Salvaging Ebonite from an old bowling ball

[BigguyZ]

OK, so I was on a date last Wednesday and we went to this old bowling alley that hasn't been updated since the 70's. They has a lot of old bowling balls there, and they're definitely made of ebonite (they weren't the ebonite brand).

So I asked how much to buy a ball, and the guy let me take one for free! I grabbed a green/black marbled ball. Looking at the finger grips, it looks like the thickness of the ebonite layer is about 1" or a little more.

What's the best way to salvage the material, and can you straighten the sections cut like some people do with more modern balls (using heat)?

Thanks!
Travis

 

[Fat Boy]

There is a great write up on bowling ball blanks in the library.

http://content.penturners.org/articles/2005/cuttingbowlingballs.pdf

i once used a chainsaw:biggrin::biggrin: but i would not advise that again, sawzall or bandsaw is the best way.

chris

 

[glycerine]

Now there's a real pen maker. On a date and thinking about pen materials!! Or maybe you just didn't really want to be on that date???

 

[alphageek]

Wow Travis... Good luck... there has been some threads lately on this and although this is a very cool material - be careful!! This can be a very dangerous endevour.

That being said... Give the owner a pen when done, and who knows how many other freebies you can get.... And send some my way (after figuring out how to cut it)... LOL

 

[BigguyZ]

Wow Travis... Good luck... there has been some threads lately on this and although this is a very cool material - be careful!! This can be a very dangerous endevour.

That being said... Give the owner a pen when done, and who knows how many other freebies you can get.... And send some my way (after figuring out how to cut it)... LOL

Well the bandsaw's out of commission at the moment, so it'll be a bit unless I go with trying with a sawzall.

And I'll definitely drop a slimline or two off- while saving plenty for a Gent or 5. :biggrin:! Of course, with my shop in the state it is- I'm not able to do anything at the moment.

 

[Fat Boy]

Well the bandsaw's out of commission at the moment, so it'll be a bit unless I go with trying with a sawzall.
.

just keep an eye on the heat with the sawzall blade, if it dulls it can melt the ball, yes i learned from experience.

 

[workinforwood]

I can't imagine cutting a bowling ball with a sawzall! If you do that, you might want to put on a diaper first, just in case. I would use the 12" chop saw. Install a concrete blade. Build a little frame to lock the ball in place. Cut the ball off to one side, then turn the ball on the flat spot. The depth of the skin can not be determined by looking in the holes. Some balls have a thicker section just for the hole locations. The only way to ever know anything is to cut it open.

 

[Seer]

Take it from me I have cut up 4 balls lately and you will need patience and a little insanity but here is how I did mine, they are not ebonite byt the are all acrylic but for the core.
How I do it now is cut around it with a battery powered cicular saw, it only has a 5 inch blade, then I put a prybar for nails into the cut and pound on it all the way around and it comes apart easy but then the fun begins I do the same to the halves and cut them with the same say and do them the same as the whole ball and it gets quartered with luck sometimes the core comes out if not then some hammering works but I found if you take a small blow torch to the core and heat it it becomes real soft and allows it to be chiseled real easily thus I get the most I can from it.