the elusive blue dot cue ball? Back in the 60s and 70s, it was popular as the replacement cue ball for the blue circle, as that ball was only provided with the original Centennial set. Back then they were made by Albany Ball Company when the red circle didn't exist. Today both are made by Aramith overseas. Could be one was made before the other, and one aged more, but I don't think so. I think the composition is slightly different. Both are within a gram of one another and measure the same size. Judge for yourself.

 

[Rain-Man]

I understand the light, and use aspects of whitening a cue ball. It is true. However, I think there's a composition aspect as well. Here are two brand new cue balls, a red circle and a blue dot. Remember the elusive blue dot cue ball? Back in the 60s and 70s, it was popular as the replacement cue ball for the blue circle, as that ball was only provided with the original Centennial set. Back then they were made by Albany Ball Company when the red circle didn't exist. Today both are made by Aramith overseas. Could be one was made before the other, and one aged more, but I don't think so. I think the composition is slightly different. Both are within a gram of one another and measure the same size. Judge for yourself.

Yes, the composition of the phenolic resin used in the various balls is different from one type to the other.. This is directly from Aramith saying as much: Aramith Cue Balls

 

[peteypooldude]

Has anyone bought a red circle cue ball lately?

The reason I ask is that I have my own set of balls that I haul to the pool room and, it having been a few years, felt it was time to replace the CB. So I ordered one from a big name internet pool supplier. It was advertised as an Aramith red circle and it got here, and... I was shocked at how yellow it was. Far yellower than the Aramith red circle it was replacing. The circle itself looks good, it's just that the ball is really yellow.

I haven't played with it yet but I'm just curious about the color -- anyone else bought one lately and noticed a color shift, cue ball-wise?

Lou Figueroa

I was using a perfect white ball with a real nice red circle. The next 1 the ball has a "yellower" tint and the red circle was nowhere near as crisp. I gave that ball back and got another nice red circle ball. They were both Aramith balls supposedly . Beats me but I've had a similar experience