Precision Bowling Products Inc

Precision Bowling Products Inc.

FAQ about the Ovalmatic Drilling Machines:

Drilling: Once you have drawn your cut lines on the ball place the ball in the jig. To align the center of the grip, place a drill bit into the chuck and bring down the drill so it is just above the ball surface. Unlock the right hand span handle and move the drill back and forth until it follows the grip line. Place the ring on and tighten. (Note: excessive force is not needed to hold ball in place.) Now the ball is ready to be drilled. We recommend drilling the fingers first. Use the right hand span handle to bring the drill bit close to the cut line on the finger side of the grip and use the front span handle for the bridge width. By just tapping the handles you can get the edge of the drill lined up with your cut lines. Repeat the same procedure for the rest of the holes. (Please Note: the movement of the span handles will not affect the pitches that you set by moving the milling table).

Pitches: The pitches are set by moving the milling table for your laterals, both right and left, forward and reverse pitches.

Drilling Oval Holes: There is a lot of opinions about drilling oval holes and the use of doing it with drill bits. You can use a drill bit but there is some problems with this. Drill bits do not have the right cutting tool geometry for cutting on the side of a hole. When you make a side cut for an oval hole a drill bit will pound because there is only one tooth cutting and the drill will want to walk away from the hole. If your drills are very sharp it will work for a while, but once the corner polishes a little from the abrasive cores, it will want to push away from the edge of the hole. We recommend using End Mills and yes they are expensive, but they will last for many years. End Mills have the proper cutting geometries (helix on the flutes, shear angles, and hook angles), which allow them to cut straight and not push away from the hole. You also have four (4) flutes, which makes the cut stable and smooth.

Digital Readouts: The two (2) axis's DRO'S will give you more accuracy especially when drilling oval holes. You can measure in decimals, fractions, and metrics. They really come into play for doing repeat work. Once you do a ball for a customer, mark down the info on their spec sheet you will have it for the next time. This is especially handy if your customer is using an oval, the person can just call you and order a ball and come in and pick it up. It will reduce there time in the shop and give you more time to spend on your new customers.

Thumb Slugs: When drilling thumbholes that require a thumb slug, we suggest that after you drill the finger holes check your measurement to the thumb cut line. Drill the finished hole size, and then change drills for the size of the slug that you are going to use and drill the hole. By using the right span handle rotate the ball towards you so the thumbhole is facing towards you. Put glue in the hole (about half way down) and knock the slug down with a hammer. Rotate the ball back up so the slug is under the spindle. Set your pitches back to zero and carefully cut the slug down. After you have done this reset your pitches draw a new cut line and align the drill using the span handles and drill the hole.

Oval Thumb with Slug: Use the same procedure as above for thumb slugs except for this. Let's say you are going to put a 7/8 ovaled hole at 35 degrees with a 1/8" cut. Be sure to set your pitches but before you drill the pilot hole with the 7/8drill, move the edge of the drill past the cut line about 1/16 of an inch. This represents about half of the 1/8" cut, and will keep the hole in the middle of the slug after you do the oval work. Drill the hole, change drills and drill the hole for the slug. Insert the slug and cut done as described above. Reset the pitches and draw new cut lines on the slug. Put the 7/8 drill back into the chuck and line up with the cut lines. Now move the point of the drill approximately 1/16 left of the center line and drill the hole, hitting your span cut line. Unlock the protractor base and turn the jig to the right to 35 degrees and lock the base. Now without moving the span handles move the pitch handles on the milling table until the 7/8 drill goes back into the hole. Cut the oval moving in small increments about 1/32" at a time until you get to the desired side cut. Use the lateral pitch movement to make the cuts, if you have the digitals mark down the digital numbers on the spec sheet for future drillings.

Grips: Because of the versatility of the ovalmatic machine you can drill almost any grip you want without taking the ball out, weather it's an offset grip, thumb inline, CLT (centerline transposition), or even the new max-y grip.

Repairing Balls: If your shop is in a bowling center you probably get balls to repair from lane damage. You can mill out gouges in the ball by using the jig to hold the ball and using a small end mill to mill out the damaged area and do a professional job of it. The same with repairing cracked out finger holes from inserts, and make it look neat without having to remove the area with large drills.

PRECISION BOWLING PRODUCTS INC
TEL: 585-637-9173 FAX: 585-637-5078
E-Mail at ovalmat@rochester.rr.com