Finish/Species For Bocce Balls

[Jason Christenson]

My brother in law would like to make a set of bocce balls (http://www.amazon.com/Park-BB-109-Bocce-Pro-Set/dp/B0009PVUW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1244840940&sr=8-1). Assuming that we are able to master sphere turning, and assuming that we can then produce eight spheres of the same size, what would be a good finish for this? I assume that they will be used but probably not too often.

One more thing, can anyone think of four, distinctive looking domestic species that would be appropriate for this project. I'm thinking something close grained like hard maple for one.

Thanks,
Jason

[David Walser]

For Bocce Balls you want a finish that will resist abrasion. That calls for a high quality polyurethane (or epoxy).

[Gary Max]

Osage Orange---Persimmion---Dogwood---That would make four

[Jason Christenson]

Osage Orange---Persimmion---Dogwood---That would make four

Thanks, I'll look into those.

Jason

[Ryan Baker]

Yeah, if you can find dogwood big enough. But those could work.

The hard part is going to be getting the blanks dried without cracking. Bocce balls are big enough to take a really long time to really dry. If you turn them green, they won't be round and will probably crack (and will still take a long time to dry). If you have the time to wait, cut out some blanks (without the pith), anchorseal them up, and stiff them away for a good long time to dry slowly and thouroughly. Good luck, and show us some pictures when you get them done.

[Richard Madison]

Or you could laminate some kiln dried 4/4 stock into suitable blanks.

[Ryan Baker]

Or you could laminate some kiln dried 4/4 stock into suitable blanks.

Excellent idea! (That should have been obvious -- DOH). As long as that look is OK. I got the impression these would be natural finish, so the lamination would be visible -- but could even make it better.

[Richard Madison]

Mesquite would probably be good. Not domestic to Nebraska though. Might have to import it from Texas.

[Chris Tedford]

I remember bocce balls being kinda heavy. You would have to come up with some way to make them all the same weight, which would tend to lean towards laminating them with some weight in the center. Not sure how that would work for turning though. Sounds like a really cool idea, may have to try this, if I can get off my butt and finish the six bowls I've roughed turn, the pen I need to make for Mother's Day...

[Jim McFarland]

I remember bocce balls being kinda heavy. <snip>

I have the Lee Valley bocce set -- the individual ball weight is 2 pounds 3 ounces (996 grams).

To be honest, in my case, shellac would have been fine for the finish as the "new" wore off the game pretty quickly!

[Chris Stolicky]

Any hard wood would probably work. Many of those listed above sound good. I also agree with the epoxy-type coating. I wonder if a good durable paint would work?

[scott spencer]

Ash and mahogany come to mind.

...cool project!

[Curt Fuller]

This stuff http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Turning_Materials___Laminated_Blanks___Colorwood_S tyle_A___colorwood_a?Args= would probably make some very unique Bocce balls. But you would probably want to practice on something less expensive. This is pretty but spendy. Comes in several color patterns that would substiture for the 4 wood varieties.

And a good quality exterior poly finish would be the ticket, IMHO.

[Jon McCoy]

Alan Lacer's article (http://www.alanlacer.com/articles/bocceball.htm) uses hard maple for all the balls, using the skew (of course) to make intersecting narrow grooves. Then two colors of acrylic paint in the grooves to tell the balls apart. The smaller (target) ball is ungrooved and dyed a bright yellow.

Looks like a fun and skill-building project.

-jon-

[Prashun Patel]

On the contrary, I think a poly finish will crack lickety split. An epoxy would work, but if you want to highlight the grain and your work, then I'd just use a long oil varnish (either a poly, alkyd or phenol varnish in oil and thinner). Drop the balls in a bowl of it for 20 mins, then wipe off all the excess. Let it dry for a couple days, and then repeat until the sheen's even after drying.

Every season, just clean them off and resoak them at the end of the season.

(EDIT) Sorry, I've been chastised for the use of 'long oil' varnish; apparently that's a term reserved for outdoor finishes. I mistakenly understood 'long oil varnish' to be a varnish that has a high proportion of oil vs resin.

[Kim Ford]

Jason;

I turn bags full of cedar balls at Christmas as gifts. Turning them by hand is fun and you can get quite good, but if they need to be the same size and perfectly round you may want to look at this video.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCT7Yu-oRc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCT7Yu-oRc)

I have a carriage for my lathe so it was really nothing to adapt it pretty much as shown and now I turn spheres quickly and without much fuss.

Have fun.

[David Pearson]

I made some balls by laminating several pieces of 3/4 plywood. Those things were hard as a rock. Wasn't very easy on the tools either. Had to sharpen frequently.

[Jason Christenson]

...if they need to be the same size and perfectly round you may want to look at this video.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCT7Yu-oRc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNCT7Yu-oRc)...

Thanks for the link, I'm going to try to build something like that, should the cutting edge be right on center or slightly below?

Jason

[Kim Ford]

The cutting edge needs to be at dead center, up and down, otherwise it will leave a little nub.

The pivot point also needs to be dead center or will turn footballs.

How I do it is; rough out a cylinder about 3 times the length of the diameter. I then chuck up the cylinder and using the "jig" to cut the first ball. I leave about 1/2" nub that I cut off with a finish saw. I then do the same for the second ball. You need three times the length in order to hold the blank in the chuck and be able to work the tool on the second ball. I then use the vacuum chuck to sand off the nub and finish the ball.

[Jason Christenson]

Kim-
Is you jig shop built? Have any pictures?

Jason

[Kim Ford]

Jason;

I have an Oliver pattern makers lathe with a full tool carriage with tool holder similar to a metal lathe so I kinda had a built in advantage. This is an old picture from the iron dealer I bought it from but you can get the idea.

I think you could make one pretty easy out of plywood. I'll look around for other examples.

[Jason Christenson]

I spent a big part of Saturday and a little bit of yesterday evening building my own plywood version of the jig in the video Kim posted. Here's what I came up with. It's not quite done, still needs a couple of screws and a hose clamp. I glued up the leftover plywood into a blank that I plan to use for the maiden voyage.

Jason

[Kim Ford]

Great Job that should work well.

[Jason Christenson]

I finally got a chance to test this out, here are the results. As I was doing it I thought of some things I want to do differently next time but I am pretty happy with this.

Jason

[Kim Ford]

Jason,

Great Job !!!!

Those are really going to be nice.


Kim