Sphere Jigs

[Roy]

I am pretty new at turning.  i have a couple of projects that i want to do that need to be spheres.

Does anyone use a sphere jig?  Did you make your own or buy one?

Is it a useful purchase or is it better without one?

Thank you,

[lew]

Here's a couple of videos from Alan Stratton on doing it without a special jig

 

 

 

 

Here's a video on making a dedicated jig-

 

 

As far as buying one, if you are going to make a lot of spheres maybe a premade jig will be what you need-

 

https://carterproducts.com/turning-tools/perfect-sphere

 

https://chefwarekits.com/Sphere-Jigs-c9880436

 

 

Edited October 30, 2023 by lew

[HandyDan]

I have just bought them when needed.  Small balls for toys aren't very expensive.

I have made them on the lathe just by eye too.

[Roy]

Thanks for the videos Lew! 

He makes it look easy.  If I can get this figured out, I will be making a lot of balls.  That jig is pretty simple, I think it would be worth trying.

[lew]

4 hours ago, Roy said:

Thanks for the videos Lew! 

He makes it look easy.  If I can get this figured out, I will be making a lot of balls.  That jig is pretty simple, I think it would be worth trying.

Please show us the results!!

[Roy]

Oh I will.  I am in the process of making a jig now, at work.  

[Gerald]

One thing to remember about balls is that unless the wood is completely dry they will crack in time. Good Luck\

 

Ok I am old fashioned and will always be balls to me.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Gerald

[Roy]

 Well, here is my first attempt at a ball.  My my wife's niece is playing in the Wisconsin WIAA State Volleyball Tournament this weekend.  I made her this volleyball all her teammates can sign as a keepsake.  

 

I used a sphere jig I made for some of it.  I need a lot of practice

I learned alot on this project.  I need to take time to make some cups to hold the ball.  I need to take more time on the prep work.  There are plenty flaws, that could have been avoided.  

It was alot of work but alot of fun.  I don't want to do another volleyball for awhile but have some ideas for baseballs I want to do.

 

[lew]

WOW! Looks great! I'd be interested in knowing how you did the glue up.

[Roy]

I will post more next week or maybe later this weekend with a few pictures and some details.

[Grandpadave52]

Very cool Roy. Your wood choices and glue-up really capture the look of a volleyball. Great idea as well. Good luck to your niece. Attended LOTS of volleyball matches from 5th grade through high school for my youngest granddaughter.

[Gerald]

Good job . You are braver than I, would never try one that large.

[Cal]

That came out great Roy

[Roy]

The volleyball was a big hit!  We gave it to the niece after they won state on Saturday night.  She played amazing!  She had 24 kills.  It was really fun to watch.   

She really liked the volleyball and had her teammates all sign it.  The parents thought it was cool too and started asking a lot of questions about it.  I was getting worried they were going to start placing there orders.  I can never say no, but i am not up to doing another one for awhile.  Too many Christmas projects to start on.  Thankfully no orders were placed!

[Cal]

Congrats!  To you for the great project and to your niece

[Grandpadave52]

Congratulations to your niece Roy on the State Title. Very cool. 24 kills IS a spectacular performance especially in a high level match.

 

Kudos to you for the vision to make the make the memorabilia piece for such an event. Thanks for the update from both fronts. Well done

[Roy]

Yeah she is pretty impressive.  She is only a junior and has already committed to Wisconsin on a volleyball scholarship.  I guess being 6'3 helps a little to.  Best thing about it is, she is a really good kid with a good head on her shoulders.

[Roy]

It never crossed my mind to take many pictures of the process.  I never thought i would be discussing it with anyone.  Here is the little bit that i do have.

 

I cut the "slats of the volleyball in equal widths.  I figured them to be about 1 3/4" and I used black walnut in between for the seam.  There are 3 slats and 2 seams per side.

Once the pieces were glued up.  I cut all the edges at a 45 miter so they were exactly the same. (These are different than the ones i used for the ball.  Same thing but smaller)

 

Once cut, trimmed, planed,  I was ready for glue up.  This was the tricky part for me.  I started gluing the pieces into a cube.  You have to alternate the directions to get the volleyball look.  I never glued anything without being able to use nails so i stuggled quite a bit.   Clamps were not helping so I ended up using tape

 

Things I wil do different next time....I would make like a corner back stop so i could push the cube tight against something to help it from slipping.  I will also get some band clamps or the ratchet strap clamps to get it tight.  Tape was all I had at the time and did ok but one corner didnt stay as tight as i would have liked.  

 

So now i had this big cube that was a little to big for my lathe.  I took my grinder and arbortech power carving wheel and shaved down all the corners and made it more into a cylinder until i could turn it.   

 

After that,  I turned until I was done.  I never took a picture of my Sphere Jig that i made.  I will post that at some point on another project. ( I have some baseballs to turn)

 

This project too a lot of time.  Most of it was just inexperience and trial and error.  I think it will go much better if/when I make another one.

 

I hope this all makes sense.  I will take more pictures next project.  

 

Thank you for reading!

 

 

[Cal]

Not being a turner, I would have been a bit (lot) apprehensive about putting that on the lathe when it was just glued up with tape to hold it!  You've given me a lot of respect for this method of glue ups.   Was this cube solid or did it have a hollow core?  Sure interested in seeing those baseballs.

[Roy]

It had a hollow core.  About 4" in the middle.  

I wasnt crazy about the glue up but just went with it.  What could possibly go wrong?

I am definitely getting some strap clamps for future projects.  I didnt even have any ratchet straps around to help me.  

 

I am just happy it worked out for the best and it didn't all come apart.