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Fig 1 |
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Large Wooden Ball Pedestal |
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How do you create a large wooden ball without an enormous and costly lathe?
The wooden ball shown here is 36 inches in diameter and forms the pedestal of a large, 6-foot diameter, conference room table. The ball is made out of multiple segments of mahogany that are glued and clamped together in a series of rings as shown in Figure 1. |
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Fig 2 |
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Once the glue has set and the clamps removed, we have a ball which consists of a series of rings that need to be rounded (Figure 2). There are basically two options to do this: the first is to mount the ball on an enormous lathe and turn it down to the desired shape. This approach requires a curricular template that must be followed. There is also the issue of continual grain direction changes that makes it difficult to get a smooth cut with a chisel. Once turned down to the desired shape the ball still requires sanding to give it a smooth finish. All in all, this is a difficult task requiring a very large and expensive lathe.
The second approach is to use a method similar to that used for creating circles using a rotating sanding disc.
We have accomplished this using a proprietary system that creates a perfectly spherical and smooth ball as shown above. Using this system we can create a ball of almost any size without the issues of chipping due to changing grain direction.
If you would like a ball similar to this for a table pedestal, or to display a special sculpture, please contact us.
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