Turning non wood materials

[Sebastian Montagano]

I have seen online how people turn bowling balls. They are extremely cheap on eBay and other used places, but through my research I realized they can be dangerous. Some materials in vintage bowling balls can be extremely hard and sometimes toxic. I was wondering if anyone had experience in doing this, or could tell me a good bowling ball to turn that will be safe and not to hard.

Thank you very much,
Sebastian

 

[Bob Sheppard]

I have seen online how people turn bowling balls. They are extremely cheap on eBay and other used places, but through my research I realized they can be dangerous. Some materials in vintage bowling balls can be extremely hard and sometimes toxic. I was wondering if anyone had experience in doing this, or could tell me a good bowling ball to turn that will be safe and not to hard.

Thank you very much,
Sebastian

Sorry, although I've turned a lot of unusual materials, a bowling ball isn't one of them. But they are plastic, and plastic generally turns very nicely. Are bowling balls uniform all the way through? That's something I'd be concerned with.
I hope you come back with any progress on this.

 

[Gary Beasley]

This might answer your question about the composition.

View: https://youtu.be/7rK8X2QkeN0

 

[Mark Jundanian]

Interesting that the core is not spherical.

 

[GRJensen]

Interesting that the core is not spherical.

Doesn't have to be, so long as it is balanced and weight controlled (they compensate for the average amount of material lost in drilling for finger holes). Many moons ago, I worked at a bowling alley that was tied to a pro shop where we did our own drilling. In those days, balls were made of hard rubber and composites, and an undrilled ball out of the box from the factory would not roll straight until we drilled them.

 

[Bob Sheppard]

This might answer your question about the composition.

View: https://youtu.be/7rK8X2QkeN0

That was pretty cool! I bowled for a long time, but never thought about what went into a bowling ball. Thanks!

 

[William Fordham]

I've turned several different brands of solid surface countertop material. It turns and polishes up nicely though some will wear your tools down more quickly.