How are Bowling Pins Made?
The manufacturing of bowling pins has been in constant evolution since the inception of the automatic pin setter in 1946. Until that time, bowling pins were made from a single block of hard maple wood. However, because the pin setters were much rougher on the pins, many pins began splintering and cracking, jamming the machinery.
Since 1946, there have been advancements in the manufacturing of bowling pins. These methods are more durable.
Modern bowling pins are manufactured with several layers of smaller and larger pieces laminated together to create the core of the pin.
- The core of a pin begins with a post and is made up of three pieces of wood, which are 2.8 inches in width and are 15.5 inches in length. They are slightly rectangular in shape when they are glued together.
- The panel of the bowling pin is made at the same time. It is made up of eight strips of wood, which are 16 inches in length by approximately three-quarters of an inch in width. The pieces are glued together to make a 7" x 16" board. This piece when assembled is run through the planer to smooth the sides. Next, it is trimmed into four parts. Each part is then glued to the post to form the bottom of the pin, which is known as the belly.
- When of the pieces have dried, it is run back through the planer to make the post a perfect 2.6 inch square.
- The assembled pieces are then processed through a machine which weighs and calculates its density. This is the step which will determine how much wood the machine must remove in order to meet United States Bowling Congress' pin specifications.
- Once the final wood pieces are assembled around the core, which is now known as the billet, it will be placed on a lathe where a single blade trims the entire pin into the standard bowling pin shape.
- The pin will then be coated with its final coating. This is done through the use of an injection molding process. Pins are placed into the molds and the coating material is introduced through high pressure through small openings in the mold. The high pressure not only coats the wood, but it also compresses it increasing its density and making the pin more resistant to denting when in use.
- The pin is cooled with water through the mold. It is then removed from the mold and any coating left behind is trimmed from the pin's surface.
-The pin is then sanded to remove any excess coating. Once this is complete any special letter or emblems are put on the pin.
- The final protective coating is sprayed onto the pin and the bottom hard plastic ring, which will protect the bottom of the pin, is glued into place.