La Boule Bleue

Production secrets

Production

LA BOULE BLEUE boules are the only boules which are guaranteed for five years (with normal use).

What is the secret of our renown and the quality of our products? Passion! Our manufacturing process remains traditional, and each boule is individually tempered.

With the help of the Web, we would like to invite you to explore our production secrets and visit our workshop.

Preparing the boule

Firing

Our “production secret” is to be found in the firing of the Blue Boule. The boules are heated for 30-35 minutes in a special furnace: 850° for carbon steel boules, and 960° for stainless steel boules.

Then they are hardened. This operation consists in plunging the hot boules, one by one, in a bath of cold salt water (for the carbon steel boules), or in a solution of oil (for the stainless steel boules).

This plunging process causes the molecules of steel to contract, giving the boule its exceptional hardness.

Tempering

The aim of this process is to soften the boules (semi-hard, semi-soft, and super-soft models). The hardened boules are heated again to a temperature varying between 260 and 450° C. This second firing gives the boules a certain flexibility, in order to limit rebound when the boule hits the ground, or recoil when one boule is played against another.

Finish – the Blue Boule

The boules are polished in order to remove the scale that builds up during the heat treatment.

Then the stainless steel boules are brushed, and the carbon steel boules are varnished, in order to protect them against oxidation during storage. This artificial tint will gradually disappear with use.

Quality Control

Quality control ensures that each boule is checked for compliance (hardness, balance, diameter, weight). The official regulations of the Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et de Jeu Provençal allow a difference in weight of no greater than 1% more or less.