Is a trackball made of polycarbonate? perhaps phenolic resin?

[seawolfgoo]

Does anyone know what material trackballs are made of?  Any information would be helpful.  For fun (or obsession) I've been collecting various trackballs.  The marbled balls (ex Capcom bowling) are definitely heavier than the solid colored trackballs of the same size.  I don't see any difference between a white happ vs a white betson vs a modern white betson clone like x-arcade.  Not sure what the old tiny suzo ball is made of, but it's composition is totally different than a small happ ball.  Thus far I've stayed in the official arcade parts arena, but I'm tempted to try an inexpensive 3" acrylic ball with golden tee, or a 2 1/4" billard ball with centipede, or a candle pin 4.5" bowling ball with the incredible machine. Imagine the difficulty, health benefit?, and fun? of a 4lb 3" chrome steel bearing in segasonic the hedgehog.  Thanks for indulging me.

[PL1]

I'm tempted to try an inexpensive 3" acrylic ball with golden tee, or a 2 1/4" billard ball with centipede, or a candle pin 4.5" bowling ball with the incredible machine. Imagine the difficulty, health benefit?, and fun? of a 4lb 3" chrome steel bearing in segasonic the hedgehog.

IIRC the first two have been tried before and worked fine.

Third one should be fine.

Fourth one might work for a while.
- Seems like it might be a bit heavy for the bearings and also result in faster wear on the rollers.   


Scott

[RandyT]

You may find that acrylic has some problems.  The possibly biggest issue is that they are lighter than the balls normally used.  I think that the shiny finish might also be a bit less durable.  Acrylic is extremely hard, thus more brittle, which means that it may be a bit more abrasive to the rollers as well.

No problems with a billiard ball, and with the right support structure, the candlepin bowling ball would be pretty darned cool   I recall seeing a massive bowling arcade game once over a decade ago, which used a full-sized bowling ball.  That was something to behold.

[seawolfgoo]

Thanks for the replies.  I ordered a diamond tester on amazon, it runs on a 9v and costs $10.  The theory is that this device measures heat through the material under test.  Since acrylic burns well, and polycarbonate doesn't like to burn, the device might measure a difference between the two.  For additional reference I did weigh some of the 3" trackballs. The two color blue/white & brown/tan balls are 11.3 oz.  The white/black/translucent blue/clear/pearl are 9.8-9.9 oz.  The only deviation was the ultimarc white at 10.1oz.  I have one 4 1/2" trackball from armadillo racing that weighs 2lb 6oz and the official candle pin bowling balls are 2lb 7oz.   I also ordered two 3" acrylic balls so that I can test their weight and thermal conductivity delta via the diamond tester.  Just having fun, thanks again.

[Ropi Jo]

For fun (or obsession) I've been collecting various trackballs.  Thanks for indulging me.

WOW!! Never heard of that before. And I thought I was a bit strange!

[RandyT]

For additional reference I did weigh some of the 3" trackballs. The two color blue/white & brown/tan balls are 11.3 oz.  The white/black/translucent blue/clear/pearl are 9.8-9.9 oz.

I think what you are seeing is the use of different amounts of "filler" material.  Believe it or not, the balls can be ordered to be whatever specific gravity one happens to be looking for.  At high volumes of filler material, this can affect finish quality, so there's a limit if you want a glass-like finish.  And if you want perfectly clear, you are pretty much stuck with whatever the base material happens to be.

[seawolfgoo]

Just an update, the acrylic ball arrived as did the diamond tester.  The $15 3" acrylic ball looks good, it rolls well, and weighs the same as a happ ball.  The electric diamond tester showed that both balls are not diamonds.  They both moved the meter by 1 unit, so it failed as cheap device to determine which is which.  The tiny ice pick tip of the tester left the same size test dimple on both balls.  All in good fun, the search continues for a test that won't destroy them via flame or impact.