What A Bowling Ball Is Made Of – Inside, Outside, Reasons Why Materials Are Chosen, etc.

How are Bowling Balls Made

Bowling balls have historically been made out of a very hard wood called Lignum vitea. In 1905 the first rubber bowling ball was produced. After this, rubber balls dominated the industry. No matter what center you went to you would find rubber balls. That lasted until the 70s. Then a new material came on the scene, polyester. In the 80s yet another material became popular, urethane. Then around 1990 there was a big change in the design of bowling balls. The design of the ball cores. The cores were dense bocks inside of the ball that affects the ball’s balance.

A material called reactive urethane was introduced as a new product for a surface layer. This new material was coupled with new innovative core designs. This combination changed the sport drastically. Once the reactive balls were introduced, the first full winter season saw an increase of perfect games by 20%.

Some core shapes are a light bulb, spherical, and elliptical. There is also a method called combination cores where one core of a specific shape and density is within a second core with a specific shape and density. Cores are made by adding a heavy substance like bismuth, graphite or barium to a resin or ceramic to make the core very dense. A ceramic core is said to produce harder hitting balls because the ceramic does not absorb any energy by that part of the core.

Final stages of ball creation are to confirm the ball is the right size, sand the ball to the desired texture and then box it and ship it. The process of making a bowling ball is complex in its own right. The combination of a dense core and rock solid surface layer help to make a great bowling ball.