BallReviews
General Category => Coverstock Preparation => Topic started by: JayhawkBowling on September 27, 2012, 09:13:06 AM
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Russ Wilson
Jayhawk Bowling
http://jayhawkbowling.com/ (http://jayhawkbowling.com/)
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Very informative. Did you also test any bowling balls with a polished finish? For instance the Wicked Siege at box finish is 500 grit plus rough buff polish. Was curious how quickly bowling balls with polish are effected vs the ones you tested with out.
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Interesting. In the past we were told that repeatedly throwing a ball down lane would make it rougher due to the friction. Your 2000 grit was thought to be 600-800 grit after 15-20 games.
I wonder how the machine calculates surface roughness? We know a lot more about the peaks and valleys in the surface than we used to. That why on some balls we go 500, then straight to 2000 or 4000 so we keep the inherent roughness of the 500 grit, but smooth out the peaks just enough to get the ball through the front part of the lane better.
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Have these results been replicated enough to prove reliable? I remember reading that over time surface friction causes the ball to move towards 2000. Is this bad information?
I have not seen my 500/1000 finished covers reacting like 4000 finish covers after three to four games. Looking at the track on my 500/1000 finished ball where I now see visible scratches in the track area, I have a hard time believing that the track is closer to 4000 after three games than to 500. The track was not visible when I took it out of the haus.
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It would be interesting to see what the Jayhawk machine said the surface was of a ball that was 500/4000 vs. one that was 500/1000/2000/4000. If they read different, the machine must be reading just the peaks vs. the underlying surface.
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It says on the ball that started at 1500 it ended at close to 4500 or so after 3 games. It also said you would want to resurface the ball after every set.
Got to thinking, in many cases especially when buying a new ball, most bowlers don't start liking a balls reaction till they get 5-10 games on a bowling ball. We see that after 3 games on a high grit ball it pretty much maxes out with very little change in surface. So there may be something said for breaking in a ball, and for not adjusting the surface so often.
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I think something is missing here. I do not see a ball finished at 1000 grit reacting like a ball finished at 4000 grit after 3 games. Is that what you guys are seeing on the lanes?
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Great Questions :)
What this machine does is read about 40,000 points along the equator of the ball in about 5 seconds. It uses an optical laser to measure the Ra and RS values and gives a grit estimate based on this information. One can have it display in Ra or RS but most people don't relate to a 1000 grit being 20 Ra, so this video was done in grit mode. It also has a feature called feature enhance mode that helps identify the pattern of the surface (this was not shown in this video). An easy way to think of it is to think about a tire. The height of tread is (Ra), the distance between tread is (RS), and the pattern used is (feature enhance). This means that there can be two identical balls that measure very similar for Ra and RS but have a different roughness pattern so they will have different on lane tendencies.
What we have learned with our testing is that if two surfaces are rubbed against each other, the softer surface will migrate closer and closer to the harder surface. This basically means that a bowling ball will migrate to the surface of the lane. A ball will migrate to a smoother surface on synthetic lanes than wood lanes. A polished ball is already very smooth and the surface will stay more consistent for a longer period of time on a synthetic lane because they are similar. The one factor that will change is the tread pattern from being skidded along the lane over and over. This also means that a polished ball will also scuff up more on a wood lane because it is rougher.
Keep in mind that just because you are using a 500 grit pad does not mean that the ball is perfectly 500 grit. It just means that a 500 grit pad was used to get this balls current surface. Feel how rough the pad is before it is used on a ball, and then feel how rough the ball is after being scuffed. The ball will feel much smoother than that 500 grit pad.
This is some exciting technology and is being used by almost every manufacturer in ball testing and production lines. It is also being used by pro shops to help get bowling balls back to there ideal surface and for comparing surfaces of a customers arsenal. Were just scratching the surface here on pro shop technology with this awesome tool, so please keep the questions coming.
Russ Wilson
Jayhawk Bowling
http://jayhawkbowling.com/ (http://jayhawkbowling.com/)
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Very cool. I think mine have been answered in regards to polished bowling balls. Thanks
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so basically, a ball with surface is more likely to not have the same ball reaction through the 3 game set as a 4000 polished ball would?
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StickZ
You are correct :)
A polished ball will not change as much as a ball that has a lot of surface on it in a three game period. (Especially true on a new synthetic lane surface.) Now take this ball to a wood house, or on lane shield and this nice shiny ball will get rougher in the track area because of the lane bed being rougher than synthetics. So if you bowl in a wood house or a house with guardian/laneshield, you will need to keep up with that shiny ball because it will dull down very quick. You will end up with a ball that is dull in the track area (not good when you want the ball to get down the lane) and when the ball flares to the rest of the ball that is shiny it will be trying to hook down lane (not good when you want the ball to hook). I know I don't like bowling balls that hook at my toes and skid down lane :)
Russ Wilson
Jayhawk Bowling
http://jayhawkbowling.com/
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I thought I remembered reading somewhere (a whileback) that over time the track area of a ball will tend to migrate towards ~800 grit. I guess this shows that information/article was false...
Great information and application of technology.
Thank you for sharing.
Scott
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It doesn't mean it was false. It is relative to the surface your throwing the ball on. So the smoother the surface, like synthetic lanes, that will be what direction the ball cover will migrate too. The rougher the lane surface, like wood lanes, the rougher the ball surface will migrate towards. So if the lane surface was in the ball park or roughness close to 500-800 grit that will be what surface your ball surface will go towards as you bowl.
Literally your resurfacing the ball with the lanes every time you bowl. It is just a matter of what roughness or smoothness your bowling on.
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I thought I remembered reading somewhere (a whileback) that over time the track area of a ball will tend to migrate towards ~800 grit. I guess this shows that information/article was false...
Great information and application of technology.
Thank you for sharing.
Scott
No, it wasn't false, Scott. It's just old information.
On wood lanes, balls would tend to migrate toward a 600 grit US/CAMI surface. That was originally, as far as I know, from Bob Summerfield, deceased publisher of BTM. (he may have gotten the info from someone else.)
Synthetic lanes is another, different case.
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Russ/Jayhawk,
Were the synthetic lanes on which this test was done new?
I had heard that on synthetic lanes, surfaces tend towards 2000 grit. The 4400/4900 grit surface is quite a bit finer that that. I would have thought 4000 grit balls tended towards 2000 grit. Now I'm wondering if that 2000 grit surface was on older, used synthetics??
And of course, some AMF HPL (?) synthetics have quite a bit more friction than Brunswick's Anvillane surface. So would balls tend to different grit levels on different friction levels of the different brands of synthetics??
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Great video Russ, and great comments and questions.
Some additional important topics...
(1) Settling In: It is obvious that the ball surface changes with use. But where a coverstock settles in with use depends upon the chemistry of the coverstock (what it's made of), what surface you start with (e.g. grit), and what surface you are bowling on.
For example, if you want your coverstock to hold a 2000 grit surface, you will need to start much rougher, then break it in. You use the scanner to see which starting grit ends up producing a more stable final number with use.
This allow the shop owner to 'tune in' a coverstock for a particular bowler in a particular set of conditions. Every 30 games or so, the bowler brings the ball back in for resurfacing, then breaks it in a game or two to get it back into steady state.
(2) More Consistent Reaction: Once you know which surface is working best for a bowler (say he likes his reaction right now...you can use the scanner to measure the roughness of his track), you can resurface the ball so the ENTIRE surface of the ball has this roughness.
This makes the bowler and the ball reaction more consistent, because the ball doesn't have to be in precisely the same part of the track every time. It increases his margin for error...giving him higher average scores.
(3) Preparing Arsenals. I had a pro bring me his arsenal once before a tournament. All his equipment had essentially the same surface, despite the fact that they started out with supposedly different grits. That is no arsenal! Without the scanner, you have no way to confirm that you are taking different surfaces to the lanes. You also don't know which coverstocks change faster/slower, and where to start them in order to end up where you want to be for the tournament.
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Thanks to all for this excellent instruction.
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Thanks to all for this excellent instruction.
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Thanks everyone for the comments. Surface prep is the greatest tool we have for tweaking a ball to match a bowler. This video shows how fast these covers change, and the importance of maintaining your equipment. The surface scanner is a great tool for pro shops to find the best surface for a bowler and to maintain it.
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Great information thanks for sharing. Unfortunately it is cost prohibitive except for the most high end of pro shops. I have some pretty good bowlers and I have no idea how I could even sell them this service. Half of them don't even understand the basics of cover prep.
I would almost end up buying it for my own personal use more than for the shop. Ideas on how shops market and charge for it would be welcome.
Not trying to bring the topic or product down....I think it is great...but the REAL evolution will be when it is a cheaper product that becomes more widely used.
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I would be interested in knowing how close the manufacturer's cover finishes are to what they advertise.
it's taken me years on my personal spinner to get the feel of knowing what way I want to adjust my covers. adjusting a ball,cover/core/layout is a lot more complicated then it would seem. how would bowler's with no experience even suppose to understand? But an invaluable tool for returning a ball to oob specs since sanding finishes are not set in stone and I suspect oob finishes aren't either