Since it is a Fir Ball and you have cats, my vote is to hollow the sphere, hang it from the ceiling or make a stand, place some padding inside, position the hole so the cats can access the sphere from the side. Cats in a Fir Ball!
Frank has already made a Death star from bamboo, if memory serves me correct but given there were two Death Stars, this would be perfect opportunity to make the mk2.
Drill one hole straight through the center, run a long threaded rod with an eye hook on top and an extended pointer on the bottom. Connect the eye hook to a long cable and suspend it from a strong tree branch and allow the fir ball to move as a giant pendulum. Build a sandbox under the pendulum so that the moving pointer can create a design in the sand as the pendulum moves.
I have made hundreds of spheres that size for the pyrotechnic industry, they use them as a mold to make round fireworks ball shells' They put the waxed wooden sphere on a machine that wraps a wet glued paper tape onto the ball to make the paper ball shell that is then cut off of the ball in halves after it dries.
Look up artist David Nash. The specific piece is called “Wooden Boulder” and that thought of “what do I do with this big ball of wood” is exactly what happened to him. He eventually just pushed it into a drainage ditch, but over time it started to move with the seasons. He started documenting its journey until it made it to the ocean where it met its final resting place and was lost forever. Reading his words about this hunk of wood was heart-wrenching. It started to feel like his child.
Super cool as always, Frank. Leaving it to roll around the yard is my favorite idea. Maybe turn some pins and have a giant lawn bowling set??!? Keep us posted, thanks!
It'd be an absolute bear of a project to pull off, but filling all the cracks with resin could be really cool - especially coinciding with the table idea. It'd remove the structural problems and stop it from further deteriorating, but, like I said, it'd be a real bear of a project to pull that off.
Turn in into a community bird house with several openings allowing 4 or 5 families of birds. You'd have to put on on stilts or some sort of raised platform, of course.
Frank, you are the best. How about a disco ball that instead of having tons of small pieces of mirrors you carve out some holes with the CNC in random places to then fill them up with some kind of epoxy that has small lights on each piece. Then you hang it and put a motor to rotate it and have the coolest disco ball in the world.
I like the "let it roll around the yard" idea. My dad always used to say "I don't have time to work on it, so I'll put it outside and let the weather work on it". I love the cat sphere idea though, my immediate thought was the fir ball/fur ball pun!
I liked the golf ball idea. Seeing you lathe a tee that size would be fun too. It would probably need to be stabilized, as many have suggested. I would like to see you figure out how many dimples are required, their size, and then a way to get them symmetrical.
Frank I just wanted to I think you are an amazing human being. You're creativity is inspirational. In my humble opinion I feel like you're work shop is second to none. No disrespect for our fellow woodworkers out there. There definitely some amazing shops out there..
I would suggest that it be used as a base for a coffee table with either a glass top, slab or cookie (Nakashima style) Keep the cracks, maybe a bow tie or two if you thing it needs to be stabilized. Thanks for sharing
I really liked the idea, to make a table out of it, it's not such a crazy idea, more like an experiment in which you play with form and volume. Love the channel! love the projects! cheers from Romania
Best thing I've seen for turning large pieces like this is a router mounted to the lathe on an articulated arm. with the lathe turning very slowly, the route roughs out the piece with minimal effort. I would think your CNC might be able to rough out the initial shaping too. As to ideas, apply a mirror finish, mount it on an acrylic shaft and stick it in your garden. A floating mystery ball.
Make a stand in the shape of your lathe cup. Finish it with satin over translucent stain, so it retains wood appeal. Cut a flat on top. Tempered glass top for a table, and/or another Lexan ring at the equator, mimicking a ringed planet. You do nice work, looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
The shot where you had it up in the air to me was really beautiful. Maybe it's silly, but I'd suggest to keep it as an art piece, install it on some thin invisible spoke somewhere and just a have a ball of huge wood grains in your yard.
Love the Rover references! Fill the cracks with resin. Put it back on the lathe to smooth. Cut it in half on the bandsaw. Use the cnc to carve a pennyfarthing bike in the top. Fill that with a colored resin. Now it can be an indoor Prisoner-themed table!
OK so I'm not the only one who saw Death Star. Starkiller Base was another good suggestion. Did an image search for wood sphere and the vast majority were just that: objects of beauty with no other function. If it must be put to use somehow, maybe a giant candle holder? Chandelier or lamp? Cut in half it could be a home for a star projector / planetarium projector. The first hemisphere could be the used as the legs for the 2nd. Huge or they could become serving bowls for vast quantities of walnuts. Bore a hole in it and it's the world's fanciest birdhouse. Heck, at that size, the cats could fit inside. I know if I were a cat, I'd love to own a hollow Death Star bed. ;)
I love it as is - find a nice half-shaded corner in your garden and put it there. Watch it get overgrown with moss - maybe put two smaller siblings next to it
It’s so big, it would be so satisfying to see it in some kind of perpetual motion. Like how those huge crystal balls float on a garden water feature. Or some kind of spinning mechanism? I’m not sure how, but it’d be so cool to see such a lump moving gracefully. Tho I can hear myself,, I understand that’s a tall order on the engineering side of things. I’ll comment if lightning strikes
A possibly simple-ish thing to do would be to fill the cracks with epoxy and then re-round from there. I think the random lawn ornament idea is pretty decent. Maybe a less aggressive sanding method to get it started once you have the cracks filled?
Great balls of fir-e! Fill the imperfections with black/contrasting color resin, keep it totally spherical and high gloss polish it. Sorta like a huge marble... marble?
Hollow it out, add lighting from the interior, and make it into a beautiful chandelier. You could cut interesting shapes into the surface from which light escapes, or add a few external lights on stems extending from the ball.
Hi Frank! You could make this the first of a planet series, use epoxy to smooth/refine the exterior. Maybe this could be Jupiter? Then find a way to suspend them into a huge outdoor? indoor? mobile.
I wonder if you could build a screw jack that goes between the ways of the lathe to help jack things up into position when they are heavy. I guess you don't work on things this heavy very often. I was just thinking the threads would be more adjustable than just propping it up on blocks. Maybe take the threads from a C clamp and weld a square of metal with the tips bent up onto the Movable jaw so it is bigger.
Hello ! You can use it as a giant foot for a dinner table ! With a great piece of flat rock or glass maybe ? It's a huge wooden ball ! You can also digg in to do a game for the cats ! I have many ideas for this piece but it's not easy to explain because english isn't my native language. Sorry ! Thanks you for all your interesting videos !
Fill in the crack's with black resin, saw it in half like a Weber grill, hollow it out, water proof the interior, mount it on 3 legs, fill with ice and beer
Judging by the amount of cracks and missing parts it has i'd do a fire ball from the fir ball :-). As I don't like the usual resin/epoxy "fixes". Other than that a garden seat just as it is (waxed maybe) would be nice also.
Cut off a slice to make like a table with short legs but the table top made thick could be swung off to the side pivoting on a hidden pin to reveal the hollowed out interior below for storage.
Hi ! You can turn it into a planter, a decorative element in the shape of a walnut shell, a lamp base, an original storage box, a grafting box for your cats... Thanks for your videos!
I'd like to suggest mounting a shade-producing item (patio umbrella, or something with a more interesting shape like a leaf or whatever strikes your fancy) into it, and making a seat that can tighten down onto the ball to lock the shade item into the orientation needed at that hour.
It would be cool to turn it into one of those water features where the ball floats on a thin flim of water inside a cup so it can spin freely. The ones I've seen are usually some kind of rock tho so idk if it would work with wood.
I have a wooden frog that stands about two feet high and painted it with Epoxy so it`s water proof. The frog wanders around the front yard in the summer and goes under cover for the winter. it`s kind of fun. You could do some thing like that.
In the garage pegboard you show oscilloscope probes hanging by the thin wire. The tilting BNCs will cause them to break, ask me how I know...😅 Find a mount that holds them straight.
Fantastic work, Frank! And what a challenge! 😬 I have no ideas for this, but I would apply a few coats of penetrating epoxy to stabilize it. Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Frank. I like your style. Your dry sense of humor and willingness to go against the grain puts every new video of yours at the top of my watch list. Now, I know you enjoy the craft more than your jokes, but hear me out. What could possibly be funnier than turning the sphere back into a log, just smaller obviously. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that would produce a very unique experience for your loyal viewers. How often do you get the opportunity to simultaneously entertain your viewers while also crushing their double digit IQ, rainbow goop dreams. Or I’m the one with rainbow goop dreams, and a double digit IQ. It’s hard telling.
If you make a shallow bowl with a water spout at the centre and maybe epoxy the sphere somehow it could be a water feature where the sphere spins on the water pressure? I’ve seen it done with big round rocks I think
Flatten one side, but use that for the base. CNC shop sign or house numbers into it with inlays. Maybe get fancy leave an open reveal around the inlays and back light them so they can be visible at night.
Jimmy DiResta just did a video where he turned a log into a really nice looking treasure chest. I bet you could cut a section off, carve out the center and maybe seal the inside and make a great little outdoor cooler
I think you should make a giant spiral track that this giant "marble" rolls down, and an elevator to lift it back up to the top again on loop. Channel a bit of Colin Furze and keep going with the oversize scale.
I say, lop the top off, about 25% down, do an epoxy fill on the cracks. then lathe out the inside so it's a hollow sphere, and then set it up to be a drink cooler! it looks big enough to hold a 6pack of beers or a couple bottles of wine!
Coat ..and by coat I suggest submerge.. your piece in a colored epoxy resin to fill in and soften it's rough edges and deeper imperfections. Then turn and sand to smooth. THEN decide on what it will be.. even if it's to roll around the yard it will at least be weather protected.
So it would be a tremendous amount of work (not even sure how you would do it, tbh), but if you could fill the cracks with resin, smooth the whole thing out, hollow out a section in the middle such that a light source (LEDs, for example) would shine through the resin in the largest cracks from the inside, put it on legs like the table idea or just a flat on the bottom to sit on the floor, it could make a really interesting ambient/mood light
Since it is a Fir Ball and you have cats, my vote is to hollow the sphere, hang it from the ceiling or make a stand, place some padding inside, position the hole so the cats can access the sphere from the side. Cats in a Fir Ball!
This is the winner right here.
furballl fir ball! but yeah old school MCM orb chair, i second this idea
That was exactly my first thougt too. Would look fantastic!
I like it!
scratch my suggestion. this is much better.
If this is this year's Christmas ornament I can't wait to see the size of this year's Christmas tree 😮
Frank's ornaments just keep getting bigger but the tree never does! 😂
That's a Death Star. The spot where one of the branches grew out is where the laser thing from the Death Star goes.
now that would be cool.
I thought the same thing.
Frank's already done a death star!
@ajmerkahlon8890 history has shown us that you can't have too many death stars. 👍
Frank has already made a Death star from bamboo, if memory serves me correct but given there were two Death Stars, this would be perfect opportunity to make the mk2.
You could turn it down to an egg shape and put it in the yard next to a sign that reads "Beware of Chicken"
Hahahahaha omg that would be so funny
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Or "Protected T. Rex Nesting Area - Do Not Disturb Wildlife"
The subtle Rover references from "The Prisoner" were a nice touch.
Awesome use of The Prisoner sample at the end!
Honestly the table idea looks pretty awesome!
Drill one hole straight through the center, run a long threaded rod with an eye hook on top and an extended pointer on the bottom. Connect the eye hook to a long cable and suspend it from a strong tree branch and allow the fir ball to move as a giant pendulum. Build a sandbox under the pendulum so that the moving pointer can create a design in the sand as the pendulum moves.
Foucault's pendulum.
Cool idea.
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I have made hundreds of spheres that size for the pyrotechnic industry, they use them as a mold to make round fireworks ball shells' They put the waxed wooden sphere on a machine that wraps a wet glued paper tape onto the ball to make the paper ball shell that is then cut off of the ball in halves after it dries.
You won🎉
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Look up artist David Nash. The specific piece is called “Wooden Boulder” and that thought of “what do I do with this big ball of wood” is exactly what happened to him. He eventually just pushed it into a drainage ditch, but over time it started to move with the seasons. He started documenting its journey until it made it to the ocean where it met its final resting place and was lost forever. Reading his words about this hunk of wood was heart-wrenching. It started to feel like his child.
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I love that you turned this just for the sake of doing it not really having a purpose in mind for an end product
I started coming to your channel for the absolutely amazing woodworking and off the wall creativity. I stay for the giggles ❤️.
Super cool as always, Frank. Leaving it to roll around the yard is my favorite idea. Maybe turn some pins and have a giant lawn bowling set??!? Keep us posted, thanks!
It'd be an absolute bear of a project to pull off, but filling all the cracks with resin could be really cool - especially coinciding with the table idea. It'd remove the structural problems and stop it from further deteriorating, but, like I said, it'd be a real bear of a project to pull that off.
To riff off this idea, I suggest hollowing out the interior, sealing the outside, and making a light fixture. Possibly exterior.
Turn in into a community bird house with several openings allowing 4 or 5 families of birds. You'd have to put on on stilts or some sort of raised platform, of course.
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Hi Frank. My name is Ella I am 8 years old. I like watching your videos with my dad alot.And l think you should just use it for decor.😊
Frank, you are the best.
How about a disco ball that instead of having tons of small pieces of mirrors you carve out some holes with the CNC in random places to then fill them up with some kind of epoxy that has small lights on each piece. Then you hang it and put a motor to rotate it and have the coolest disco ball in the world.
I like the "let it roll around the yard" idea. My dad always used to say "I don't have time to work on it, so I'll put it outside and let the weather work on it".
I love the cat sphere idea though, my immediate thought was the fir ball/fur ball pun!
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Looks good Frank. I like the globe idea. And then build the axis so that I can spin like a globe.
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Enjoyed the background audio. :-) Maybe you can inlay some pretty architectural gingerbread form Portmeirion where "The Prisoner" was filmed.
I liked the golf ball idea. Seeing you lathe a tee that size would be fun too. It would probably need to be stabilized, as many have suggested. I would like to see you figure out how many dimples are required, their size, and then a way to get them symmetrical.
This has been mentioned a few times, and is by far the most fun, whimsical and challenging to do right. I would love seeing the process as it unfolds.
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Make some giant bowling pins as you already have a giant lawn-bowling ball
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Frank I just wanted to I think you are an amazing human being. You're creativity is inspirational. In my humble opinion I feel like you're work shop is second to none. No disrespect for our fellow woodworkers out there. There definitely some amazing shops out there..
I second this. Frank you are a genius!
I would suggest that it be used as a base for a coffee table with either a glass top, slab or cookie (Nakashima style) Keep the cracks, maybe a bow tie or two if you thing it needs to be stabilized.
Thanks for sharing
I really liked the idea, to make a table out of it, it's not such a crazy idea, more like an experiment in which you play with form and volume. Love the channel! love the projects! cheers from Romania
Amazing Frank.
When you showed the table idea I instantly thought of you making that the "destroyed" deathstar where the side is blown out.
Best thing I've seen for turning large pieces like this is a router mounted to the lathe on an articulated arm. with the lathe turning very slowly, the route roughs out the piece with minimal effort. I would think your CNC might be able to rough out the initial shaping too. As to ideas, apply a mirror finish, mount it on an acrylic shaft and stick it in your garden. A floating mystery ball.
I know it has already been suggested but, Frank, you have a Death Star.
Make a stand in the shape of your lathe cup. Finish it with satin over translucent stain, so it retains wood appeal. Cut a flat on top. Tempered glass top for a table, and/or another Lexan ring at the equator, mimicking a ringed planet.
You do nice work, looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
The shot where you had it up in the air to me was really beautiful. Maybe it's silly, but I'd suggest to keep it as an art piece, install it on some thin invisible spoke somewhere and just a have a ball of huge wood grains in your yard.
how about making a giant marble run for this? For example: use the natural incline of a meadow or beach, and create a path for it to roll down....
Great Balls of Fir. Isn't that a song by Jerry Tree Lewis?
Make a big cup for it to float in with as little water as will float it, then it could be a tactile spinning sculpture. Great vid, many thanks!
I love the idea of an outdoor table!
Was anticipating your next video. What a pleasant surprise. I see this as a base for a larger piece. Thanks for the inspiration.
It seems a good start for some oversized bowling alley. You've got the ball. Now all that is left is to make ten (segmented) oversized pins.
Love it. Single rope tree swing is my vote but there are so many good ones here already!
You've got the first piece of a truly epic pool table! 😁
looks like you had some fun
Now that you’ve made the Perisphere, I’m looking forward to the Trylon build
Love the Rover references!
Fill the cracks with resin. Put it back on the lathe to smooth.
Cut it in half on the bandsaw.
Use the cnc to carve a pennyfarthing bike in the top.
Fill that with a colored resin.
Now it can be an indoor Prisoner-themed table!
Here's a video of a cool cat hacking up a fir ball. 😂
OK so I'm not the only one who saw Death Star. Starkiller Base was another good suggestion. Did an image search for wood sphere and the vast majority were just that: objects of beauty with no other function. If it must be put to use somehow, maybe a giant candle holder? Chandelier or lamp? Cut in half it could be a home for a star projector / planetarium projector. The first hemisphere could be the used as the legs for the 2nd. Huge or they could become serving bowls for vast quantities of walnuts. Bore a hole in it and it's the world's fanciest birdhouse. Heck, at that size, the cats could fit inside. I know if I were a cat, I'd love to own a hollow Death Star bed. ;)
My thoughts as you were turning was that you make a globe drinks container by cutting it in half. Always fun to watch your work.
Love your videos Frank :)
I love it, Frank! It’s a beast!
I just have visions of seeing it rolling around in the background of future videos 😅
I love it as is - find a nice half-shaded corner in your garden and put it there. Watch it get overgrown with moss - maybe put two smaller siblings next to it
I like this. It's easy lol
It’s so big, it would be so satisfying to see it in some kind of perpetual motion. Like how those huge crystal balls float on a garden water feature. Or some kind of spinning mechanism? I’m not sure how, but it’d be so cool to see such a lump moving gracefully. Tho I can hear myself,, I understand that’s a tall order on the engineering side of things. I’ll comment if lightning strikes
glad for an update and new project to watch :)
I saw this title and immediately thought of the cult horror movie critters 🤣 I don't know why but that would be a cool build! Cheers love your videos!
A possibly simple-ish thing to do would be to fill the cracks with epoxy and then re-round from there. I think the random lawn ornament idea is pretty decent. Maybe a less aggressive sanding method to get it started once you have the cracks filled?
You won🎉
Great balls of fir-e! Fill the imperfections with black/contrasting color resin, keep it totally spherical and high gloss polish it. Sorta like a huge marble... marble?
Hollow it out, add lighting from the interior, and make it into a beautiful chandelier. You could cut interesting shapes into the surface from which light escapes, or add a few external lights on stems extending from the ball.
The audio clip at the end is a nice touch, Frank. Very clever.
Hi Frank! You could make this the first of a planet series, use epoxy to smooth/refine the exterior. Maybe this could be Jupiter? Then find a way to suspend them into a huge outdoor? indoor? mobile.
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Those large cracks remind me of the Valles Marineris on Mars! Making a topographical globe of Mars (or some kind of exoplanet) would be cool.
I wonder if you could build a screw jack that goes between the ways of the lathe to help jack things up into position when they are heavy. I guess you don't work on things this heavy very often. I was just thinking the threads would be more adjustable than just propping it up on blocks. Maybe take the threads from a C clamp and weld a square of metal with the tips bent up onto the Movable jaw so it is bigger.
I was thinking something similar, but a small scissor lift
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Hello ! You can use it as a giant foot for a dinner table ! With a great piece of flat rock or glass maybe ?
It's a huge wooden ball !
You can also digg in to do a game for the cats !
I have many ideas for this piece but it's not easy to explain because english isn't my native language.
Sorry !
Thanks you for all your interesting videos !
I think that it can be a firt part of snowman with stand in corner of garden and will hold a new yraerly make christmass ball.
Fill in the crack's with black resin, saw it in half like a Weber grill, hollow it out, water proof the interior, mount it on 3 legs, fill with ice and beer
Good foundation for making a Kirby statue out of wood. Got to admit the cats in a fir ball is really appealing though 😂
Rolling around the garden is it's perfect place!
Maybe plants flowers or fungus in the cracks and let it merge back into nature ❤
Judging by the amount of cracks and missing parts it has i'd do a fire ball from the fir ball :-). As I don't like the usual resin/epoxy "fixes". Other than that a garden seat just as it is (waxed maybe) would be nice also.
Put it in a basin with a water spout to make it like, one of those globes you can spin around.
A super elegant plinth, set in the yard somewhere the sphere can mellow and naturalize... rather like a gazing ball on a log, but in reverse.
It would be a beautiful base for a table. Your awesome..👍
Make two more and have an outdoor snowman decoration. ❤
Cut off a slice to make like a table with short legs but the table top made thick could be swung off to the side pivoting on a hidden pin to reveal the hollowed out interior below for storage.
Hi ! You can turn it into a planter, a decorative element in the shape of a walnut shell, a lamp base, an original storage box, a grafting box for your cats... Thanks for your videos!
I'd like to suggest mounting a shade-producing item (patio umbrella, or something with a more interesting shape like a leaf or whatever strikes your fancy) into it, and making a seat that can tighten down onto the ball to lock the shade item into the orientation needed at that hour.
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I use the Big Bite chuck spur regularly. Pound it in first with a mallet.
A wooden Sputnik, a funky lamp or coffee table, a design speaker, a flowerpot, ...
I can't believe I didn't immediately see the pun in your video title - I must need a nap more than I thought!
It would be cool to turn it into one of those water features where the ball floats on a thin flim of water inside a cup so it can spin freely. The ones I've seen are usually some kind of rock tho so idk if it would work with wood.
probably needs to be coated in a thick layer of epoxy so the water does not cause it to rot
Ha I had the same exact idea! Nice!
The last shot kind of reminded me of the Eye of Sauron. You could use the crack to turn it into a huge creepy eyeball rolling around the garden!
Gonna be interestng no matter what you decide!
I have a wooden frog that stands about two feet high and painted it with Epoxy so it`s water proof. The frog wanders around the front yard in the summer and goes under cover for the winter. it`s kind of fun. You could do some thing like that.
In the garage pegboard you show oscilloscope probes hanging by the thin wire. The tilting BNCs will cause them to break, ask me how I know...😅 Find a mount that holds them straight.
I like the table idea, but maybe hollowed out, with a new lid and turn it into one of those fancy globe liquor cabinets :) Or a speaker housings :)
Fantastic work, Frank! And what a challenge! 😬
I have no ideas for this, but I would apply a few coats of penetrating epoxy to stabilize it.
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
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Hollow form held in a cradle with a glass top? Make a blue segmented ring and inlay it into the rough side to make a giant eyeball?
I see a Death Star being made out of it. The flat portion could be where the cracks and gouges are. Once complete, hang it from the rafters!
Loved the Prisoner allusions.
How about a solar system? If this is the sun, you could use a log scale to size the planets. 🤓
Perhaps a concave side and use it as a succulent planter. Maybe with the legs from the table idea.
Frank. I like your style. Your dry sense of humor and willingness to go against the grain puts every new video of yours at the top of my watch list.
Now, I know you enjoy the craft more than your jokes, but hear me out. What could possibly be funnier than turning the sphere back into a log, just smaller obviously. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think that would produce a very unique experience for your loyal viewers. How often do you get the opportunity to simultaneously entertain your viewers while also crushing their double digit IQ, rainbow goop dreams.
Or I’m the one with rainbow goop dreams, and a double digit IQ. It’s hard telling.
If you make a shallow bowl with a water spout at the centre and maybe epoxy the sphere somehow it could be a water feature where the sphere spins on the water pressure? I’ve seen it done with big round rocks I think
Great video and fabrication. Giant MACE! Mahalo for sharing! : )
Flatten one side, but use that for the base. CNC shop sign or house numbers into it with inlays. Maybe get fancy leave an open reveal around the inlays and back light them so they can be visible at night.
Jimmy DiResta just did a video where he turned a log into a really nice looking treasure chest.
I bet you could cut a section off, carve out the center and maybe seal the inside and make a great little outdoor cooler
Could you use the CNC to cut hexagons into it to make a one-piece buckyball with a hollow center? It might require some epoxy to fill the voids first.
Frank, I would cut it in half and CNC the center to look like a geode.
I think you should make a giant spiral track that this giant "marble" rolls down, and an elevator to lift it back up to the top again on loop. Channel a bit of Colin Furze and keep going with the oversize scale.
Hello Frank, I like the idea earth in the cracks you can put some continets in made from a other wood I like to see what you made off it later 😉😉👍👍
I say, lop the top off, about 25% down, do an epoxy fill on the cracks. then lathe out the inside so it's a hollow sphere, and then set it up to be a drink cooler! it looks big enough to hold a 6pack of beers or a couple bottles of wine!
Coat ..and by coat I suggest submerge.. your piece in a colored epoxy resin to fill in and soften it's rough edges and deeper imperfections. Then turn and sand to smooth. THEN decide on what it will be.. even if it's to roll around the yard it will at least be weather protected.
So it would be a tremendous amount of work (not even sure how you would do it, tbh), but if you could fill the cracks with resin, smooth the whole thing out, hollow out a section in the middle such that a light source (LEDs, for example) would shine through the resin in the largest cracks from the inside, put it on legs like the table idea or just a flat on the bottom to sit on the floor, it could make a really interesting ambient/mood light
I just posted something very similar in a reply to @bobdole4916
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I like the idea of legs. With that, I would hollow out the opposite side from the legs and put a large pot for a plant or small tree.
Polish it out super super smooth, put some brass legs under it and call it art. Great conversation piece