How does the wooden flooring on bowling lanes stay flat with thousands of bowling ball impacts per day?
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Tongue and groove planed planks which are glued down then heavily coated in urethane which protects the boards
The planks are much thicker than you might think from looking at them as they look like thin wooden flooring.
The planks are taller than they are wide, so you’re looking at the top of 2”+ thick pieces of the same type of wood they make baseball bats out of. It’s a solid and very hard floor.
For one, they aren’t truly flat, though the changes in elevation are usually quite subtle. For another, the woods used are chosen for being dense and springy – often wood of the Maple tree, though it’s plausible to use others. Maple wood can take a lot of abuse, and springy enough to not dent easily, though over time, bowling lanes need resurfacing and refinishing before being replaced.
It’s also noteworthy that bowlers who play professionally or passionately use less impactful techniques. Launching the ball in an arc that lands hard on the lane is harder to get controlled results, and uses more energy in the impact than a more parallel shot that is gentler on the facility. Some bowling alleys will guide inexperienced players to the more worn out lanes and preserve the better condition lanes for pro players.
Avid bowler here.
They are actually synthetic plastic now. I have a few samples of leftovers from an alley refresh and it’s just hard plastic. Harder than any ball, so it doesn’t wear easily.
They used to be made out of solid wood and it would definitely get impact marks. Most alleys with wood lanes would remind people no lofting the ball far.
Wood lanes literally are shaved down every couple of years to make them smooth again. They are becoming more rare to see and are a real treat to bowl on because of the character each lane gets from the years of use.
It doesn’t.
New materials used now, but it used to be very hard durable wood with a significant amount of protective coat, and periodically resurfaced when the damage became too significant.
Years ago I installed the lanes a bowling alley. It was very interesting. Brunswick was who I was paid by. This was a union job. From what the Brunswick guys told us they were transitioning to laminate that was made to look like wood. It has a special core to mimic the wood feel for the play. Each lane has two types of wood. Pine where you walk, hard maple down the lane and pine again where the pins are. Sadly they had to change to laminate because the lanes had to have a certain density (number of growth ring per inch) and couldn’t find the proper wood that was needed.
To answer your question. The wood lanes would be sanded and refinished Every so often.
It doesn’t.
It certainly holds up better than any home floor. Because it’s much thicker, harder wood. And the finish is also much thicker and harder. So it does remain adequately flat for a very long time. But nevertheless the impact zone directly ahead of the foul line begins taking a beating and showing it on close enough inspection as soon as it goes into use. So lanes must be periodically and routinely closed and repaired. It’s a specialized segment of the flooring industry. Night work.
I used to work at a bowling alley years ago. These days bowling lanes are usually made of some kind of synthetic material instead of wood but the place I worked at had real wood. The wood is thick and very hard and has a protective coating on top. But the area in front of the foul line definitely gets dinged up some from the bowling balls dropping, just not so badly that it affects the bowler’s aim to any great degree.
Past the first few feet the ball will be rolling so will cause no damage and little wear (the lanes have an “oil” coating that is applied every day to reduce friction). Every 10 years or so the lanes will be refinished by sanding them down and re-applying the protective coating. I believe there is also a means of raising the lane slightly from underneath so the surface remains level with the gutters after sanding. Or possibly it is the gutters that are adjusted, I really don’t remember how that was done.
u/narrill
> Maybe you’re talking about something different than what I’m imagining, but I certainly wasn’t learning physics in 6th grade
(We in Europe have more complex school curricula.)
Every lane is unique. Pro bowlers usually study the lanes they are bowling on and use lane topography printouts to understand the flatness of the lane. Also, humidity and temperature play a big role in how the lanes will perform.
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