Thinking about upgrading my balls

S

slach

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Assuming they don't get chipped/scratched and with light home use (7 hours/week) how long does a quality (such as Centenials or Amarith Pros) set of balls last? Five/ten years? Do they just wear out and lose their elasticity? Does use or just age wear balls out? Is there a way to check how much life is left in your balls? Can you really tell the difference hitting different types of balls (like Amarith Premium vs Pro)?

Just a curious newbie.
 
slach said:
Assuming they don't get chipped/scratched and with light home use (7 hours/week) how long does a quality (such as Centenials or Amarith Pros) set of balls last? Five/ten years? Do they just wear out and lose their elasticity? Does use or just age wear balls out? Is there a way to check how much life is left in your balls? Can you really tell the difference hitting different types of balls (like Amarith Premium vs Pro)?

Just a curious newbie.
Click to expand...


I've had my centenials since 1993 and they're still perfect. Just polish them every once in a while.

Jim
 
slach said:
Assuming they don't get chipped/scratched and with light home use (7 hours/week) how long does a quality (such as Centenials or Amarith Pros) set of balls last? Five/ten years? Do they just wear out and lose their elasticity? Does use or just age wear balls out? Is there a way to check how much life is left in your balls? Can you really tell the difference hitting different types of balls (like Amarith Premium vs Pro)?

Just a curious newbie.
Click to expand...
The toughest aspect of upgrading your balls is getting them out of your wife's purse without her noticing :D:D:D:D

A good set of balls will go a long way. imo.

BVal
 
slach said:
Assuming they don't get chipped/scratched and with light home use (7 hours/week) how long does a quality (such as Centenials or Amarith Pros) set of balls last? Five/ten years? Do they just wear out and lose their elasticity? Does use or just age wear balls out? Is there a way to check how much life is left in your balls? Can you really tell the difference hitting different types of balls (like Amarith Premium vs Pro)?

Just a curious newbie.
Click to expand...


Light home use? You should never have to replace them. The poolroom I play in, the Centennials there get approximately 60 hours of use per week and I'm certain many of the sets are over 10 years old and they play fine. That would put it at over 30,000 hours of use which means you should be able to pass down the set to your Great Grandchildren without a problem.
 
I have a set of Centenials that I purcharsed used from a pool room. I used them for years.

I just recently got a set of the Aramath balls (with the Measles ball).

The ball is slightly bigger and also slightly heavier....and plays noticably different than the red circle.
 
I dont know how old my aramiths are but i got them second hand.

I find that if i polish them up they play like new and the cue ball really gets a lot of action.

but i find that my aramiths get dirty really easily and quickly, an hour session and the cue ball is full of chalk marks and it also becomes slower!

does anyone know whats wrong with them? has the protective coating on them worn off?

when i hit balls at the poolroom they hardly get dirty or marked but mine get dirty very easily!

does anyone have a solution?
 
BVal said:
The toughest aspect of upgrading your balls is getting them out of your wife's purse without her noticing :D:D:D:D

A good set of balls will go a long way. imo.

BVal
Click to expand...

Very funny.
drinkbeer.gif
 
I played in a room for 25 years that had several sets of Brunswick Centennials and never saw a chip, crack, etc. If you polish them once in a while and take care of them, they'll last a long time. More than worth the money.
 
BVal said:
The toughest aspect of upgrading your balls is getting them out of your wife's purse without her noticing :D:D:D:D

A good set of balls will go a long way. imo.

BVal
Click to expand...

VERY GOOD POINT!!!!!!!!!!
 
Take a brand new cue ball and encircle it with six old object balls. If there is a gap (and I bet there is on the 10 year old set) that is the wear your object balls have. Billiards Digest (I think) had an article on this, so I tried it on my perfect ten year old set. I replaced them that day. Also, if you have a outside micrometer measure the diameter of the nine ball across the white section and then across the yellow band and you will find that it has worn unevenly and is no longer round (For some reason the white wears quicker than the colored portion. I could even feel the numbers slightly raised). If you, like me, replaced your cue ball late in life on your set of object balls, then your cue ball is larger and heavier than your object balls. This makes for a shorter draw shot and longer follow shot.

Edited to add that they were Aramith balls.
 
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