Has Anyone Cut a Billiard Ball in Half???

[John Terefenko]

Did not know where to put this question so I will try a few different forums. I am looking to cut a billiard ball in half. Has anyone done this and if so what tool and what blade??? Thanks

[Rick Levine]

I'm far from an expert but I think if I were going to do it i'd built some kind of jig to hold the ball stable and something to guide a hand saw like a Japanese saw (you might have to sacrafice the saw afterwards, I'm not sure it would be usuable after the cut) and use maybe a homemade miter box something like this (this assuming you don't have too many to cut):

[Per Swenson]

I dunno,

Hot glue it to the end of a 1 foot piece of 2" PVC,

then run them on a raised sled through a band saw.

Per

[Rick Gifford]

Many billiard balls are made of Partek Resin. Whatever method you end up with make sure your blade is correct. Hate to see you ruin a good wood blade on that stuff.

[Jack Briggs]

I cut about a dozen 8-balls maybe 3 weeks ago with a 3/16" 10tpi wood blade. The stuff stinks and you'll have very fine dust all over the place, but it went without a hitch.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/guitartech/2203517827/

[Jack Briggs]

My buddy (who I did the sawing for) made a box-shaped sled with 3 drywall screws to hold the ball from spinning during the cut. I set my fence for the cut and let the sled ride against the fence for the cut. Slowly but surely the cut was made with only a little bit of sanding to clean the sawn face.

[John Terefenko]

Jack

That is what I am after to cut them dead center so I have two equal halves. How do you line up the numbered balls so they get cut in half??? Is this just by an eye thing or is there a trick??? Hate to have the numbers off centered. I have a couple projects in mind that need balls cut in half. One of the projects I am using the miniture billiard balls too.

[Paul Porter]

I know I'm nine months late but I finally posted some photos of my billiard ball chucks on my website. Here's the link: http://paulporterwoodturning.com/id25.htm

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