win a ball from Bowling.com

Author Topic: Diesel Particle  (Read 13182 times)

admin

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1241
Diesel Particle
« on: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM »
Ball NPS Score: Not Available

Color: Red/Black

Coverstock: Particle

Core: 2-piece

Factory finish: Matte

Lane Conditions: Medium-Heavy Oil

 

Wadney

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 33
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #1 on: August 28, 2002, 10:30:05 AM »
I have bowled with this ball for a couple of weeks and was really surprised of the reaction i received when bowling with it. This ball is very good on any oil condition. I used it last night on a heavy oil pattern and this ball was just awesome. it is a very consistent rolling ball that likes oil. When this ball hits the pins it just keep rolling through the backend. The carry on this ball is awesome. The ball reminds me of a Sherman Tank taking the enemy out of action.
Great job Hammer on another great arsenal ball to win you over.

BowlPro

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 91
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #2 on: September 02, 2002, 12:06:39 PM »
This Diesel is Strong!
(With all the new balls out this season some of these reviews will be short and too the point)

The New Diesel Particle (Solid) comes to us from Ebonite with good attempts to build on the Hammer Name. This new ball is using a Particle formula coverstock to provide good traction in oil and strong hooking characteristics.

The New weight block design is what we would call a "Heavy Roller", looking at this weight block design I started wondering just how new it was because it looked alot like a "Past" weight block I had remembered from a couple previous balls, and with some short work in my Old Ball reference manuals, there it was!

This New Diesel weight block design looks alot like the weight block used in the old "Dynothane Special EFX" Modified of course but yet simular in its "Bell" like or "Barrel" shape.

This New Diesel WILL cut threw Heavy Oil with NO Problem! The Particle Coverstock is fully adjustable and slight changes in ball reaction is a snap!

We used a 4X4 Label Leverage drilling with no balance hole.
The Hitting Power for our test was Excellent! with a "Controlled" Hook style of reaction this ball will smooth out the break points for over/under lane conditions. Those of you who have alot of hand in the ball make sure you go for drilling patterns that promote good length. For this ball you will need it!

This Ball has a Great core and Coverstock combination so "keep it simple" when choosing a special drilling pattern for this ball. It does not need alot of help to be strong!
WARNING: Some stronger drillings may make this ball become too tempermental and uncontrollable!

Those of you who want a strong predicable hard hitting oil ball, then this one is a great choice!
We will recommend this ball to all bowlers!

BowlPro
www.discount-proshop.com
Bowlpro

BuddiesProShopcom - Bill

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 494
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2002, 04:35:33 PM »
We drilled two of these for shop guys.

The first bowler is more of a spinner and his ball was laid out with a 5" by 5" stack with the box finish.

The other bowler is a high rev, high speed bowler and his ball was laid out with a 5 1/4" by 5 1/4" drilling with a Polished 800 grit finish.

Both bowler felt like that were able to have the ball recover on shots wide of target, and pulled shot where more forgiving.

The spinner was able to play around 3 arrow and get the ball out the the 10 board at the break point and the ball was able to drive and carry very well. When he missed wide of target this ball still had enough energy to get around the corner and still have good hit.

The high rev, high speed bowler was able to play around 3 arrow and swing the ball to the 5th board and get the ball back. The ball carried extremely well and held the pocket through the pin deck.

I think that with these two different bowling styles that both bowlers were able to create more area and get the pin action that they need.

I would recommend this ball to any bowler that is looking for a ball that is midlane arcing. I think that Hammer has created a great line with their first 6 releases and I look forward to any ball that they release in the future.

If you have any questions, please email me at Bill@BuddiesProShop.com
--------------------
Thanks
Bill
BuddiesProShop.com
"The Place All Bowlers Shop"
Thanks
Bill
BuddiesProShop.com
"The Place All Bowlers Shop"

BenLaughlin

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 8
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2002, 08:28:59 PM »
Favorite go to ball right now.
Drilled mine 4 X 3 with not hole and Ebonite particle polish.
Good length with great hit.
No better bang for the buck than the diesel series.

Popsdad

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2002, 02:12:18 PM »
This is a ball that I had my doubts about at first...I was looking for something that was not as strong as my V2 Particle and thought I would try this out... I think I must have miscomunicated something to my pro shop because they drilled the ball differently from anything else that I had.  It was drilled to not flare.  When I put the ball on the lanes WOW!!! it is awsome, when I go in a house that has a blocked shot all I do is put this ball out around 5 and it is on radar from that point on...Still trying to work out the bugs in the proper release but still have had some good score for average 200-215

Paul Gault

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 10
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2003, 12:26:49 AM »
Well I can't say enough about this ball. I went into the pro shop to buy a Vortex II Particle. I was shown the Diesel Particle and was told it was gaining popularity on the pro tour. I have had it for 1 month now. I am a solid 200 average bowler. Since bowling with this ball I have averaged 222 over the last 4 weeks and even shot my very 1st 300 on Friday night. Not bad for someone who has only been bowling 3 years. This ball hooks and is very very consistent. I am definitely looking forward to more Hammer balls.

da Shiv

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1118
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #7 on: January 13, 2003, 06:12:09 PM »
I have waited three weeks to post this review so that I could experiment a bit with this ball, but now the results are in, so here goes.  Check my profile for my stats.

The Diesel Particle comes with about a 1200 grit sheen, which, after making some changes, I decided to maintain.  I use the Ebonite Powerhouse Quicksand on it after cleaning, then use some Hook-It to remove the shine left by the polish.  The ball has a 2 inch pin.  It is drilled in a 4 x 4 set-up, with the pin just below my ring finger.  The CG is swung over toward my PAP as far as possible without necessitating a weight hole.  While this is a symmetrically cored ball and people do not usually think of such a ball as having a mass bias, I base my drillings of all balls on where the MB ends up more so than where the CG ends up.  The MB on this ball is 3/4 inches inside my VAL, placing it about halfway between the stacked leverage position and the controlled back end position.  

I bought this ball and set it up for a bowling center with wood lanes that are not in top notch shape, but not terrible either.  The pattern is a fairly typical top hat, medium oil with a tendency to be spotty and break down fast, dry outside the ten board and a slight, but troublesome out of bounds in the breakpoint area created by bowlers pushing oil to outside there as play goes on.  My preferred outside line gets me to the pocket here, but does not carry well.  I play the line most tweeners play in this house--just a bit inside the oil, using the dry track to bounce the ball off of, but being careful to avoid drifting too far out and skating off in the out of bounds.  That out of bounds and the spotty, fast breaking down condition and other factors that still have me flummoxed tend to keep the scores low.  The best bowlers are shooting 210 here.  For the type of top hat that gets badmouthed for artificially inflating scores....well, that doesn't happen here.  That's the set-up.  I bought the Diesel, drilled it, and prepared it specifically for this house after lengthy discussions with my pro shop operator, who is very knowledgeable and writes a BJI column every other month.

I know that this was a much lengthier prologue than is usually found in the reviews here, but I find most of the reviews singularly lacking in the type of information that makes a review meaningful, so there you have it.

First time out with the Diesel, a few things were immediately obvious.  This ball can handle that out of bounds and the carrydown that is frequently in existence from open play before our league.  It is a light load particle, but with extremely low RG and extremely high differential.  All this suggests early burn, but even on the medium and fast breaking down condition, it gets down the lane very well.  It makes it's turn in a very hard arc--almost a flip.  The arc is toned down some when I drift it out into the out of bounds, but it still makes it back to the head pin where almost everything else I have tried fizzles into washout territory.  The arc is also toned down on shots pulled into the oil.  It holds pocket well on those, staying off the nose, but still hitting with power.  It shows no sign of roll-out, and carries very well with a welcome tendency to take out the ten pin.  Strikes come on flush and light hits.  It hits so hard that high pocket hits are a bit dangerous.  It will blow past the 9, but tends to trip the 4, leaving a makeable spare.  I have been able to create substantially more area (margin for error) with this ball than with any others in this particular tough house.

My second week with the Diesel, carrydown was a serious problem.  It was still effective, but somewhat less so.  I took it back to the pro shop and had a small weight hole put on my VAL in the thumb positive quadrant just to tweak the flare up a bit.  This was very effective.  The ball is so effective on the lane condition that it is attracting some interest from other bowlers who normally pay no attention (or pretend to pay no attention) to the other bowlers'equipment.

In my other league the lanes are synthetic and much more heavily oiled.  The Diesel works there, but has to be forced a bit.  I have no doubt that if I took that 1200 surface to the 600-800 range the Diesel would line up quite well there.  I haven't done that because I have another ball set up quite well to deal with that house, and I bought the Diesel for the tough house, where the results are excellent.

Don't shy away from the Diesel for fear of it's low RG and high differential.  It gets down lane with plenty of energy and hits very hard.  I plan to purchase another and tuck it away for when this one passes away, which will probably not be for some time--more on that below.  It is very easy to tweak.  Drill it in the way that works best for you on the condition you are going to face, and tinker with the surface and you will be very happy with it.  My only caveats are that you should probably have at least medium speed and medium oil to use this ball.  The only way a slow speed bowler could use this ball would be to polish it up to the max, and there is other equipment that would be better for you in that case.  I would also not advise trying to use this ball on fried heads.  There would be no sense in drilling the guts out of this ball and polishing it up to high shine to try to use it on dry when there are better choices for that.  This is an excellent ball and I highly recommend it, especially as it is a medium price ball with premium quality.

Epilogue:  There are a few interesting notes that should be made about this ball.  It is very slow to absorb oil.  With it's huge flare (I get close to 8 inches) this is not a problem, and in all likelihood will lenghen it's usable lifespan.  Even after waiting for your next turn to bowl in league, the oil tracks are still on the ball.  Wipe them off with one of those microfiber towels and the ball is clean and ready to go.  It also has a slightly swirl textured surface.  The swirl lines between it's two colors actually have a slight three-dimensionality to them.  I have seen this on only three other balls--The Ebonite Timberwolf and Werewolf, and the AMF Bull Whip.  Interestingly, these other three balls were all also very effective for me.  This texture remains no matter what surface prep you use.  

The last comments have to do with Hook-It.  I use Hook-It on virtually all of my equipment.  Those of you who use Hook-It have no doubt noticed that Hook-It is slow to absorb into a ball.  It is exceptionally slow to absorb into the Diesel Particle.  This probably has to do with whatever chemical characteristic of the coverstock makes it slow to absorb lane oil.  I have also noticed that using Hook-It on this ball shortly before league increases the ball's back end substantially without causing it to hook any earlier.  This leaves open the possibility that one could prep the surface to a slightly less aggressive texture than might be necessary, and if practice shows that the ball needs a little something, hit it with some Hook-It and you should be right where you want to be.

This ball is very responsive to speed changes and coverstock changes, but remains controllable and hard hitting even when there is some operator error.  Highly recommended.

Shiv

Addendum - 1/20/03
I just had my first opportunity to use this ball on a freshly stripped back end.  It is just about too much for a freshly stripped back end, calling for more speed than I was comfortable with and a wider swing as well.  It is the most effective ball that I have ever found on a tight back end caused by carrydown or poor lane cleaning, but the same qualities that make it effective on carrydown make it excessively overwhelming on crispy back ends.  You may like the big back end reaction on a freshly stripped back end if you have high enough speed or perhaps medium speed with low revs.
Listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on my desk top

Macron

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2003, 10:01:11 PM »
I had a lot of trouble with this ball at first.  I found out it was my fault, not the ball (tracking over thumb and middle finger (lefty)) and when I got myself back in check, this ball became an outright monster.  It moves on ANY condition.  It is very consistent, also.  It hits low through the pindeck, for a nice smashing of the pins.  You can play this on most conditions (might be too strong for dry, but controllable).  It does not soak up a lot of oil too, for a particle ball.  Just make sure you clean it. (I use particle cleaner after every set).

9-10 - Nice movement, controllable, great hit, big hook.

Deezul

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 9
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2003, 10:41:10 PM »
I am a Brunswick guy with a Diesel Fetish! 15LB 1.5IN pin. Label drill pin to the right and down a little from the ring finger. This ball is a Oil Machine! Super predictable It arcs very evenly to the pocket and the DIESEL TORQUE to flatten the pin deck like a D-9 Catapillar Bulldozer would flatten a house. I almost got rid of this ball I was having some major problems with my game and was using the ball is a problem not the BOWLER. I have fixed the issues and alot of Bad Habits I have picked up for the short time I have been Bowling almost 4 months shooting a hook. This my my First Hook ball and its staying! the Diesel line is STRONG and I did the Hammer Demo Day's and Hammer's line up is strong the Diesel and blade series are a great value! 10 out of 10

revs300

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2003, 11:31:44 AM »
I have tried hammer balls since the orig. blk hammer. I was in love with the blue hammer and I am still looking for 1 NIB. This diesel is a truck. I am serious this ball is one to try and then you will see that not much else stacks up to this. The  same with the diesel pearl particle. They are the best balls hammer has made since they started good work Ebonite. Now if we can get them in So Fla. they will really know what good is. Dont worry about drilling patterns used your favorite one and stand back. Any Questions please contact.

The_Spirit

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 10
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #11 on: August 20, 2003, 03:53:12 PM »
I guess I should write about this new treasure cleverly disguised as a bowling ball. The Diesel Particle is a wonderful compliment to the Diesel Particle Pearl. Both are drilled up in the full leverage "C" position (3-3/8" pin from CG & PAP) and I have yet to shoot below 200 with the Diesel Particle. I was even averaging 240+ with it for the first few weeks! It does not roll out early, but maintains a smooth controllable arc with explosive power at the back end, enough to blow the rack with minimal ball deflection even on the heaviest of patterns. The coverstock is also versatile, but I keep it dull for the heavy-oil shots. Even when bring the ball inside 3rd arrow, it did not over-react through the nose, but delivered amazing recovery to the pocket. When rolled outside the mark, with speed reduction the Diesel still found its way to the pocket while still delivering the trademark Hammer hard-hitting performance! As stated, this is now my new hard-hitting favorite! And as always, remember...NOTHING HITS LIKE A HAMMER!!!

--------------------
T. Michael Crosby

RevLefty

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 901
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2003, 12:00:56 AM »
Bought this ball toward end of last season.  Was looking for a soup ball and found just that.
  It needs soup for people that have alot of revs like myself.  In its out of box condition i was burning this balls energy up before it got to the corner.  So I polished it to 1500 and boy did this ball become a monster.  Not saying this will work for everybody but it did work for me.

Specs:  15lb  3oz of top weight.  pin 2-3.  Drilled stacked leverage.  


Review:  Give this ball thumbs up to people looking for heavy oil ball.  Any dry better put this one away.  It does not snap i found very predictable even when hit dry just a very hard arc.  Hits like a brick shat house too.  


Hammer in my opinion is making some of the best equipment out there keep em coming i will buy more.

g_thing

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 10
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #13 on: July 26, 2004, 10:34:22 AM »
Another great ball from the Diesel line is all I can start with.  I like this ball so much, I have 2 of them drilled for different reactions and had a 3rd ready for use when one of the first 2 died out.  However, with recent additions to the family (bowling balls that is), decided to sell the other.

First is drilled with pin about an inch from ring positioned at about 4:00 to ring with CG kicked toward the palm.  No weight hole.  I get more of a skid flip reaction out of this ball depending on the conditions.  If there's oil, I can count on the ball skidding until the break and then a real strong drive for the backend.  If there's too much, all I need to do is move and play straight up 5 as the ball has a real sweet arc into the pocket from this area.

Second ball I believe is drilled more aggressive.  Pin is slightly above the ring, again about an inch away positioned around 2:00 and the cg is kicked out the right with a modest weight hole.  This ball seems to handle the oil better.  It may be because the ball seems to roll more like Hammers of old....arcing instead of the skip/flip reaction.  I don't really use this one that much as I need to have the fingers redone, but when I was using it, the ball usually cut through most of the oil that was there.  I didn't find myself needing to play up 5 like I did on the first ball.  I rate this drilling as a stronger one for how I play at least.

Overall, I am a fan of the Diesel lineup.  I have had the Particle Pearl and am expecting a Reactive Pearl as well.  This is the one lineup I wouldn't trade for anything out there on the market!!
Forgiveness is Divine.....but revenge is the most satisfying way to resolve the issue!!

BallReviews.com.....going down the toilet....one nugget at a time!!

"In the Bowling Alley of Tomorrow, there will even be machines that wear rental shoes and throw the ball for you. Your sole function will be to drink beer." - Dave Barry

As sirhookalot says...."keep hookin it, and stop acting like me....I mean a jag off"

dead locked

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 5
Re: Diesel Particle
« Reply #14 on: September 12, 2004, 09:26:04 PM »
If you can find this close-out gem, buy it.  I was bowling singles at the Hoinke Classic in Cincinnati when I first noticed it.  The lane condition was very oily.  There was a young lady on the next lane using the Diesel Particle.
Her first game was 257, second game was 226, third game was 248 and her final game was solid a solid 231.  I do not know what her average was but 962 is a very respectable four game series.  So when I got an email offering this ball for $59, I decided to try it.

I used one of favorite drillings with the pin under the ring finger and the cg kicked out about 1".  I have seen a lot of strong balls but, only a few have hit as hard as the Diesel and "sucked" the pins off the deck and into the pit.
The ball got through the heads smoothly and revved up strongly on the backend.  I loved the reaction and carry so much I bought two more.  One I drilled with  
pin over the ring finger with the cg kicked in towards the center of the grip line.  This one I polished because it was about five boards sharper/stronger than the first and just as good on the pin deck.  The third one is still in the box waiting to be unleashed.

NOTHING HITS LIKE A HAMMER, NAIL THE COMPETITION!!!!!!!!!!!