“Changing of the Pit”
Thursday, May 21st, 2009I am always looking for ways to improve the design of the bowling lane. One thing I haven’t been satisfied with is that the ball sometimes rebounds back onto the lane (or hits the back of the tail plank or back edge of the gutters) when it is rolled very hard. I have a lot of cushioning on the back wall of the pit, it is wrapped in black vinyl and looks good and feels good, but I’m finding it isn’t always practical with bowlers who roll the ball harder than normal. I don’t want to have to be that nervous bowling lane owner who has to tell people (like my own dad, who rolls it really fast) to slow down, etc.
One option is to deepen the pit (it currently extends 16 inches behind the lane) but that would involve removing the rear wall and back end of the sidewalls and i really don’t want to have to do that. Also, I am concerned with the pin boys and pin girls being able to comfortably reach up to the headpin spot on the pin table when setting pins if they are moved back further. And finally, I really don’t have any more room in my basement to extend it anyways so that’s not really an option.
Although I have 16 inches behind the tail plank, the padding (pit cushion) on the back wall was around 4 inches thick when I surrounded it with vinyl so it was really more like 12 inches or less.
So, last night I removed the vinyl and padding from the back wall of the pit and I am playing around with a hanging pin curtain. It is basically a stiffer floor mat with black carpet on one side and a rubber backing on the other. I am thinking this will absorb the impact of the ball and pins without rebounding the ball back onto the lane when it is thrown hard. I am working on this now and will update it when I finalize it. Initial results show that it works great when the ball is rolled so it stays on the lane and hits the curtain, but when the ball goes into the gutters and exits into the back corners the curtain isn’t “catching” it and it loudly hits the corner of the back wall. I have an idea and made another trip to Home Depot today so we’ll see how that goes.
I have such a love for bowling, the nostalgia that surrounds it, and the way the equipment and pinsetters work, but I have absolutely no experience working in a real center or on real machines. I am trying to learn all I can online and I am spending more time at www.bowltech.com trying learn all I can and soak up info like a sponge from all of the knowledge and know-how that goes on there. I still have a dream of coming up with a fully automatic half-scale pinsetter to go along with my lane.
I am also still working on my AMF Magic Triangle style (with Pindicators) masking unit and am excited about it and will also share pics of that project soon.
That’s all for now bowling fans. Thanks again for reading and if any one has any ideas on improving the lane or other good resources for me to expand my knowledge of pinsetter design and operation please share it with me.
-Chad