Author Topic: Track Flare Bowling ball surface? (Read 6493 times)

bcw1969 · « **on:** June 12, 2015, 11:12:48 AM »

Does Anyone recall what the out of box surface was on the Track Flare? I just picked one up new in box. I had one just a few years back that I bought used off ebay and at that time I tamed the cover up as much as possible and highly polished it because the lanes I bowl at were playing very dry for me. A couple of years ago or so that ball cracked, so I picked up another one that was for sale nib because I matched up good with that ball when I could use it. Currently then lanes at my home center aren't playing quite as dry as they were my first time around with that ball, also in the past year - year and a half I have added an extra mph avg on my ball speed, so I don't believe I will need to tame the cover as much as I did with the first one I had.

I would just like to know where I am starting from with this ball...I don't know if it will be listed in the drilling instructions that come with the ball--if so then I am ok, if not, the only info I could find was on a couple of online review sites-- just lists it as polished. Anyone remember what the oob surface is on a Track Flare?

Brad

drillbit · « **Reply #1 on:** June 12, 2015, 09:15:56 PM »

I want to say 800 grit, but I might be off. It's been a long time since I drilled one of those, and most people wanted it polished so it wouldn't hook so early.

drillbit

charlest · « **Reply #2 on:** June 12, 2015, 09:30:02 PM »

That's odd. Both BowlingBallVault and 123Bowl say the surface was polished, but they show a grayish colored ball. I thought the Flare was a brick coppery red solid and dull??

http://www.bowlingballvault.com/companies/25-track/818-flare

http://www.123bowl.com/ball.cfm?ballid=193

drillbit · « **Reply #3 on:** June 14, 2015, 01:42:29 AM »

All of the ones I drilled came dull out of the box. Most of them didn't stay dull long, as our house was kind of dry back then.

drillbit

Impending Doom · « **Reply #4 on:** June 14, 2015, 08:10:31 AM »

2.61 with .078 diff... Those were the days!

Aloarjr810 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2015, 08:49:59 AM »

Quote from: charlest on June 12, 2015, 09:30:02 PM

That's odd. Both BowlingBallVault and 123Bowl say the surface was polished, but they show a grayish colored ball. I thought the Flare was a brick coppery red solid and dull??

http://www.bowlingballvault.com/companies/25-track/818-flare

http://www.123bowl.com/ball.cfm?ballid=193

That's not gray, the photo is just washed out and the color desaturated plus compression artifacts. Which makes it just look dull and gray.

Better pic:

Aloarjr810 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 14, 2015, 09:04:31 AM »

Here's from the old Track Bowling site (1998)
(note: the grits below are US grits not the abralon p-scale grits)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Topic: Coverstocks

How do you duplicate Track's out of the box finish?

Answer:

For Factory Polished - resurface with sand paper to 1000 grit, then take polish from 600 to 2000 grit. We use Degree polish by ProGrip in the factory.

For the Sheen Finish - resurface to a wet sanded 600 grit finish and then lightly polish to remove dust from sanding.

Note: The ProGrip Degree ball polishes came in 320, 600, 1200 and 2000 grit formulations.

So where it say's "then take polish from 600 to 2000 grit." their stepping up through the 600, 1200 and 2000 grits.

charlest · « **Reply #7 on:** June 14, 2015, 11:12:14 AM »

Quote from: Aloarjr810 on June 14, 2015, 08:49:59 AM

Quote from: charlest on June 12, 2015, 09:30:02 PM
That's odd. Both BowlingBallVault and 123Bowl say the surface was polished, but they show a grayish colored ball. I thought the Flare was a brick coppery red solid and dull??

http://www.bowlingballvault.com/companies/25-track/818-flare

http://www.123bowl.com/ball.cfm?ballid=193

That's not gray, the photo is just washed out and the color desaturated plus compression artifacts. Which makes it just look dull and gray.

Better pic:

Thanks; that's closer to what I remember.

bcw1969 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 15, 2015, 03:49:03 PM »

Well the ball arrived today....perfect timing..I was just going out my door to leave for work and my letter carrier was coming down the hall with the ball..I needed to sign for it which means they would not have left it at my door if I wasn't there. The actual ball I got looks more like the pics on the review websites, than the more vibrant colored pic of the ball posted later. Mine looks like it has a grey haze on it --or maybe it's just dust from the age of the thing, Can't judge anything off of the used one I used to have that I bought just a few years back, because the surface of that ball had been altered from the box.

As far as surface goes, the websites are incorrect--as was the memory of anybody that could remember that far back. This is directly from the original drilling instructions that come in the box "A few words about the finish of the FLARE...........The new flare ball features a 500 grit (matt) sanded finish" and it goes on about why they did that....and then goes on to say "sanded...this ball comes sanded because it is much easier to polish a sanded ball than it is to sand a polished ball. The sanded factory finish is designed to hook in heavy oil." Of course that's 1995. I will put in on the spinner before I take it to my proshop later today...even if the 500 grit was the us scale back then and not abralon scale , I believe I will still want the cover tamer than that---and then we'll see--I should be able to use it more regularly now---I am hoping--besides I can always alter the cover after the fact if I need it not as tame as I did before.

Brad

charlest · « **Reply #9 on:** June 15, 2015, 04:44:40 PM »

Good luck with it, Brad.

Just as reference, 500 grit back then was US/CAMI grading. In today's FEPA terms, that's ~1000 grit, still pretty rough.

bcw1969 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 15, 2015, 04:53:35 PM »

I kinda figured that, so I started at 1500 and went each step up to the white trizact pad and then I put a polish I like on it called "Monkey Jam axle Polish" which is a gritted polish that takes the surface even finer...to less than .05 microns....the used one I owned, before it cracked, I went(out of necessity at the time) as fine as I could go with pads and then put delayed reaction on top of that..will not use that or the eqivalent this, unless I have to, but I don't believe I will need to. Thanx for the well wishes...but I am pretty certain the ball will work fine for me, the one I had before was a great match for me. I just hope this one doesn't crack..I paid much more for this NIB one than I did the used one I had.

Brad

bcw1969 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 04, 2015, 09:16:22 AM »

Wow, I didn't think this would happen......but someone had another NIB track flare on ebay....It couldn't have been listed very long because I would have seen it before yesterday..the auction was ending around 4 pm..there was only one bidder at the opening price of 65.00...so I figured why not try..I wasn't going to pay a bunch like I did with the other one I snagged this summer....I was willing to go as high as 103.00 , and with the 22.00 shipping would make it 125.00 half of the total I paid for the other one--If I only waited :-) The other bidder didn't re-bid and I ended up being the only other bidder, so I got it for 66.00 + 22.00 shipping, 88.00. I am happy. I drilled the other one and set the cover to fill a spot in my 4 ball league bag which it does nicely..but I want to drill this one differently and use it for the more difficult patterns I sometimes play on at tournaments.

I found this drill pattern online and thought about drilling the new flare like this

"250 degree strong backend" layout
The next layout we will be looking at is the "250 degree strong backend" layout.
"250 degree strong backend" layout.
.

This layout calls for the pin to be no further out than 2" from the C.G. so a weighthole will not be needed. The pin height above the midline is to be 1 1/4" and the Pin to PAP distance is to be 4 1/2". The Mass bias is to be placed at 250 degrees. This layout caused a "herky jerk" skid/snap motion that appeared to be over-under in its first testing. What we found out is that when the shot called for a very direct line outside of the first arrow(as it was tested on the Cheetah Pattern), we were able to draw a strong skid-snap reaction and not have the ball hook early in the friction zone. When the shot forces you to play direct and you need an angular motion at the breakpoint, the 250 degree layout was very effective.

I typically play more direct(like this layout seems to require)--mainly because I am not proficient at doing anything else...but I am wondering would a ball like the Flare be a poor choice for this type of drilling? Since this is a short pin ball like my other one 0-1 inch I seem to be limited in what I can do differently than the other flare which has the pin next to the ring and the pin just outside and below the ring finger. I have never been one to be afraid of experimenting so we'll see.

It is still a great score and when I get it to the shop I will see what my driller thinks of the 250 degree layout for this ball.

Brad

Author Topic: Track Flare Bowling ball surface? (Read 6493 times)

bcw1969

Track Flare Bowling ball surface?

drillbit

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charlest

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drillbit

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Impending Doom

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Aloarjr810

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Aloarjr810

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charlest

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bcw1969

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charlest

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bcw1969

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bcw1969

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