BallReviews

Equipment Boards => Hammer => Topic started by: yoshii on November 06, 2007, 05:30:28 AM

Title: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 06, 2007, 05:30:28 AM
I've had my black widow for about 6 months and has been the only ball i used since, except for my rampage for lighter oil.  Lately it has not been hooking as much. I throw the same shots, i adjust to the lane conditions, i even tried it at 4 different houses. still i get the straight no movement line. im a stroker. the ball used to hook like crazy and hit like a "Hammer". go figure. but even if i get it to move an inch, it wont hit as hard anymore.  my rampage hits way harder than my widow now. is it time for a new ball? if so what can replace my widow? i want something along the same reaction and lane condition. something for medium-heavy oil would be nice.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: KDawg77 on November 06, 2007, 01:31:13 PM
Ever clean it, yosh?
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Ken
Defender of the logical thinking center. I have no time for extremists.
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Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: 1MechEng on November 06, 2007, 01:33:27 PM
quote:
Ever clean it, yosh?



K-Dawg - I was thinking the same thing: time for a series of hot water baths and/or a mild resurfacing for that ball.
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Dan
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Engineering * Bowling = a fun and practical application of rotational kinematics.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 06, 2007, 01:50:04 PM
ive resurfaced it, and ive bled it out. after i bled it out, it started to hook again, but after about 20 games it stoped. i have close to about 200+ games on that ball. i bowl almost everyday. mid as well use those free games i get you know?
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: shelley on November 06, 2007, 01:52:50 PM
quote:
is it time for a new ball? if so what can replace my widow? i want something along the same reaction and lane condition. something for medium-heavy oil would be nice.


The obvious replacement would be another Widow; it's still in the current lineup.  Your longevity issues seem the norm for Ebonite's new oil-absorbing covers.

Maybe you could try another company instead.  The Break from 900 Global is another one of the near-polished, medium-heavy, strong asymmetric solid reactives that covers most of the same lane conditions as the BW.  It's got a Soaker cover on it, too, so you should get well more than 200 games out of it.

SH
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 06, 2007, 01:57:56 PM
hmm never heard of it. ill check into that. i was also wondering about the widow pearl? i like my balls to go long and snap and hit hard, one reason i love hammer.  i tried my friends no mercy beat'n.  would that be a good ball to replace my widow with? also looked at the brunswick bvp sidewinder. what are your thoughts?
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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: Brandon2369 on November 06, 2007, 01:59:11 PM
Give it multiple hot water baths, it will be fine after that.
Ive gave mine probably around ten atleast.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: 86camaroman on November 06, 2007, 02:05:54 PM
Yes get all the oil out. Then resurface the ball and it will be like new. You said you bled it out but you need to get it all out wich can take alot of effort even in my rejuvenator it can take over an hour of heat.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: 102101 on November 06, 2007, 02:25:07 PM
Agree get all the oil out the BW is kind of high maintenance but as you have seen it is a great ball and very much worth the effort. Cleaning it after every use cuts down on the hot water baths also.
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102101? Hmmmm

www.blackhawklanes.com
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 06, 2007, 11:27:01 PM
ive cleaned it, and left it in a rejuvenator oven for about an hour. resurfaces. it just doesnt seem to hook. tried it once more today after 4 hot water baths. nothing. the same tiny movement that ive been getting for the past 3 weeks.
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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: ImaRedbird on November 07, 2007, 07:35:08 AM
One of my teammates has a BW his does the exact same thing as yours and he has about 300+ games on it. Just get a new one or replace it with something else. No matter how many times you bathe it, even if you get all the oil out, it's not gonna hook like it used to. Save yourself frustration.
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Stop Crying, Shut Up and BOWL!!! Everybody throws  gutter balls back to back at one point in their life Getting Zero is an accomplishment that you should be proud of!!!
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: 86camaroman on November 07, 2007, 07:43:50 AM
I have a total nv by ebonite that people say doesnt last 20 games. I have 400 plus games on the ball I just rejuvenate it every 50 games or so and its like new.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 07, 2007, 09:33:20 AM
quote:
One of my teammates has a BW his does the exact same thing as yours and he has about 300+ games on it. Just get a new one or replace it with something else. No matter how many times you bathe it, even if you get all the oil out, it's not gonna hook like it used to. Save yourself frustration.
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Stop Crying, Shut Up and BOWL!!! Everybody throws  gutter balls back to back at one point in their life Getting Zero is an accomplishment that you should be proud of!!!


thanks. at least i know im not alone. i was thinking about trying an ebonite but still not sure. "the one" sounds like a good ball.
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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: c-hop on November 07, 2007, 02:42:14 PM
i have a ton and i mean a ton of games on my black widow and it still hooks and hits like the first day. I just make sure to clean it often and get it baked frequently
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Chris
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: themagician on November 07, 2007, 03:21:02 PM
I just wanted to chime in. I had two Widow Solids, one I sold quickly so I'll disregard it. My other one however was great, well for a while at least. I always clean my stuff right after I bowl, Clean and Dull after 15 games or so.

The Widow for me just started to die out after 1000 games, hot water bath, resurfacing, baking, nothing worked. It was the first ball to significantly lose reaction on me. It became a Mild Solid on mediums for me with a meager arc on the backend. It lost what it was, surface adjustments and everything I just couldn't get it back to what it was. It just wouldn't turn on the conditions it had surprised the hell out of me on before.

This is just my first hand experience.
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iBowl
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: chitown on November 07, 2007, 09:03:01 PM
quote:
I just wanted to chime in. I had two Widow Solids, one I sold quickly so I'll disregard it. My other one however was great, well for a while at least. I always clean my stuff right after I bowl, Clean and Dull after 15 games or so.

The Widow for me just started to die out after 1000 games, hot water bath, resurfacing, baking, nothing worked. It was the first ball to significantly lose reaction on me. It became a Mild Solid on mediums for me with a meager arc on the backend. It lost what it was, surface adjustments and everything I just couldn't get it back to what it was. It just wouldn't turn on the conditions it had surprised the hell out of me on before.

This is just my first hand experience.
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iBowl


I had the same experience with the NM.  Great ball but after about 300 games it lost a lot of it's performance.  Still hooked but not like it was with 50 games on it.

I figure all bowling balls loose a bit of there performance.  Some more than others but it's part of the equipment game.  So I just replace my equipment when it starts to lose too much performance.

So far my Anger's are holding up great.  One of my Anger's has about 200 games on it and still working great.
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 07, 2007, 10:57:37 PM
ok i am giving my widow one last chance. if not im getting the BWP. i have my local proshop resurfacing, and using the ebonite hook again on my BW. never done this before so worth a try. balls almost dead anyways why not try to bring it back right?
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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: ImaRedbird on November 07, 2007, 11:00:20 PM
Hey I jus got my Anger and man what a ball. If u want a replacement go for that. It's strong in the midlane and a monster on the backend.
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Stop Crying, Shut Up and BOWL!!! Everybody throws  gutter balls back to back at one point in their life Getting Zero is an accomplishment that you should be proud of!!!
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 07, 2007, 11:18:41 PM
anger? hmm. was actually looking at the toxic but yeh maybe ill give that a try. let me see how this works first

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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: Strapper_Squared on November 08, 2007, 11:28:18 AM
quote:

The Widow for me just started to die out after 1000 games, hot water bath, resurfacing, baking, nothing worked. It was the first ball to significantly lose reaction on me.


Assuming that you paid retail at $189, you are looking at around $0.19/game (providing you pitch it in the waste can and not "resell it" on eBay or the like.  Sounds as though you ended up with a pretty good deal.  

The high-tec hook monster coverstocks just don't simply seem to last as long as they used to.. I guess its a trade off between performance and longevity.  I would say that the people who actually put 500 or 1000 games on a single ball are in the minority now a days anyways.  

Yosh... any chance the lane conditions may have changed for you?  Its hard for me to believe that all of a sudden the ball won't move a board, when a month (or a few weeks) ago it was acting normal.  I would see it as more of a gradual decline.  

S^2
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"They do a very good job of flying around on the football field and carousing (http://"http://www.thefreedictionary.com/carousing") the football carrier."
- Emmitt Smith 11/04/07
-Not only is he a poor commentator, but he fails to show basic knowledge of the English language- fire him!
Title: Re: How Long Does the Black Widow Last?
Post by: yoshii on November 08, 2007, 05:23:34 PM
quote:
quote:

The Widow for me just started to die out after 1000 games, hot water bath, resurfacing, baking, nothing worked. It was the first ball to significantly lose reaction on me.


Assuming that you paid retail at $189, you are looking at around $0.19/game (providing you pitch it in the waste can and not "resell it" on eBay or the like.  Sounds as though you ended up with a pretty good deal.  

The high-tec hook monster coverstocks just don't simply seem to last as long as they used to.. I guess its a trade off between performance and longevity.  I would say that the people who actually put 500 or 1000 games on a single ball are in the minority now a days anyways.  

Yosh... any chance the lane conditions may have changed for you?  Its hard for me to believe that all of a sudden the ball won't move a board, when a month (or a few weeks) ago it was acting normal.  I would see it as more of a gradual decline.  

S^2
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+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
"They do a very good job of flying around on the football field and carousing (http://"http://www.thefreedictionary.com/carousing") the football carrier."
- Emmitt Smith 11/04/07
-Not only is he a poor commentator, but he fails to show basic knowledge of the English language- fire him!


nope the lane conditions were all the same. it did gradually go down in hook. thats when i bled it out for about 1 hour or so. wiped it all off with a clean microfiber towel, and polished it back to origianl finish. worked for about another 10 games, then slowly started to lose performance. i cleaned it after i bowled everytime. thinking about just getting another BW or maybe a NM
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Yoshii.
Hammer Black Widow
Brunswick BVP Rampage
Columbia 300 Resurgence