The rules talk of the situation of boules breaking has anybody ever known it to happen?

I would think with modern manufacturing methods it would be very rare.

While you may think that stainless steel boules could withstand any amount of abuse -- over time, the metal will wear thin enough to actually create a gash (opening) in the metal skin. This can be especially true when playing on rockey surfaces.

Now, the rules also talk about when the diameter of a boule is worn down a particular amount of millimetres the boule is no longer vaild - so you'd probably find the "worn" boule to be likely found invalide well before the point at which the walls become so thin as to fracture.

As for actually splitting into pieces, most boules are created from 2 hemispheres (except for "poured boules" as bronze boules are make in 1 mold). The 2 hemispheres could open up (the weld could fail) if sufficient material along the weld's "equator" were removed in normal (extended) game play.

I've never seen it happen (but then again I'm a relatively new player).

Jeff.

I've only ever seen one, and the owner told me it was a 20-year old boule!

Interestingly, "you couldn't see the join" - it was a pretty ragged break but the 2 halves fitted perfectly together.

I was told by a manufacturer that they do get occasional breakages, usually due to an imperfect weld on hard boules, but this was pretty rare.

I'm no metalurgy expert but I believe that a good weld should be as strong, if not stronger, than the rest of the metal, so if a boule does fracture through fatigue, it wouldn't necessarily be along the weld.

I did once try and break a cheap leisure boule, through hitting it very hard with a heavy lump of metal. Although I made a few impressive dents, it didn't break!

Regards,

Ray