TenPin, your shopvac is sucking up the smoke from burning drill bits, and you won't see it. If you see a tinge of blue or darkening on the bit edges, sharpen them. A bit sharpener is not expensive, I have 2. And, use them often. A good investment.

I have a friend who is a CNC machinist and sharpened one of my bits for me earlier this year. He didn't recommend using any kind of manual / knife sharpening tool because of the precise angle of the cut on the edge of the bit. I'm sure most companies that offer sharpening would say the same, not sure how true it is but I trust his judgement and he has no reason to lie to me (I work on his equipment too, after all!). Dennis, where did you get your sharpener and what kind is it? I'm all for doing things myself, but only if it will give me the results I need and the equipment doesn't cost too much.

I know of one place that does sharpening for $7.50 per bit but it isn't local, so would take about a week to get them there and back. I had already decided next time I get some sharpened I would buy another of my most commonly used bits, I'm thinking that time has probably come now.

As for smoke, I have seen it once and I could smell it too, and it was one of those times I know I was pushing it a bit. Normally my bits come out warm to hot, but not so hot that I can't hold it in my hand. Erin, what would you consider too hot?

Smaller bit sizes sharpener is a Drill Doctor, for about $150.
The larger one at the shop is sold by Northern Industrial Tools, I think, about $400

One of my former drillers had his most used bits, 31/32(inserts) and 1 3/8 (slug size he used most often, sharpened several times and the size of the holes started to slowly decrease. I had a few balls drilled from before the bits were sharpened and a few from after and the same inserts would be tighter in the later drilled balls.

anyway, to get back to the original topic, i just found a ball at a tag sale, the guy was giving it away for free, so i picked it up. i took it in to my local Pro Shop and the owner said the ball was good quality, but that, due to the cracking around one of the finger holes (which he referred to as "stress cracking"), it was in its final days. the Pro Shop owner is very knowledgeable in the game, or at least it seems so to me. is there any way to fix the cracks around the holes, or is he correct in saying that it can't be fixed?

There is always the possibility of drilling out that area and plugging the whole area, but that's a lot of plug material and just increases the chance of it cracking again.

yeah, i actually decided to just have the thumb hole widened and just use the ball till it goes. it only cost me $1 to have the Pro Shop widen the thumb hole, and hopefully i can get some good use out of it until i can get the money to buy a newer ball with similar qualities.