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Better balls please

bartron

bartron

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Hornchurch, Essex.
If you ever look at the surface of a carbon steel bearing with a magnifying glass, you'll see that it looks like it has moon craters on the surface. They aren't visible to the naked eye but they're there, even when polished to a mirror shine.
Stainless steel is much less porous than carbon steel bearings so they are kinder to the playfield and seem much faster with a mirror finish. They may also be a little cheaper in the long run too. I've never seen them pit out like carbon steel bearings so I have been able to reuse them over and over again after running them through a buffer.

The only problem with stainless steel bearings is that they're not very magnetic so they don't work well on games that use magnets to hold or move the ball.

http://www.gmsball.co.uk

search for stainless steel, select unit, milimetres >26mm 27mm is the size.
 
Thanks for this, very interesting.

The "27mm AISI 420 Stainless Steel Balls" are £6.18 each (although they drop to £2.67 each for 10). Would you say they're six times better than a "standard" £1 pinball? How long have you been using them?

I might try some as my take on it would be that a ball that stays shiner, and therefore smoother, for longer is doing less damage to the playfield surface and parts as it whizzes around.

That site states:

  • Stainless Steel AISI 420
    A martensitic stainless steel AISI 420 is magnetic and hardenable. It is resistant to corrosion and can be used effectivly in non-aggressive environments. Balls produced in AISI 420 are hardened to 50 to 56 HRC - slightly less than chrome steel, and can be used in place of chrome steel in all but the most severe applications.
But I wonder if the chrome would be better?

  • Chrome Steel (AISI 52100, 100cr6 SUJ2, EN31B, 1.3505)
    AISI 52100 Chrome Steel was developed for the manfacture of bearings. It is very widely used and has properties optimised for the manufacture of bearing components.
    for this reason balls manufactured from Chrome steel represent the bulk of all precision ball production worldwide, and balls are available in the widest range of size and grade of any material.
Chrome is also about half the price: £3.64 each for £13.74 for 10. No idea of the magnetic properties but that wouldn't matter in my classic-era single ball games.
 
I have been using them for a time now and find that do last longer than the normal highly polished ones, there seems to be a 'case' on normals that wears out after 2 - 3 goes in the tumbler.
maybe Ill order the chrome ones and report back. :)
but I would have thought the chrome ones are just the same as normal
 
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Note that (most) pinballs are technically 1 1/16 inch in size. So you should select the 26.9875mm size (or 1.0625in).
However, I can't imagine any playfield part being troubled by the 13 micron difference. It does make it slightly easier to save the ball!
 
Interesting thread, and new balls stop looking new very quickly. My wpt has the captive lock bars and a ball spinning in there really shows you the damage it picks up after just tens of games

Given the amount of play your game will get in home use, compared to when it was earning its keep, I don't think this will matter very much though. Just change the regular ones from time to time
 
I'll be trying out your balls when they arrive in the post Andy :thumbs:

Now, lets see if Dan can avoid quoting this out of context ;)
 
But you've gone for carbon steel balls, not chrome. I've been on a road trip so haven't sent them yet. Is carbon steel what you want.

I recommend chrome steel balls for all pins unless they have ball grabbing magnets.
 
Was making a failed attempt at a joke Andy, I still need your magnetic friendly balls. Can only imagine just how magnetised regular ones would be on LOTR ;)
 
I have to say, there are some balls that get instantly magnetised by my JM machine and become like magnets themselves. It only happens on the stainless variety and once it happens the balls become useless in any machine due to sticking together in the trough. Its a mad, once in a blue moon occurance but one that really get on my t*ts.

The only balls I can get to work in it are Stern originals (came from my first run 2011 Tron)
 
Nothing wrong with your balls, @pinballmania ;)

But you know us, we all like something extra shiny, so when someone says "Hey! Look at my shiny new balls!" we all wonder whether paying an extra £5.18 would make the slightest bit of difference?

I've got Andy's "standard" £1 balls in all three of my classic-era pins (no magnetism worries for me) and they're great. I think the most important thing is to keep your pins clean. Due to restricted space I tend to keep the glass off because I'm always fiddling around inside. I keep a sheet over the cabinet to keep out dust but not glass does make doing a regular clean easy. I've got a soft brush attachment for the hoover and super-soft artist brush for difficult corners, so I regularly suck up all the grot and then give the playfield a quick polish.

As all men of a certain age should do... check your balls regularly :p
 
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