The Dickinson press., 1906-02-24
MAKING BILLIARD BALLS.

Few Men Capable Of Learning This
Peculiar Trade.
Few men are competent to turn a
billiard ball, and the business is exact
ing more skill than ever before in the
history Of ivory turning, for the reason
that never before in the history Of the
lathe was it so easy for an unskilled
workman to eat up his salary in a
wasteful manner Of cutting and turn
ing.
A first class billiard ball must be
two and ~three-eighths inches in diam
eter, absolutely round to the five thou
sandths part of an inch, free from
"barky" outside and sand cracks, Of
live ivory. white and clear. In order
to make a selection of q tusk's posi-
bilities-always to get three balls of
this regulation size and %clearness from
a tusk weighing from IS to $50 pounds,
allowing for the hollow portions and
avoiding the enamel and sand cracks
here Is the art of the competent ivory
turner, for which he is greatly under
paid and underappreciated.
The making Of a billiard ball in
wolves headwork. and handwork. There
is no automatic lathe combination that
eve will turn out a perfect billiard
ball however it may produce the pool
ball in its irregularity of form. But
before the trained hand a make
ready to turn out the perfect sphere of
the billiard ball the trained eye and
judgment of the turner will have been
taxed to their best effort. In the first
place the man will need to recognize
the quality of ivory. He must know
whether it be Of the best quality, as
we'll as of the most economical form In
the tusk. And when he has made his
purchase of the best possible material,
a single drafty window in his shop
when the mercury is 10 degrees above
zero may ruin his ivory stock in five
minutes.
Zanzibar and the general west coast
Of Africa produce the best elephant
ivory, while the Siberian ivory from
the dead mastodon is the least valu.
able, yet requiring good judgment to
distinguish it in many cases. This
dead" ivory from Siberia is less val
liable in a ball than is the composition
Of celluloid and bone dust. The tusk
Of the African elephant will run from
seventy-ave pounds to $50 pounds. But
no two tusks, even of the same weight,
present like possibilities in ball max
ing. One tusk may be blunt and short,
while the other is thin and running to
a sharp point. In a general way, how.
ever, a tusk that weighs $50 pounds
will be about five feet six inches long
Its general structure is that Of the
cows horn, running from a shell at
the base, gradually thickening until
the hollow disappears, a little short OF
half the tusk's length. From this end
ing Of the hollow the tusk tapers sharp
~ until, if it makes three billiard balls
of standard size and best quality, it is
oil that may be expected Of it for that
purpose. This means that a little less
than eight inches of the tusk's length
is available. How to dispose Of the
remainder of it to the best advantage
leaving only a few ounces to loss, is
the chief business Of the ivory worker
Cutting a tusk for the three bal
blocks is a job in itself. In the first
place, the length of the hollow cannot
be certain; also the outside Of the tusE
almost certainly will have sand cracks
In the enamel, and whether they be
deep or shallow will be of much con
sequence. But. allowing for these mi
mute cracks, which must be turned ou'
to the last shadow from the best ball
together with the last microscopic
trace of the enamel, the first block fol
the ball is cut as close as possible tt
the point of the tusk. After this frs
block is cut to the last limit Of econ
omy the others may be cut compare
lively easily.-Chicago Tribune.