jake02675
off to a rocking start
Member since December 2018
Posts: 1
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Post by jake02675 on Dec 4, 2018 21:02:22 GMT -5
I am tumbling Bowling balls. I just started using my own made tumbling machine. I’m having trouble with getting them polished. I tried using coarse as my first. Medium grind as my second. Prepolish/Finegrind as my third and finally aluminum oxide as my fourth. The balls are made out of rock they just didn’t shine after my first batch. I’m going to attach my reddit that shows the picture of the balls https://www.reddit.com/r/rockhounds/comments/a378s0/rock_tumbling_bowling_balls_i_am_just_wondering_i/
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Post by aDave on Dec 4, 2018 21:16:02 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum. Personally, I can't help you with what you're dealing with. I'm tagging Drummond Island Rocks to see if he can help you. You're dealing with a material that many of us call bowlerite, and he's played with that stuff before.
ETA: Misread your post. I now see the balls are actually rock. The bowlerite I mentioned tends to be the plastic exterior of bowling balls. Two different animals. I think Bill below has covered the questions that should be asked. ETA ETA: I have a stupid question. Are you sure they are stone? I couldn't find anything on the 'net about candlepin balls being stone. Yep, I looked. In hindsight, I'd actually be surprised if they were rock considering wear on a wood surface alley. Maybe I didn't do the right searches, but I"m wondering if the balls are actually synthetic on the outside and not stone. Not saying it isn't possible, but most references I found mentioned the balls were either urethane or plastic on the outside. If that's the case, there's no surprise you couldn't get a polish.
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Post by grumpybill on Dec 5, 2018 9:40:04 GMT -5
What type of stone are the balls made from? Did you use a lot of small (pea and jelly bean size) pebbles in the barrel with the balls? Can you post photos of your tumbler? How long did you run each stage? What did the balls look like before you tumbled them?
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Post by vegasjames on Dec 5, 2018 19:22:04 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum.
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Post by grumpybill on Dec 5, 2018 20:26:12 GMT -5
...I"m wondering if the balls are actually synthetic on the outside and not stone... The OP says they're urethane on the RTH Facebook page. He also put up a short video of his tumbler.
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Post by aDave on Dec 5, 2018 20:39:44 GMT -5
...I"m wondering if the balls are actually synthetic on the outside and not stone... The OP says they're urethane on the RTH Facebook page. He also put up a short video of his tumbler. Thanks Bill. That makes sense now. Above, he mentioned they were "rock," but after my research I had a hard time believing that. If they're urethane/plastic, it's going to (probably) take a whole new regimen to get a polish out of them other than tumbling. Maybe the bowlerite wizards will now be able to step in.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 5, 2018 21:14:29 GMT -5
I avoided answering this due to confusion over what the material was. I agree with the posts above about them being urethane not stone. I have an unfair advantage when it comes to the subject. I have all of the tools and supplies that a bowling pro shop has for resurfacing and polishing bowling balls. My bowlerite pendants are created using bowling sanding pads and bowling ball polish. For these candlepin balls I would just make a quick jig to make them fit into my bowling ball spinner and in 5-10 minutes they would be as shiny as new. This is my ball spinner. The ball sits down in it and I just hold various grit sanding pads against it until it is ready to polish. This spinner is a $600 piece of equipment but I also have one I made myself using a lapidary flat lap grinder. This is pendant made from a resin bowling ball using sanding pads and bowling ball polish Chuck
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Post by aDave on Dec 5, 2018 21:33:27 GMT -5
Chuck, Drummond Island Rocks , you never cease to amaze me in the equipment you have on hand. Kudos to you in that regard. I'm glad you jumped in, as it would seem there was some confusion about the ball exterior. Stone vs plastic certainly makes a big difference. Thanks for popping in.
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