I can only speak of past experiences...
Anybody that tells you yes for a fact or no for a fact is full of crap because different ball manufactors all say different things (brunswick recommends or recommended this, ebonite says no way).
The Good: With remove old lane oil, which should, in theroy, revive performance....
The Bad: Cores/Coverstock cool at different temps, so the coverstock my cool and shrink over a heated and expanded core, causing core seperation or the coverstock to crack. There is also a debate as wether plasticizers will release, and if they have anything to do with the ball hooking....
Plasticizer is the left over residue from manufactoring reactive resin balls, and even different companys say different things about the amount of plasticizer in the ball and its ablity to create ball reaction. Brunswick says that in the studies and testing, left over plasticizer has no effect on ball reaction. My opinion is that I would tend to agree with them.
My oven goes to about 140 at the lowest, which is what I set it at. If you are going to do this, I would recommend the lowest setting, and check the core temp by sticking a finger in the thumbhole. If it starts to get very warm to the touch, I would stop right away, although I have never had this problem.
Norm Duke Hammer- about 700 games on it, never had been cleaned between games. I had it redrilled, I'm a lefty and my brother was a righty who gave it to me. No hook at all, ball just skidded, never hooked. Tried sanding it, no difference.
Then I baked it, leaving it in for about 8-10 minutes at a time. For the first hour the ball was covered and dripping with oil, by the half of second hour, only the track area had oil and it was very little. By the end of the second hour, it was dry. The hole time, the core never heated up.
Resanded to 1000 grit wet and polished for a factory finish, and to this day I am amazed at the hook of this ball. It was literaly brand new.
I have baked my V2 particle, Cherry Bomb, a friends Cherry Bomb, my brothers BCB (with no changes to surface, this ball went from dead to a hook monster agian, bigger differnce then the Norm Duke Hammer, lol), and my Vicous Particle. I have never had any damnage to the ball, and everytime I do it, the ball comes out with a brand new reaction.
Like I said, I can only speak from experenice, but I recommend it...
