Red Dot vs. Blue Dot

"BANKS"

Registered
Could someone tell me the difference in a Belgian Aramith Red Dot Cue Ball and the Blue Dot cue ball? A guy in our local hall talks as if the the Blue Dot is made of gold and is far more superior to the Red Dot but fails to tell me why. I've asked him a few time now and he just start rambling on and then changes the subject! Can anyone fill me in as to what the difference is? Thanks
 

Koopa

Ricky
Silver Member
*Shrug* I think I saw the Blue Dot being used in the IPT KotH matches, but I've never heard anything about it locally. Never played with one myself, but I can't imagine they'd be very different.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
BANKS said:
Could someone tell me the difference in a Belgian Aramith Red Dot Cue Ball and the Blue Dot cue ball? A guy in our local hall talks as if the the Blue Dot is made of gold and is far more superior to the Red Dot but fails to tell me why. I've asked him a few time now and he just start rambling on and then changes the subject! Can anyone fill me in as to what the difference is? Thanks

The Red CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from their carom resin. It bounces better, and people claim to be able to draw better with it.

The Blue CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from normal pool ball material, and is the cueball for the Brunswick Centennial set of balls.

There are imitation Red Circle cueballs that are not made from carom resin by Saluc, and serve to confuse the general pool playing public.

When Brunswick Centennials were made in the USA, the cueball from that set was the Blue DOT, not CIRCLE.

The Red DOT cueball that's been around for a long time is for the Dynamo bar table. It is a ton heavier than any other 2 1/4" diameter cueball.

The pros have been using the red multi-dot (Polka Dot) cueball from Aramith. The idea was borrowed from the multi-dot cueball that they made for Carom games.You can see the spin on every shot. I like it, but I also like the idea of putting multiple Aramith logos on the cueball instead.

Fred
 

gulfportdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
The Red CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from their carom resin. It bounces better, and people claim to be able to draw better with it.

The Blue CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from normal pool ball material, and is the cueball for the Brunswick Centennial set of balls.

There are imitation Red Circle cueballs that are not made from carom resin by Saluc, and serve to confuse the general pool playing public.Fred
Fred-- Is there any difference between the Aramith red circle CB and the Aramith logo CB? It's difficult to find the specs on the weight of various CBs. I like a 6 ounce CB, and I want to buy one to keep with me. Evidently the weights vary considerably from 5-1/2 to over 6. Tommy Kennedy told me that he went through a hundred or so Aramith CBs to find 15 that weighed exactly 6 ounces, for use on his tour. His play beautifully.

I'm going to phone him to find out where he did that. I've also written Mueller to see if I can order one exactly 6 ozs., but I doubt that they even consider weight.

Did Brunswick stop the Centennial line?

Doc
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
gulfportdoc said:
Fred-- Is there any difference between the Aramith red circle CB and the Aramith logo CB?

The red Aramith Logo CB is from the Super PRO Aramith set. IIRC, Saluc says that this cueball for any of their set of balls is made to the same specifications as the rest of that set of balls... same materials, dimensions, and bounce.

The other Aramith Logo CBs (blue and gray) also are from the various sets. Blue for the Premiers, gray for the stone set. I assume they are made to the specs of the respective set, though I don't know if each set has a different set of specs from any of their other sets.

The green Aramith Logo CB is the specially made "foil shell" cueball for the magnetic return bar tables. I think someone took one of these apart and found that it was a turned down object ball (centerless grinding), wrapped in a foil, and insert-cast with more phenolic. But, I could be dreaming that.

Fred
 

"BANKS"

Registered
Cornerman said:
The Red CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from their carom resin. It bounces better, and people claim to be able to draw better with it.

The Blue CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from normal pool ball material, and is the cueball for the Brunswick Centennial set of balls.

There are imitation Red Circle cueballs that are not made from carom resin by Saluc, and serve to confuse the general pool playing public.

When Brunswick Centennials were made in the USA, the cueball from that set was the Blue DOT, not CIRCLE.

The Red DOT cueball that's been around for a long time is for the Dynamo bar table. It is a ton heavier than any other 2 1/4" diameter cueball.

The pros have been using the red multi-dot (Polka Dot) cueball from Aramith. The idea was borrowed from the multi-dot cueball that they made for Carom games.You can see the spin on every shot. I like it, but I also like the idea of putting multiple Aramith logos on the cueball instead.

Fred

THANKS Fred for clearing that up ;) Now instead of listening to him ramble on, I can set him straight on the difference. Although I think I'll have to copy and print your reply seeing I probably would get it wrong trying to repeat it all. Thank you again :D
 

asiasdad

Banned
BANKS said:
Could someone tell me the difference in a Belgian Aramith Red Dot Cue Ball and the Blue Dot cue ball? A guy in our local hall talks as if the the Blue Dot is made of gold and is far more superior to the Red Dot but fails to tell me why. I've asked him a few time now and he just start rambling on and then changes the subject! Can anyone fill me in as to what the difference is? Thanks


The best dots are the ones on your avator.
 

Subsonic2u

No wonder I can't shoot
Silver Member
Dots and Circles

Hi all

My red dot "measels" ball wieghs in at 5.95 ounces and my blue circle (commonly referred to as a blue dot) is 5.75 oz. I was surprised as I thought they would b closer to the same. The blue dot has seen much more use if that means anything. Maybe the mileage wears them down a little? :D

Charlie
 

PoolSleuth

Banned
Cornerman said:
The Red CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from their carom resin. It bounces better, and people claim to be able to draw better with it.

The Blue CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from normal pool ball material, and is the cueball for the Brunswick Centennial set of balls.

There are imitation Red Circle cueballs that are not made from carom resin by Saluc, and serve to confuse the general pool playing public.

When Brunswick Centennials were made in the USA, the cueball from that set was the Blue DOT, not CIRCLE.

The Red DOT cueball that's been around for a long time is for the Dynamo bar table. It is a ton heavier than any other 2 1/4" diameter cueball.

The pros have been using the red multi-dot (Polka Dot) cueball from Aramith. The idea was borrowed from the multi-dot cueball that they made for Carom games.You can see the spin on every shot. I like it, but I also like the idea of putting multiple Aramith logos on the cueball instead.

Fred

Thanks Fred for the great explaination...
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Subsonic2u said:
Hi all

My red dot "measels" ball wieghs in at 5.95 ounces and my blue circle (commonly referred to as a blue dot) is 5.75 oz. I was surprised as I thought they would b closer to the same. The blue dot has seen much more use if that means anything. Maybe the mileage wears them down a little? :D

Charlie

I wonder if the color pigments are so different in density as to affect the weight so significantly.

When I asked Saluc/Aramith about their quality control, they said they don't use statistical process control on measuremnnts (i.e., CPK studies for those into manufacturing statistics), but rather "other parameters to qualify their process."

To me, this seemed odd, unless they have some kind of test for collision, energy transfer, and coefficient of restitution. Or just some bounce test.

Fred
 

Andrew Manning

Aspiring know-it-all
Silver Member
Subsonic2u said:
Maybe the mileage wears them down a little?

It definitely does. All the friction with the cloth is basically like sanding them down extremely slowly over a long period of use. This definitely wears down the balls noticeably over time, especially if the cloth has a lot of chalk in it from heavy use and not enough brushing/cleaning. The chalk particles in the cloth surface make it sort of like extremely fine sandpaper.

-Andrew
 

rackem

SUPPORT CLUB MEMBERSHIP
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
The Red CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from their carom resin. It bounces better, and people claim to be able to draw better with it.

The Blue CIRCLE cueball from Aramith/Saluc is made from normal pool ball material, and is the cueball for the Brunswick Centennial set of balls.

There are imitation Red Circle cueballs that are not made from carom resin by Saluc, and serve to confuse the general pool playing public.

When Brunswick Centennials were made in the USA, the cueball from that set was the Blue DOT, not CIRCLE.

The Red DOT cueball that's been around for a long time is for the Dynamo bar table. It is a ton heavier than any other 2 1/4" diameter cueball.

The pros have been using the red multi-dot (Polka Dot) cueball from Aramith. The idea was borrowed from the multi-dot cueball that they made for Carom games.You can see the spin on every shot. I like it, but I also like the idea of putting multiple Aramith logos on the cueball instead.

Fred
Generally everthing mentioned is correct. However I have also seen Blue Dot (not circle) balls that were heavier and did work in the old Dynamo tables. Conversly I have also seen red dot(not circle) balls that were not extra heavy and did not work in the old Dynamo coin ops. It really does not matter much since most old Dynamos are either gone or converted to magnetic by now.
 

Pigcarver

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since this discussion was had here before (I think OHB handed down this knowledge) the red circle, is yet again lighter (to the tune of 5.45, if memory serves).

Yes, Fred, color pigment does play a part in weight, if you weigh a set of balls, there will be one that is consistently heavier set to set (I seem to remember the 7 ball, but don't quote me).

And yes, mileage has a lot to do with it...the ball (besides the cueball) which will be consistently lightest from damage is the one ball, followed by the five
 

desert1pocket

Registered Fish
Silver Member
I heard from someone that the red dot has more of the weight near the edge of the ball, which enables it to maintain spin longer. In my pool hall, we weighed many cueballs to find both a red dot and blue that were exactly the same, and when shooting extreme sidespin stop shots over and over, the red dot spun much longer than the blue using the same stroke. The only thing I can say for certain is that I can move a red dot around the table with a lot less effort. Just my two cents.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Pigcarver said:
one that is consistently heavier set to set (I seem to remember the 7 ball, but don't quote me).

Too late. I'm quoting.

Actually, yes, it would make some sense that there is a consistently heavier ball.

Fred
 

gulfportdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cornerman said:
Too late. I'm quoting.

Actually, yes, it would make some sense that there is a consistently heavier ball.

Fred
Fred, can you think of any way to find out the ball weight specs (if any) from Aramith, or Centennial?

~Doc
 
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