Golf Ball carving WIP

[Whittling]

Hi Grant,

Hey guys, my hat's off to both you and Schaf. You should have seen my first golf ball!

You're right though, there really isn't any room on a golf ball for anything other than the face. I have reduced the size of the 'head' in the past by cutting away more material and reducing the size of the face, thus giving more room for other details. I once carved one for a water hazard trophy (the club awarded it to the guy who most often drove his ball into the water). It had a mask and snorkle.

I've also tried them 'sideways' where the ear is in the centre of the ball and half of the face is under the cover. I called that one 'The Hazards of Novice Golf Ball Carving'. The idea was that the cover had been taken off the side of the face and not on the face itself. I only ever tried one of those.

Where I find them invaluable is in practicing human expression. I use em for senior classes who already know how to carve faces but want to practice particular expression. As you pointed out, there's not much room for anything but the face so they don't waste time on anything else.

I photoed a few of the ones I've got here at the moment. You'll see what I mean about having fun with expression. This is one of my greatest carving joys (as you can probably tell!)

I hope you and others will try more. I get some really good ideas that way.

I ment to ask you... what do you have attached to the bottom of your golf ball that you have clamped in the vice?

[Grunter53]

Whittling

They are great. I was enthused before about the golfball faces, but now you have really sparked my interest.

Thanks a lot for posting the extra pictures.

Cheers

Grant

[Sebastiaan56]

For the Aussie ball carvers, what brand of ball did you get? The last time I cut up a golf ball it meant a trip to the doctor to get my eyes checked after it exploded in my face, Well I was 8yo...

[Whittling]

I think most of us have stories of that sort. Or the mischief we got up to with the miles of rubber band windings painstakingly unwound and put to much 'better' use.

These days most balls are solid core. I never buy new ones for this project. I always use found balls. I also make it a policy never to 'find' a ball until it has stopped rolling.

I always drill the ball first with a 9mm twist drill. This will tell you what's inside it before you go to the considerabale trouble of taking off half the cover. I use a dremel to cut through the cover core and then a small screwdriver to pry off one half.

To do this project safely, especially if you are doing so in 'whittling' style (that is holding your work instead of having it bolted or clamped) you need to have some sort of handle anyway. The hole you drilled gives you a place to poke the handle end. Make the handle substancial or it will twist in your hand as your carving exerts pressures in various directions.

Finally, if you decide you want to do more with your finished golf ball carving, you can use the hole to insert a dowel which becomes the basis of attachment to whatever...

[Grunter53]

Hi Sebastiaan and Whittling

I checked with one of our local golf professionals here at Hervey Bay today about the solid golf balls. He said that the wound balls were phased out about 1995. He reckoned the last wound balls were ballata covered Titleist golf balls.

The ball I used for my carving was a hot dot, and I think a pretty old one.

Cheers

Grant

[Whittling]

I suppose it depends on where you get your golf balls, but I'm not suggesting you buy new ones to carve. Just go get some old ones from somewhere. Most people have a few laying around. Because I make these all the time, I have a working arrangement with the golf pro at two local golf corses. They let me raid their 'found balls' box every now and then for the balls too worn to sell.

Drill them first and you'll know straight away if they are carvable or not.

I've made hundreds of these and I'd say that on average I've only found one ball in 50 to be uncarvable.

[schaf]

G'day Whittling,

From your extra photos I can see the different colors that you were talking about.
They would make it much better to photo then the white one that I had at first.
I have mounted mine on a bottle stopper. My second one as well which was also white.

Whittling ,I have painted the faces with white shellac to seal the face from dirty fingers.
Do you seal yours or just leave them natural. The shellac has turned them from a nice bright white color to a much duller color.

Terry

[Whittling]

You don't seem to be having much luck re colour mate. As I said, I get my golf balls mostly from golf pros or people who are golfers and have a bucket or two of old balls laying around that they're happy to donate. Colours are pot-luck. You never know until you drill them. There doesn't seem to be any relation between brand of ball and colour. I suspect they are filled with whatever floor sweepings the factory had on the day... but I'm a synic...

Because getting the cover off is such a labourious job, I usually do a dozen at a time, keeping them in an old egg carton. Then I'll carve those 12 as circumstance permits. Once all 12 are carved, I repeat the process.

I have never have painted or sealed them in any way so I can't speak to that one.

[Grunter53]

G'day All

I have opened up 8 so far and have only had two the same colour. As you said Whittling, even the same brands have various colours.

I cut the first few with a dremel like you do Whittling, but had two blades disintegrate, which made me a bit nervous. The fragments come off a a fair pace. I wear safety glasses, but did not relish having a piece hit me in the face. I decided to try a couple of different options and found that a hack saw does the job quickly and neatly with out any risk to life and limb.

I now just clamp a ball in my vice, clamping the side I wished to remove, make a hack saw cut, and then peel the case off with a small screw driver (also still with the ball in the vice).

I speared my hand with the screw driver when holding a ball the other day, so don't hold balls any more when removing the casings (interesting how techniques change after mishaps isn't it). The case actually comes off easier in the vice too. I found if you clamp it reasonably tight and peel about a quarter at a time, it just slips off.

Cheers

Grant

[Whittling]

Sounds like your hooked!

I use gloves to hold the ball when I peel off the cover with the screwdriver for that very reason. The hacksaw sound a good idea if you can regulate the depth of cut. I should have specified the dremel bit I use... its a cylindrical shaped cutter about 6 mm in diameter and about 9 mil long, flat topped, and I use the top corner of the cylinder on a fairly steep angle, to cut through the ball covers. You're always working on the side of the ball cover that you're going to remove.

Looking forward to seeing the finished results.

[Grunter53]

G'day Whittling

You are right, I am hooked.

Just thought I would post an image of the different coloured balls I have peeled for academic interest. The dark blue one is still a face in process.

Whittling, I am having trouble with the eyes. Do you carve yours with a knife or gouges. I noticed the eyeballs in your examples are roundish. How do you manage that with such tiny carvings?

I am off to NZ in the morning for a month so don't think much will be done till I return, but you never know. I think they have golf balls over there. Hope so anyhow, because I plan to play a few games of golf while there.

Will watch the forum with interest when I can.

Cheers

Grant

[Whittling]

Hi Grant,

I generally use an 11/10 Peil gouge to create the hollow eye area as it is a difficult shape to create with a blade. The eye and lids are carved into wall of this hollow using a fine tipped blade. I use a 3-bladed pocket knife that has been modified to make it more carving friendly, but any sort of fine bladed carving knife will do.

I don't really know how to discribe the eye carving process but I'll try to do a detailed WIP on golf ball eyes in the next days. You can have a look and see if its a technique you can use. Personally I've never used a vernier for eyes. I wouldn't know how to go about it.

Have a good trip, hope you enjoy NZ. One good thing about whittling, you can always take it with you. Just pack your knife in your ceck-in luggage not your carry-on!

[Grunter53]

G'day Whittling

Thanks for the info. I look forward to WIP on golf ball eyes. I am going to have a crack at a couple of balls when I get to NZ. I should be able to attack a couple over there with a bit of luck.

Do you think you could post an image of the knife blade you use for eyes? I have a standard pheil bench knife, but am struggling a little with fine detail such as the eyes. It is probably more my novice whittling technique at this stage I guess, so will persevere for a bit with it.

Also, do you do all your whittling in your hand?

Cheers

Grant

[Whittling]

Hi Grant,

Whittling, as I understand it, is defined as carving in which you hold your work as opposed to having it bolted or clamped (like any sane person would). So by that definition, its not what you use to carve/shape your work, but rather how its supported that makes it whittling (or not). Therefore the answer to your question is 'yes'. Once I put it in a vice or clamp etc... it ain't whittlin'.

Most of my work is done using whittling techniques. 90% of all my whittling is done with a standard 'Stockman' configuration 3-bladed pocket knife that has been modified to make it more carving friendly. There are some 2-bladed models that also work but I personally prefer 3 blades. I've attached a couple of photos of knives that have been so modified. The large clip blade shape is not changed. I use it for stock removal and roughing out. The gelding blade has had the leading edge of the spine elongated to make it a bit more pointy. I leave plenty of metal behind the point. I mainly use it for stop cutting in hardwoods. The spey blade is unrecognisable. I've modified it so it has a very fine point for detail work in soft woods (and other soft materials such as golf balls). I've played around with this last modification. The one in the illustration is a bit fine for anything harder than huon pine. I have a couple other designs which work almost as well for very fine detail but are a bit more robust. Its all just a matter of leaving a bit more metal behind the tip to prevent it bending or breaking when you're doing curved stop cuts.

Anyway, with three options in my hand I don't have to reach for anything else very often. What's more, all three (razor sharp) blades fold safely into the handle and the whole thing goes nicely into that small coin pocket that nobody ever uses on a pair of ordinary blue jeans . Golf ball in the other pocket and I'm ready to go...

Seriously, I've paid for my counter lunch more than once with a golf ball, roosta or fan-feathered bird, carved right there while waiting to be served. Its one of those 'old fashioned' skills that everybody has heard of but never expects to see. When they do they're facinated.

[joeyjons]

Gday again Whittling,

Thought I'd give the golf ball a go, took abit to get into as all my gears still in storage, bar a couple of carving tools, they're hard little suckers, reckon I'll drill a hole next time for a handle............save on puncture wounds