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Author Topic: why do drillers tend to taper thumb holes  (Read 9418 times)

Neptune66

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why do drillers tend to taper thumb holes
« on: April 28, 2011, 05:21:45 AM »
Happens alot to me.  I buy a ball or have one redrilled, and the driller (if he's not familiar with how fussy I am) drills the thumbhole so that it's bigger at the top of the hole than at the bottom. 

 

Drives me nutz, cause when I want to add tape to firm up the fit at the top of the hole, the thumb is too tight further down. And when I take tape out, the ball is too hard to hold onto.
 

For years I had a driller who understood what Iwanted and drilled the hole and did very minimal bevelling.   But that driller has since relocated and it's hit or miss with the successors.

 

Is there some kind of code word to signify to all drillers that I want the thumbhole to be a perfect cylinder?  Not a cone shaped hole (it's not that severe, but that IS the shape).
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Russell

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Re: why do drillers tend to taper thumb holes
« Reply #16 on: April 29, 2011, 08:24:49 AM »
Yes you must tell your ball driller exactly what you want.  If a hole is being worked out more than a little bit...it's only natural that the top ends up a little larger.  If I have a customer that doesn't want any taper, I make sure to oval the hole as much as possible on the press, and then take a little more time making sure I don't focus my attention on the top of the hole.

 

If you tell your ball driller you don't want any taper, and then it's tapered anyway...time to find a new ball driller.


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Juggernaut

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Re: why do drillers tend to taper thumb holes
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2011, 08:36:07 AM »
This is one of the reasons I went to using thumb sleeves. Once I got the right size oval sleeve down, all I need the driller to do was install the sleeve and round off the sharp edges.

 

 I've had those tapered holes before, and I HATE them. My thumb locks in at the bottom of the hole, but once the release starts, I lose the feel for the ball and I can't get that roll that I'm looking for because it comes off wrong with not enough lift, almost like I lose it at the bottom of the swing.
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Neptune66

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Re: why do drillers tend to taper thumb holes
« Reply #18 on: April 29, 2011, 12:27:48 PM »
You described the exact feeling that I get.  I'm losing the ball just as I'm about to lift it. Most of the time not all the way. But enough that it's like a clutch slipping on a car.  And if you try to compensate, you have a tendency to yank the ball to the left (or to the right for a lefty).
 

Not sure I am familiar with the sleeves you mention.  How are those different from having a mold of your thumb made and replicated (have considered doing that, but never gotten around to it).

 

I think what happened in my case is I had gone back to a pro-shop where one of the drillers had my drilling down pat (he had actually created the layout and drilling for me) after a long absence because they had relocated to a less convenient bowling alley.  When I came in, the owner of course recognized me and had extensive notes on my drillings, but......  but he was not my primary driller, and something apparently got lost between the notes and my description of what I wanted.

 

I'm not angry, cause they have always done very good work for me.  Just a little disappointed and determined to go back and remind them that I need that hole to be a perfect cylinder.  I even remember my main driller especially working with me to find the best/closest fitting standard drill bit size, so that little or no human adjustment of the thumb slug is needed once it's hammered into the ball and drilled.  The owner either didn;t notice this in the notes ----or they aren't included----and ended up drilling the hole the way most people prefer it.

 

I don;t mind paying for a new slug....  ----I will at least offer---- but I am going to get the hole back in sync with all my other equipment. 
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