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Adam & team. You guys should watch Cody's Lab. He did the foil ball challenge a couple years back, except did it with gold. Interestingly, it created an air pocket of sorts and so it ended up being a ball inside a ball and it rattled
I'm sitting here thinking Adam has officially lost his mind, but then I realized I just spent a half an hour watching a grown man play with aluminum foil.
All that equipment and seemed to have no idea. I am sure he must have a vice large enough to secure the ball before using a hacksaw. Disappointing because it would be interesting to see the compressed layers.
did that on jazzer Chanel too. I thought he was losing his mind then mold dragon with aluminum foil, zombie head , zombie hand , some kind giant monster missing legs. there clay too.
I feel like if this was done on mythbusters it would've ended with the ball being shot out of a cannon to see how much damage it could do/if the ball would survive
Seeing someone with as much cred as Adam try multiple strategies to accomplish something, nearly lose multiple fingers multiple times, and eventually give up is one of the most encouraging and validating things I've seen in a long time. Thank you, Adam.
@@brandonlee8123 That part about him is what makes him unique & why we love him so fkn much bc he's very much politically incorrect & we're here for it😁
All the very best mechanics and engineers seem to do a little dangerous shit from time to time tbh, It's the ones that are always way too safe that end up giving a shitty product , or they end up taking a month to do something that should take a week I'm not saying not to follow safety cause safety is obviously paramount , But the real money makers and people who get shit done are people who do some dangerous shit Example: the entirety of the rigs and pipelining/ being a roughneck
@@andrew-rn9ui my father worked with a table saw. He was cutting a plank of wood for something and it got stuck. While I was helping him. I don't know what cogs where turning in his head, but he reached with his hand to unjam it. I almost shat myself when the saw instantly started to spin. He was ok, but I still think he just wanted to lose one or two fingers that day
That shot at the beginning of Adam violently smacking the ball like a primate who's just figured out tools is one of the funniest things I've seen all week
I’m so glad Adam was on mythbusters. Idk how much I would have watched it with 2 Jaime personalities. Adam brought such childlike wonder, enthusiasm & blatant disregard for safety. I’m glad Jaime was there to reel Adam in a bit. They really balanced each other out quite well.
They just don’t get on in real life Life. They don’t go out of their way to be unhappy with each other they just have nothing in common as people apart from doing special effects
When he clamped the saw into the table then got the other clamp to hold the trigger on. I was like,”Adam,no!!!” Then I thought where’s the table bandsaw thing you made. Then he went to that. And I think the challenge should be cutting the thing in half not making it. 😂
It was one of the hardest things to watch. I had to stop the video a couple of times wile saying "Jesus Christ". (My father has a wood furniture factory, I have seen too many severed fingers through my life)
I love how human he is about his videos. At no point are you 100% certain that he'll end the video without an injury or keeping all his digits. He doesn't come across as a know-it-all and approaches projects like this the way the rest of us would.
Really took me back;I once made a pair of aluminum shoes when I was about 10 and proudly wore them downtown! I love this guy and while watching I felt like a little boy all over again. Priceless! Thank you Adam!
I love when he doesn't even talk about what he's thinking and just goes OH! and runs off to the other part off screen to grab something! Dude is awesome! 😆
This was helpful for when I made my own enormous foil ball and wanted to cut it in half to see the inside (I won’t tell you what it looks like)! Thank you for your expertise!
As a man of similar age, Adam’s childlike glee with some simple things like using a full roll of foil and bashing it around brings a smile to my face every single time.
I have made these for years. You have to start small, and not use too much foil at once because you will get air pockets. You need to get each layer as dense and spherical as you can before you start the next level of foil. The hammer should not sound like it is hitting something hollow, but should sound like it rings like you are hitting a solid ingot of metal. You also want to hit relatively lightly until it is more uniformly dense and round. If you hit hard from the beginning, it will end up lumpy and lopsided because the metal will be too dense in spots for the metal to even out. It should never crack like his did if you get the core of it right. I understand Adam had to do this in a limited amount of time, but you need to take your time over the course of days to get the best outcome. It should be kind of meditative process.
Probably the only person in the world that can make me spend 30 minutes watching them make a ball out of foil. 10,000 years from now, when someone digs it up and asks... "what the...". LOL
i love how adam went to the bandsaw first, realised it was too sketchy, tried the hacksaw and thought it was too hard, then went to the handheld bandsaw propped up in a clamp, probably the worst of the three
Seeing him holding the ball, by a little tape and turning on a bandsaw sent all my internal alarms going, Adam, you are a national/global treasure, try not to loose your fingers by doing this
I must say for a record, that amount of aluminum particles don't look very safe, it feels like they will do just like lead and get to your blood system by your skin
@@thecore8605 you should be more worried about how the aluminum reacts in the body than the many ways things get into the body! By the way so does water it’s absorbs through your skin just like lead and aluminum elements. So to reiterate what makes you think that aluminum is as dangerous as lead?
I've made a few of these, different sizes, different foil weights. The "fissures" and flakes are a function of the way you wrapped the sheet foil. Initially, you wadded the foil together (perfect), but you very quickly switched over to wrapping the sheet foil around the wadded core. This creates layers of foil that don't completely lock together and leads to that "flaking" behavior at the end. If you try this again, squish and smoosh (technical terms) all of your foil into the initial form, don't wrap. Thank you for the excellent video. It was a fun watch. -Zed
I just love that I grew up watching this crazy maniac of a man show us how cool science can be and now as an adult I get to watch him happily tinker away in his garage making cool dorky things with that same childlike wonder. Thank you for all you do for us Adam ❤❤
Watching stuff like this reinvigorates my love for life. Experimenting, failing and coming up with solutions. Doing things just for the sake of creativity and curiosity. Much love Adam Savage, thanks for sharing
decades of engineering, inspiring thousands of youth into such a technical field, collaborating with others of such high caliber. And it's all lead to this man hammering tin foil into a sphere. Love ya Adam! Never change.
When I tried this, what I attempted was to slowly build the ball up. I started with just a handful got it down to a little above the size of a golf ball. Then I did a second later making it about the size of a baseball, and then a third layer, and so on until I used up the whole roll. This allows a lot more air to escape reducing the amount of fissures. I then sanded it down to smooth it out and followed that up with a nice polish. Basically, looked like a mirror ball almost.
Did you use a particular method to bunch up the foil at the beginning. If I make one of these I want to maximize density from the start to get close to the 2.7gm/cm^3
Adam, I must say, a big part of having larger bumps and fissures might have been because you rolled it in just one direction, like a coil, instead of rotating the ball as you were rolling it to evenly wrap it. You were rolling it up like a roll of paper towels when you should have rolled it up like you would a ball of yarn
@@joshwhitworth5455 he rotated it a tiny bit at the beginning and a tiny bit at the end, but the majority of the time, he rolled all the tinfoil the same direction
And he still spent over 3 hrs, on his very first one. so, if he were crazy enough to do this again, more care and planning can be taken in the compacting process. one person suggested using a cubical shape. not bad..
@IndustrialDb this is definitely an interesting hobby pursuit, but I actually almost did a double take when I read your 3 hour remark. I don't think I have it in me to spend 3 hours trying to coax foil into denser, shinier spherical foil. But on the other hand I make knives and do some custom blacksmithing as a hobby, so who am I to balk at cajoling metal into a financial deficit-shaped object?
The mistake was when you wrapped the foil in a ball shape you wound the foil around the foil around the equator thereby creating a north and south pole of structural weakness. What should happen is that with every rotation while wrapping, the ball should be turned by a quarter in order to wrap foil universally around all the axis of the ball. To cut the ball mount the ball in a lathe using two wooden blocks each with a concave surface that holds the ball firmly in place. Spin the lathe at the lowest rpm you can set it to and use your hacksaw to cut it vertically as slowly as possible.
Turning an exact quarter with each wrap will just delay getting to the same problem. You need to rotate it a prime-fractional portion of the sphere with each turn. I wonder if some sort of bonding agent with moderate tensile strength (I'm thinking of a pliable silicon semi-fluid here) might not help with the compaction problem and also deal with the fissuring. And, Adam, I'd love to know the density of the ball you created compared to the density of the original "tin" foil, which ought to be just a bit lighter than a like-sized ball of alumin(i)um. This would let you determine just how much air is in it, to measure the efficiency of your procedure and compare it to your next try.
After watching Adam for years on Mythbusters, and now having watched quite a few of videos from his personal workshop, I have come to two conclusions: 1. Adam is brilliant 2. Adam is a walking OSHA violation
This is the very reason they had other experts on MythBusters. Yes, Adam's capacity for jumping from idea to idea really does make him into a potential living OSHA violation.
You might speak for a large group of people, but I'm sure a lot of people just can't stand the unprofessional approach to solving all these problems. The amount of times a facepalm is justified is just ridiculous. I (and I'm sure a lot of other people) was not amazed by anything in this entire video. Maybe this speaks more to the average person instead of people with a background in science. The only thing that amazed me was the amount of unnecessary dangerous acts in the video. Which is why I reported the video. He shows multiple dangerous ways of cutting a tin ball. Not only that, but doesn't even address it or warns younger viewers.
@@glp.1337 Oh, agreed. The way the guy handled his multiple saws, and the aluminum coating of his hands, and not wearing protection gear while handling chemicals... nothing was really _stupidly_ dangerous, but his musings told the viewer everything he does there is harmless.
Cast the ball into a cube of resin. You then could polish the resin having a nice way to look at the ball. while also it would be safe to cut the ball inside of the cube not only half but you could do cross sections if you'd like.
Nah, cast it in silicone mold making material inside of a wooden box. The wooden box would give the silicone mold structure while the silicone holds the ball in place. At the end, pop it out of the molds and and it is cut in half without losing its original design.
Dear god tell me I wasn’t the only one screaming at the screen for Adam to say “foiled again” every time he couldn’t cut it in half. File this one under missed opportunities Mr. Savage.
i love how Adam's shop is like a bag of holding where he jumps out of camera and finds a slightly better tool for the job over and over, then proceeds to throw them back into the void to produce another tool
For future reference: Starting out by hammering a tin-foil cube will greatly help to compact the inner layers. Then you can start the spherical shape by hammering the corners of the cube, continuing as new corners form. :)
Haven't done this sort of things since I was a kid, but onion layering it is where she messed up and that why you could see the layers shift when he hammered. I remember using crumpled sheets and compressing them. I can't remember if I used carpet or just something solid to polish.
@@cal5566 I don't know about that. In the video hes said If I do this again, then changed it to WHEN I do this again so I foresee another tin foil ball video.
I've a 16" rock saw. I've cut geodes about that size and shape in half. The way I do it is by encasing the rock in a rectangle of plaster. The plaster rectangle gives my saw's mounting vise something on which to clamp. It doesn't have to cover the entire rock, just the side the vise is on. The plaster has to cure very, very well, but that's to give it strength against the vise. The plaster doesn't dissolve in the transformer oil with which I cool the saw blade. The saw blade is diamond edged. It cuts through very slowly so as to not dislodge the rock from the vise (and plaster) as well as to keep the heat manageable. They do get hot. It'll take a good 30 to 45 minutes to cut through a quartz geode the size of that aluminum ball, but it will.
@@donkfail1 Me too, I thought he'd at least try a 3D printed part to dig into the edges of the ball near the line so it could cut better. Similar to the plaster idea @Mark Bryant shared above.
I can just imagine the dinner conversation with the wife: "So.... our dining table has been wobbling for 6 months, you have every tool known to man, and you're telling me you just spent the entire afternoon pounding my last roll of aluminum foil into a little ball?"
There is lava approaching our property and it's getting close to the picket fence! We just need a little wall of aluminum foil to protect our house being a flash in the pan! There's also a robot with giant Tesla Coils coming our way, and we just need to stop the lightning rod from getting hit, because it will explode the ground! A little aluminum please..
Could you encase the ball in a cube of clear resin and then cut that in half? Not only would it keep it stable, but it could make a REALLY cool display. :)
You could, but the problem is the inner layers. The outside might be nice and polished but inside it's thousands of sliver of sheet that don't adhere to each other well. The resin doesn't penetrate it, so as soon as you cut it in half the entire insides will flake and ruin it.
Or put the ball in a square mold, and pour epoxy all around it, then saw the square block in half... Hopefully the inside doesn't look super boring though! xD
I was thinking using superglue to affix it between two square blocks of wood the same length/width as the diameter of the ball and then cutting it might work, but your idea is probably better.
For cutting aluminum put the blade in backwards and coat the blade with wax occasionally. I worked on aluminum shipping containers. to cut sheet we used a circular saw with plain wood blade put in backwards. Wax kept the aluminum from sticking to a blade or drill bit.
The initial rolling of the foil is really integral for this to work as smoothly as possible. If you want to avoid fissures you need to keep it taut basically the entire time and make sure you roll up the sides of the foil around the central ball, not let them stick out and push down later (it helps to have a non-aluminium core like a marble or a chestnut for this). It's also useful to consistently change the direction of the roll over time to maintain a regular pattern and get nice even layers. This also massively cuts down on the time needed for hammering. I once finished hammering a ball with about half the mass in aluminium in about an hour, with basically no external fissures just by being really meticulous in the rolling process of the initial ball.
@@LeafBoye It can definitely look cool, but in my experience it unfortunately also hugely increases the risk of layers flaking off either during the polish or when handling it afterwards. The only ways to prevent this that I'm aware of are to either lacquer the ball, which that can change how it looks and feels, or to regularly rehammer and repolish it, which is just a hassle.
My best guess on sawing it in half is a sacrificial wooden box with the ball in it. Build the box around the ball and then cut through the center of the box. That would safely keep fingers away from the cut as well as hang on to the ball, even if it spins.
My thought, as well. Could get a couple of board of decent length, put a hole in each that is maybe an inch smaller than the ball, put long bolts and nuts through the boards behind the ball, place the front of the ball close to the blade, then bolt the front ends of the boards. Essentially, you’re using the boards as a clamp but with the ball and blade on the inside. Hopefully, the grip of the ball inside the holes would be enough to keep it from spinning, and the length of the boards would keep the whole fixture from jumping/rotating. Once you cut far enough into the ball, you could use a wedge to keep the ball from clamping around the blade.
actually the very best thing to do would be to make a wood vice jaw to the shape; and then lower the hand bandsaw down using a press jig. this will ensure not only the best cut but the highest safety.
Given the odd shape of a ball don't u think it would hard to get a tight fit, my thought was so in case it in acrylic or resin then saw through the box, same idea tho
My absolute favorite thing about this video is Adam occasionally leaving frame for a few seconds and coming back with just another piece of random equipment to aid in his wild endeavors
Sometimes when the aluminum ball makes flaps, the first instinct is to keep it flat against the ball and hope it some how magically melds seamlessly back into it. But the thing to do is actually fold it back or bunch it up so it can be hammered into oblivion. So fold the flap backwards, so the aluminum actually has something that can be smashed instead of just a flap that dangles no matter how much you hammer it.
The cracks have, I think, more to do with how you layered the foil. The long wraps in a single direction, then pushing the ends in. I'm betting those fissures correspond pretty closely with the crunched in ends of the last long wrap. In the once I have done, I did 2 things very different then how you constructed your ball. My layers were much more randomized. And I spent more time compressing the layers as I went along. I had some flaking as I hammered, but no fissures.
My 4-year old daughter asked to watch this video again as “that grown up boy making a silver ball” and I have no qualms with how she described Mr. Savage. I just really appreciate he’s helping us cultivate a love of science and making for her!
Adam, have you thought about dipping/encapsulating the aluminum ball in a sufficiently large cube of epoxy resin and then cutting it after? If you used a vacuum assisted processes like Peter Brown sometimes uses, you could make sure the epoxy fills as much of the inside as possible and preserves the internal structure that would likely be mangled by a bandsaw blade.
This is why I LOVE Adam Savage. I am a few years older than he is, and I STILL do things like this, SO MANY people as me WHY? My simple answer, and I am SURE Adam's answer, is… WHY NOT? OH, and Adam, one last bit of wisdom. “Even the most perfect item, has critics, the imperfect, have none.” - Quote by ME.
If the work was clamped down or in a vice, it wouldn't move, especially if you made a jig for it. Also circular saws would have made the power tool option work just by nature of geometry. Circle plus plane equals wheel plus road. Circle plus sphere is 2 semicircles. Moving an object like that over a handsaw would take ages especially considering its made of metal. You ever cut metal with a hacksaw? it takes forever to get through uniform material, let alone stuff thats not going to chisel off and going to bend when it comes in contact with the teeth. I personally would have went stupid and put an axe head on top of it and used a hydraulic vice. Chop. easyclap.
My favorite part is when Adam realizes that a bandsaw isn't gonna work so instead he clamps a portaband into a vise to make... an even less safe bandsaw. I was waiting for him to clamp the ball in the vise then band saw it but I guess we'll never see the bisected orb.
I must say: Back in the day, mythbusters were some of my childhood idols. Just being able to do something utterly crazy, because "why not lol" was a dream. Now, years later, and watching Adam just being Adam and doing Something completely useless, but being so passionate about it, brings me so much joy. You, good Sir, are an absolute legend. Please never Change
I love the childlike enthusiasm and joy combined with adult knowledge and scientific mindset. I relate, even though I am but a fraction as smart and educated.
There is a number of times that during this that Adam looks to be equal parts as mad as a hatter and as happy as kid on Christmas. And I LOVE IT!!! Thank you Adam.
Adam, here’s how I would go about cutting the sphere in half. Make a cube out of plexiglass, place the aluminum sphere inside the cube and pour a clear resin over the sphere filling the cube up with resin. Once it has harden, you have a way to hold your sphere and cut it in two.
Just sandwich the ball between two blocks of wood with a small recess in their middle and clamp hard, or use a set of long screws. Then you don't have to bring your hands so close to the saw
Similar to my first idea. Just put the ball into something i'd call a "sawing sabot". Wether you wrap it in tape until you have a cube form, or encase it in resin, whatever; just embed it in an easy-sawable shape that you can discard after sawing.
I thought of that too, what he could also do, is use 2 tape rolls and put them on either side of the sphere, and crimp them into the vice, then use the band saw
I love how he didn't fully explain everyhing, he just said 3 not fully formed sentences and just started unraveling and absolutely going at it mid sentence. It feels like his soul was just telling him "i have to do this... RIGHT NOW"
I love this video ! I loved watching g you fumble thru your mind of different ideas and especially realizing you might get hurt so you stopped ! As an artist I’ve been right where this video was a million times . Watching someone else have such a good time going thru the process of the excited unknown and enjoying it even when it didn’t work out exactly like you thought it might and still walkubg away with all your fingers was a joy for me ! Thank you ! We’re from the same tribe
OMFG sooo true! I think he should stick to cutting it with a saw, but find the finest-tooth blade possible. Even a coping wire saw (it's aluminium after all) and gently gold it in a vice. He needs to form (perhaps wooden) inverse of it's shape to hold it....two bowls
Wile E Coyote had the advantage of being a cartoon, were things fail in a comedic manner. Real life isn't anywhere near as comedic when things go wrong...
Adam, Mythbusters is the one TV show I miss the most. I stumbled on this TH-cam video and am very glad you are still your old self. Keep doing what you are doing! Easy way to saw it in half is to mix up some lucite, submerge the ball, let harden, then saw the lucite in half.
i absolutely love this content, this style of editing and the way this was formatted brings a unique sense of chaos that's really entertaining if you pay close enough attention to it. its an interesting dynamic because with youtube we've been conditioned to think there isn't structure to videos and we're seeing everything live in the process however in these videos i love finding the bits that were included intentionally.
Y'know, for years, I was like "man, the Mythbusters legal and insurance teams are so lame, they put a stop to some awesome experiments" But now I know why. Adam just can't stop himself from doing something stupidly dangerous and sometimes dangerously stupid
It's reminiscent of a child playing with things they're not meant to. I felt like I was watching the kind of impatient moron you avoid at the jobsite because if they don't hurt themselves first they'll end up hurting you. Perhaps it's no coincidence that youtube suggested this mindless bedlam after I'd watched ten minutes of cranes falling over.
I would like to start with a huge heartfelt THANK YOU!!! My daughter is a second-grade teacher and they need all the support they can get!!! We even gave her classroom a Christmas present this year. We are always helping out by buying things for her classroom. Jitters Coffee Shop is a hilarious name.
I kept saying "Adam, ADAM! Put the ball in the clamp! You JUST had your hands on the clamp, take the portable band saw out and put the ball in. No, don't move to ANOTHER band saw!"
That whole last quarter of the video I was howling "GLOVES, man!" Clamping it would have been ideal, especially if he made two wood blocks with round divets to hold it tightly. Then he could go nuts with a saw or dremel.
@@Engitainment Gloves would make the danger worse. Gashing your finger is way better than getting some leather caught in the blade and yanking your whole hand toward it.
At first I was sure I was watching I Did A Thing attempt to do the most dangerous methods possible for cutting open an Aluminum Ball, and then I realized it was just Adam in his infinite excitement.
The DeWalt bandsaw is not going to run as fast or with as much power as a plug-in bandsaw. That's why he went to it AFTER trying the normal bandsaw - the normal bandsaw was biting into the ball and it was trying to jerk it out of his hands (very dangerous). That's why he tried the battery powered one after.
@@jonnydude69 i died reading this comment. seriously. dear god, adam. i had to check out this video before watching the guys from the water jet channel cutting it in half. i didn't even know he did this!
I put a ball of foil in my clothes dryer (supposedly to control static, although I don’t think it did much). My point is that it was amazing to me how tumbling with clothes made it much harder than I could manually compress and it seemed to be a pretty good sphere and was much smaller. (Wish I’d measured it before/after.) Because of how much smaller it got, I added more foil. After the first tumble I had a larger sphere with a smaller one rattling around inside, which I found fascinating. After another couple tumbles, it had compressed into a solid ball again.
I was laughing so hard seeing Adam hastily thinking of ways to cut the ball and quickly bailing on each method only a fraction of the way through, with each method just as dangerous as the last.
From one "Techno- Nerd" to another, I always loved your jovial and energetic delivery of what you say and do, that's a huge reason MythBusters did so well, You and Hyneman are Legends of Science, you have done it all. Keep your enthusiasm, and never lose your "lust for life". All the best
@@vickielawson3114 Well, I have considered myself both in different instances, but you're right, he is more of a "Tech Nerd", maybe even a "Techno- Sexual" hah, but he is not so much a geek, as he is a nerd. All the best. Edit: fixed.
As I watched Adam trying to cut the ball in half, what was running through my memory was a fireball exploding in his face, and him saying to the camera, "Am I missing an eyebrow?". Also, I got an image of a bookshelf full of OSHA Safety Manuals just bursting into flames.
@@taffysaur - It was Season2/Episode 2: "Cell Phone Destroys Gas Station". They were testing to see if a cell phone could generate a spark that would ignite gasoline vapor, and Adam was a little too close to the test cell, and got a little singed by the fireball.
I love the fact that the first like 5 straight minutes of this is basically just Adam banging this wad of foil on a rock like a caveman with a coconut. I feel like Adam might have really gotten in touch with his evolutionary forebears in this process.
I'm not sure this is relevant, but I found long ago that a large wad of well-chewed gum can be, after about 5 minutes, fashioned into a strikingly symmetrical sphere by the teeth, palate, and tongue alone. Somehow it's possible to feel and correct gradually smaller and smaller irregularities. Even further, when you get bored with spheres, you can convert them in the same manner into equally regular cubes, albeit with rather rounded edges and corners. I've never tried a tetrahedron;
Probably one of my favorite parts of these videos is the audio editing 👌 speeding up the video while cutting the audio to present real-time, not sped-up audio is such a brilliant idea and has always been executed perfectly. SO much better than alternatives seen on other channels (modified audio, cuts, VO, etc…)! Bravo to whoever’s idea that was
@@albinogonzo3405 It seems like Tested speeds up the video but plays the audio real-time. Obviously that means that we only get to hear a small portion of the real audio, but I prefer hearing the real machining sounds to sped up sounds and prefer seeing the entire process to only seeing the important pieces. Here’s an example where both the video and the audio get ‘cut’ to basically just skip all the boring parts: th-cam.com/users/clipUgkx4Xznbfr0aRuTvM3IAYaDwx4f75BM3k6e Here’s an example where both the audio and the video are sped up: th-cam.com/users/shortsBDfX-Fj6ICI?feature=share
I was so invested and as serious as Adam was up until 12:30 and i absolutely lost myself laughing. I have no idea as to why that was so funny. But it got me. I am also truly blessed to have met this man many many years ago on a tour he and Jamie went on to talk to fans. Truly a remarkable guy and so so nice. I will forever and always be a fan of you
Yes! He blew that load all over the place! I couldn’t believe I didn’t see more comments about it!! My first thought was, “We’ve all been there”. Haha. I also laughed at 18:30-silver balls, silver balls….
Nothing could’ve made me happier than hearing him say “I wanna cut it in half” bc that’s ALL I could think about the whole time! Sad you couldn’t find a way to actually cut through it but glad to know we had the same idea LOL
Hypothesis: Your fissures and peeks were caused by using industrial strength aluminum. The higher tensile strength of the sheet means you’ll develop a hardened outer shell faster, leaving the interior too porous to hold its shape later in the hammering process. Lighter foil would condense more, so the core would be more structurally stable 🪩
I believe dam was correct when he said that he needed to pay more attention to the shaping from the start. I think I'm going to go buy a few industrial roles and build a huge one. When they release me from the asylum, after my wife has me committed, I will make a video of it :) If I can make 2 of them solid enough I can pit a shaft through it for axles and make a giant 2 wheel skate board. Anyone getting rid of a spare helmet?
Words can't explain how happy finding you again after all the years lol I watched you so much as a kid and I just wanted to say thank you for entertaining me and teaching me so much random shit in life Adam!!!
Some interesting facts about aluminum foil: it is made from only large ingot of pure aluminum. It is hot rolled down to about 2cm thick slab of aluminum that is then rolled into a thick sheet. It is then called rolled tinnier and thinner. The last roll it actually too thin for the rollers to keep the foil from tearing easily, so it is doubled up. To keep the foil from sticking to the rollers and itself they use Kerosene. This is what gives the foil the shiny and dull side. The shiny side is caused by the polished rollers of the press, the dull side is from the aluminum pressed against itself since it was doubled up. One ingot will produce a 12 kilometer long piece of foil before it is trimmed and packaged to send to Savages the world over. Here is a link to a how it’s made video on the process. th-cam.com/video/v1z829NF9PA/w-d-xo.html
This challenge was realized in the most Adam way possible. The whole challenge is about discipline: doing something utterly meaningless for as long as you possibly can because the final result can be utterly smooth, round and shiny, a testament to your perseverance. Adam: let's cheat! It's not quite round, I don't care, let's cut it in half though! 😂
This video is a bit like horror films, when it feels like the end has arrived, but there's still 20 minutes of play time left, and you know shits about to get real!! Love it
So happy that Adam's has those little cracks too. I was expecting to be annoyed that his was nicer than mine. I started with a bit less foil, and I didn't make the foil ball all at once... I hammered as I wrapped. Mine is about baseball sized. It is a wonderful fidget object for my desk.
When you make a ball that’s loose like that, you could drill a hole through the middle and vacuum encapsulate it with epoxy in a small bucket. Cut that whole cylinder with the bandsaw, then sand and polish each sphere half on a large, flat surface to get a smooth viewing window to the middle of the ball. You could put in layers of copper foil or something to put in contrast while building layers.
Pro tip- put a mound of Bondo on a wood board and press the ball (with some release) into it. Make sure some it passes the tangent of the ball. Dot some super glue on some of the edges. This makes a fast, cheap jig you can run through the band saw. I've used this method for drilling holes and even milling parts that are hard to hold in a vise. The wood board keeps you hands away from the cutting blade too. Alternatively, you can melt machinist wax in a box, freeze it and then melt it back out.
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Hello, Love your videos. 🛠️
Adam & team. You guys should watch Cody's Lab. He did the foil ball challenge a couple years back, except did it with gold. Interestingly, it created an air pocket of sorts and so it ended up being a ball inside a ball and it rattled
maybe some kind of lathe or a water cutting cnc
Maybe try temporary mounting made of wax ? Thinking about how jewelers cut facets.
Adam!!! On your surface plate??!!!
I'm sitting here thinking Adam has officially lost his mind, but then I realized I just spent a half an hour watching a grown man play with aluminum foil.
@That's Not Funny, That's Sick! I was just thinking about this lol
All that equipment and seemed to have no idea. I am sure he must have a vice large enough to secure the ball before using a hacksaw. Disappointing because it would be interesting to see the compressed layers.
did that on jazzer Chanel too. I thought he was losing his mind then mold dragon with aluminum foil, zombie head , zombie hand , some kind giant monster missing legs. there clay too.
All this on a random impulse too... Sometimes free time can make you do some crazy things!
Hahaha it's OK, crazy is funz sometimes lol
I feel like if this was done on mythbusters it would've ended with the ball being shot out of a cannon to see how much damage it could do/if the ball would survive
Lmfaoo so true
I vote h tries to fire the next one out of a cannon
Or being blown to smithereens with 50 pounds of C4!
@@aerofoilmusic More. MORE. MORE!!!
I feel the same thing lad.
Seeing someone with as much cred as Adam try multiple strategies to accomplish something, nearly lose multiple fingers multiple times, and eventually give up is one of the most encouraging and validating things I've seen in a long time. Thank you, Adam.
ok
My thoughts exactly
Truth
What about a diamond blade wet saw for tile?
Me to.
I love how straight to the point Adam is, he thinks about something and within 2 seconds he has the equipment necessary
He literally did not have the equipment necessary 😂
And he isnt always straight to the point 😂
@@brandonlee8123 That part about him is what makes him unique & why we love him so fkn much bc he's very much politically incorrect & we're here for it😁
@@Nick-hm6tl Dude lives in his workshop so I think he has more then enough equipment necessary for all his projects LOL!
How this man still has all his fingers is a miracle beyond the realm of science.
When he put the saw in the vice 😂💀 love this man
Maybe he made a new finger🫢
My thoughts excatly, lol
Is he missing an eyebrow?
i knew a cokehead carpenter once. the whole video reminded me of him :D the same recklessness
Seeing the cutting attempts and the attempt to unjam the bandsaw with his hand I am genuinely amazed that Adam still has all his fingers
Secretly he loses a finger each week. He just also keeps some spare in his pockets.
All the very best mechanics and engineers seem to do a little dangerous shit from time to time tbh,
It's the ones that are always way too safe that end up giving a shitty product , or they end up taking a month to do something that should take a week
I'm not saying not to follow safety cause safety is obviously paramount ,
But the real money makers and people who get shit done are people who do some dangerous shit
Example: the entirety of the rigs and pipelining/ being a roughneck
@@andrew-rn9ui my father worked with a table saw. He was cutting a plank of wood for something and it got stuck. While I was helping him. I don't know what cogs where turning in his head, but he reached with his hand to unjam it. I almost shat myself when the saw instantly started to spin. He was ok, but I still think he just wanted to lose one or two fingers that day
That shot at the beginning of Adam violently smacking the ball like a primate who's just figured out tools is one of the funniest things I've seen all week
Watch the Australian dude who tosses heavy things into washing machines and runs them until they self destruct. Seriously funny.
I can't stop laughing
What you doing here Japanese?
@@paulrickman7549 thank you lol
1:25 toddlers with a ball of mashed potatoes after mom leaves the room
I’m so glad Adam was on mythbusters. Idk how much I would have watched it with 2 Jaime personalities. Adam brought such childlike wonder, enthusiasm & blatant disregard for safety. I’m glad Jaime was there to reel Adam in a bit. They really balanced each other out quite well.
i heard some time ago they both apparently didnt see eye to eye all that often, which is so sad when you think about what a nice team they were on cam
They just don’t get on in real life
Life. They don’t go out of their way to be unhappy with each other they just have nothing in common as people apart from doing special effects
"disregard for safety" is so accurate, but is sending me into fits of giggles
Adam trying to cut the ball is a series of the least safe things I have seen him do
cant you just weld it onto something and make it so much easier?
I gasped when he grabbed the stopped band saw blade while the machine was still running
Which is saying something.
When he clamped the saw into the table then got the other clamp to hold the trigger on. I was like,”Adam,no!!!” Then I thought where’s the table bandsaw thing you made. Then he went to that. And I think the challenge should be cutting the thing in half not making it. 😂
It was one of the hardest things to watch. I had to stop the video a couple of times wile saying "Jesus Christ".
(My father has a wood furniture factory, I have seen too many severed fingers through my life)
I love how human he is about his videos. At no point are you 100% certain that he'll end the video without an injury or keeping all his digits. He doesn't come across as a know-it-all and approaches projects like this the way the rest of us would.
Shut up mathew Scott, its a metal ball😁😁👍🤟🥱😈🤝🙏👍
@@kaelis8565ew no don’t gross
@@kaelis8565 Says the one using emojis on youtube
Every know-it-all knows that 250 feet is nowhere near a tenth of a mile, so that's good.
Really took me back;I once made a pair of aluminum shoes when I was about 10 and proudly wore them downtown! I love this guy and while watching I felt like a little boy all over again. Priceless! Thank you Adam!
I love when he doesn't even talk about what he's thinking and just goes OH! and runs off to the other part off screen to grab something! Dude is awesome! 😆
Literal doer mentality
@@devastationofmankind3495 Dad mentality
When cutting aluminum foil, it is best to use the cutting implement that is attached to the box. Hope this helps.
that's great if you're cutting a single layer. not so ideal for a densely packed ball of foil
@@moviebuff174 what are you talking about? Of course it is! :D
This was helpful for when I made my own enormous foil ball and wanted to cut it in half to see the inside (I won’t tell you what it looks like)! Thank you for your expertise!
So that's what that saw-toothed piece of crap is for, cause it's useless in cleanly tearing a single ply.
@@csn583 Truth.
As a man of similar age, Adam’s childlike glee with some simple things like using a full roll of foil and bashing it around brings a smile to my face every single time.
I have made these for years.
You have to start small, and not use too much foil at once because you will get air pockets. You need to get each layer as dense and spherical as you can before you start the next level of foil. The hammer should not sound like it is hitting something hollow, but should sound like it rings like you are hitting a solid ingot of metal. You also want to hit relatively lightly until it is more uniformly dense and round. If you hit hard from the beginning, it will end up lumpy and lopsided because the metal will be too dense in spots for the metal to even out. It should never crack like his did if you get the core of it right.
I understand Adam had to do this in a limited amount of time, but you need to take your time over the course of days to get the best outcome. It should be kind of meditative process.
That's exactly what he said in the video
Did you go to aluminum foil ball college?
@@natwolf687 you have clearly not read their dissertation on foil spherelogy
Ok, but then, what do you do with these magnificent beasts of roundness?
@@lauralake7430What do you do with a Painting?
Probably the only person in the world that can make me spend 30 minutes watching them make a ball out of foil. 10,000 years from now, when someone digs it up and asks... "what the...". LOL
I watched a mechanic change blades on his riding lawn mower and I don't even have a mower.
I probably spent a collective 30 minutes watching Pee-wee Herman making one.
Well, he also made one out of sh*t. That was a great Mythbusters episode.
@@pjabrony8280 I was gonna say, my mind went straight to Pee Wee.
It's not tin
i love how adam went to the bandsaw first, realised it was too sketchy, tried the hacksaw and thought it was too hard, then went to the handheld bandsaw propped up in a clamp, probably the worst of the three
that's how my brain would be working after spending 3h hammering on tin foil
@@comradegarrett1202 you know what, me too
Was thinking the same thing... amazing he's still got all 10 fingers.
We got an introductory tour of Adam's bandsaw collection.
The part where it looks like he is about to clamp the power button down had the folks at Dewalt grabbing their faces in disbelief.
The embodiment of "Growing Old is Mandatory, Growing Up is Optional" God bless this man.
ok
As frustrating as it can be it’s OK to make mistakes and move on. In fact it virtually necessary.
Where is the Love button?
Eccentric old men are the best.
Seeing him holding the ball, by a little tape and turning on a bandsaw sent all my internal alarms going, Adam, you are a national/global treasure, try not to loose your fingers by doing this
Pretty sure hes like high out of his mind this ep
Adam hitting the aluminum ball against the table and screaming "more" has some of the most caveman vibes i saw in this channel
I must say for a record, that amount of aluminum particles don't look very safe, it feels like they will do just like lead and get to your blood system by your skin
It was giving “smart man do dumb man thing” and it was fantastic 😂
1:22
@@thecore8605 you should be more worried about how the aluminum reacts in the body than the many ways things get into the body!
By the way so does water it’s absorbs through your skin just like lead and aluminum elements.
So to reiterate what makes you think that aluminum is as dangerous as lead?
@@thecore8605 The most caveman vibes might be your response to a question?
I've made a few of these, different sizes, different foil weights. The "fissures" and flakes are a function of the way you wrapped the sheet foil. Initially, you wadded the foil together (perfect), but you very quickly switched over to wrapping the sheet foil around the wadded core. This creates layers of foil that don't completely lock together and leads to that "flaking" behavior at the end. If you try this again, squish and smoosh (technical terms) all of your foil into the initial form, don't wrap.
Thank you for the excellent video. It was a fun watch.
-Zed
Lol no fr you needa stop th-cam.com/video/7lwe0ZYD5CU/w-d-xo.html
I knew it!
Thanks Zed
-William
Excellent, I now possess another bit of information that I will probably never need however very glad I have it! 😂
and the use of wayyyyyyy too fucking much foil at the beginning
I just love that I grew up watching this crazy maniac of a man show us how cool science can be and now as an adult I get to watch him happily tinker away in his garage making cool dorky things with that same childlike wonder. Thank you for all you do for us Adam ❤❤
ur cute
@@trevoidc9859 thank u😘 didn’t know you were into boys😏
oh go to hell with it ariana 🤮
I'm straight :)
Watching stuff like this reinvigorates my love for life. Experimenting, failing and coming up with solutions. Doing things just for the sake of creativity and curiosity. Much love Adam Savage, thanks for sharing
decades of engineering, inspiring thousands of youth into such a technical field, collaborating with others of such high caliber.
And it's all lead to this man hammering tin foil into a sphere.
Love ya Adam! Never change.
And then dismissing basically every safety precaution to ever exist when trying to cut it.
@@shabath truly a sigma male
When I tried this, what I attempted was to slowly build the ball up. I started with just a handful got it down to a little above the size of a golf ball. Then I did a second later making it about the size of a baseball, and then a third layer, and so on until I used up the whole roll. This allows a lot more air to escape reducing the amount of fissures. I then sanded it down to smooth it out and followed that up with a nice polish. Basically, looked like a mirror ball almost.
This is the way
Agreed, that's the right way to do it. Of all the things that Adam has been accused of, "patient" is very near the bottom of the list.
Why?
Did you use a particular method to bunch up the foil at the beginning. If I make one of these I want to maximize density from the start to get close to the 2.7gm/cm^3
@Butter-Fingers Boy 😊
Adam, I must say, a big part of having larger bumps and fissures might have been because you rolled it in just one direction, like a coil, instead of rotating the ball as you were rolling it to evenly wrap it. You were rolling it up like a roll of paper towels when you should have rolled it up like you would a ball of yarn
No he rotated it. Probably not as often as it should have been, but he rotated it.
@@joshwhitworth5455 he rotated it a tiny bit at the beginning and a tiny bit at the end, but the majority of the time, he rolled all the tinfoil the same direction
And he still spent over 3 hrs, on his very first one. so, if he were crazy enough to do this again, more care and planning can be taken in the compacting process. one person suggested using a cubical shape. not bad..
@IndustrialDb this is definitely an interesting hobby pursuit, but I actually almost did a double take when I read your 3 hour remark. I don't think I have it in me to spend 3 hours trying to coax foil into denser, shinier spherical foil.
But on the other hand I make knives and do some custom blacksmithing as a hobby, so who am I to balk at cajoling metal into a financial deficit-shaped object?
It's not so easy to rotate while rolling a wide, flat sheet, as opposed to a thin string or yarn. Especially single-handedly.
Next Challenge: unfold
This
Oh no💀
😂
The mistake was when you wrapped the foil in a ball shape you wound the foil around the foil around the equator thereby creating a north and south pole of structural weakness. What should happen is that with every rotation while wrapping, the ball should be turned by a quarter in order to wrap foil universally around all the axis of the ball. To cut the ball mount the ball in a lathe using two wooden blocks each with a concave surface that holds the ball firmly in place. Spin the lathe at the lowest rpm you can set it to and use your hacksaw to cut it vertically as slowly as possible.
Couldn’t have put it better myself
Extremely correct
🧠👖
Turning an exact quarter with each wrap will just delay getting to the same problem. You need to rotate it a prime-fractional portion of the sphere with each turn.
I wonder if some sort of bonding agent with moderate tensile strength (I'm thinking of a pliable silicon semi-fluid here) might not help with the compaction problem and also deal with the fissuring.
And, Adam, I'd love to know the density of the ball you created compared to the density of the original "tin" foil, which ought to be just a bit lighter than a like-sized ball of alumin(i)um. This would let you determine just how much air is in it, to measure the efficiency of your procedure and compare it to your next try.
I wanted to say this in my own version but I was to lazy to type all that😂 thank you😉🤣
After watching Adam for years on Mythbusters, and now having watched quite a few of videos from his personal workshop, I have come to two conclusions:
1. Adam is brilliant
2. Adam is a walking OSHA violation
Watching the montage of him hastily trying to figure out different ways of cutting the ball without otherwise securing it was blowing my mind.
This is the very reason they had other experts on MythBusters. Yes, Adam's capacity for jumping from idea to idea really does make him into a potential living OSHA violation.
Watches that, yells "remember what happened with the lathe, Adam".
OSHA doesn’t apply to the self employed.
the level of cob is, honestly, impressive.
I love how Adam leaves him moving the camera in the video rather then editing it out. Feels so much more authentic.
And how he keeps the project in the frame more than himself.
So in the zombie apocalypse we can make cannon balls outa aluminium foil
This is living proof that Adam Savage could film himself doing literally anything and we'd all still watch in amazement
10 minutes in and the guy still hasn't stated what he was trying to achieve with an alu foil ball. Absolutely last interest.
@@Enyavar1 says it in the desription
@@Enyavar1 ...And shows it on the thumbnail pic
You might speak for a large group of people, but I'm sure a lot of people just can't stand the unprofessional approach to solving all these problems. The amount of times a facepalm is justified is just ridiculous. I (and I'm sure a lot of other people) was not amazed by anything in this entire video.
Maybe this speaks more to the average person instead of people with a background in science.
The only thing that amazed me was the amount of unnecessary dangerous acts in the video. Which is why I reported the video. He shows multiple dangerous ways of cutting a tin ball. Not only that, but doesn't even address it or warns younger viewers.
@@glp.1337 Oh, agreed. The way the guy handled his multiple saws, and the aluminum coating of his hands, and not wearing protection gear while handling chemicals... nothing was really _stupidly_ dangerous, but his musings told the viewer everything he does there is harmless.
Cast the ball into a cube of resin. You then could polish the resin having a nice way to look at the ball. while also it would be safe to cut the ball inside of the cube not only half but you could do cross sections if you'd like.
Casting the ball (into a cube shape) is what I immediately thought of when thinking of a safer way to cut it in half.
Nah, cast it in silicone mold making material inside of a wooden box. The wooden box would give the silicone mold structure while the silicone holds the ball in place. At the end, pop it out of the molds and and it is cut in half without losing its original design.
Water jet
Drill and cut threads for bolts in to hold it from turning. Or don't cut threads screws and use screws. Frankenstein it.
This needs more likes!
Adam is the epitome of the saying "Some kids never grow up, they just get adult money"
You beat me by 11hrs. Hit this time stamp 1:23
Your welcome 😁
best definition of a big kid!
That's eventually the goal
If I didn't know better he looks like someone spending some of that on adult drugs as well.
I love how raw adam's videos are like they all feel so unrefined but not in a bad way
Dear god tell me I wasn’t the only one screaming at the screen for Adam to say “foiled again” every time he couldn’t cut it in half. File this one under missed opportunities Mr. Savage.
*foil this one
th-cam.com/users/shortsddxJSqhXH_M?feature=share 🇺🇦🇺🇦❤️❤️.
Id never recover if i knew what i could have had
this ain't cutting it
🎬 That's a wrap
Watching Adam smacking the ball of foil on his stand like an excited otter trying to crack open a particularly tasty oyster just makes my day better.
Came here to say that, almost burst out laughing
I haven't made it past that part of the video, it just made me laugh so much
Jamie would look like a whole walrus
The way he says "more!"
i love how Adam's shop is like a bag of holding where he jumps out of camera and finds a slightly better tool for the job over and over, then proceeds to throw them back into the void to produce another tool
That's the best way I've heard someone describe his shop LOL. 10/10
It's like he always has a tool for job, and at a certain point in that job.
I understood that reference!
I like how he went through the process of clamping his battery band saw to the table, only to see a legit one that he somehow forgot about.
1:14 me getting a snack in the middle of the night
For future reference: Starting out by hammering a tin-foil cube will greatly help to compact the inner layers.
Then you can start the spherical shape by hammering the corners of the cube, continuing as new corners form. :)
I don't think he'll ever do this again lol
Haven't done this sort of things since I was a kid, but onion layering it is where she messed up and that why you could see the layers shift when he hammered. I remember using crumpled sheets and compressing them. I can't remember if I used carpet or just something solid to polish.
@@cal5566 I don't know about that. In the video hes said If I do this again, then changed it to WHEN I do this again so I foresee another tin foil ball video.
I've a 16" rock saw. I've cut geodes about that size and shape in half. The way I do it is by encasing the rock in a rectangle of plaster. The plaster rectangle gives my saw's mounting vise something on which to clamp. It doesn't have to cover the entire rock, just the side the vise is on. The plaster has to cure very, very well, but that's to give it strength against the vise. The plaster doesn't dissolve in the transformer oil with which I cool the saw blade. The saw blade is diamond edged. It cuts through very slowly so as to not dislodge the rock from the vise (and plaster) as well as to keep the heat manageable. They do get hot. It'll take a good 30 to 45 minutes to cut through a quartz geode the size of that aluminum ball, but it will.
High friction, high speed, long time - not something for the cocaine-fueled maker?
I really thought that would be the next step; Adam building some contraption to hold the ball.
@@donkfail1 Me too, I thought he'd at least try a 3D printed part to dig into the edges of the ball near the line so it could cut better. Similar to the plaster idea @Mark Bryant shared above.
That is information i am storing away in the "probably useless, but will make me seem magical if it ever comes up" section of my brain.
Lol no fr you in this th-cam.com/video/7lwe0ZYD5CU/w-d-xo.html
I can just imagine the dinner conversation with the wife: "So.... our dining table has been wobbling for 6 months, you have every tool known to man, and you're telling me you just spent the entire afternoon pounding my last roll of aluminum foil into a little ball?"
To be fair, its a *big* ball!
TO BE FAIR! Letterkenny
There is lava approaching our property and it's getting close to the picket fence! We just need a little wall of aluminum foil to protect our house being a flash in the pan! There's also a robot with giant Tesla Coils coming our way, and we just need to stop the lightning rod from getting hit, because it will explode the ground! A little aluminum please..
Wife receives check from TH-cam after people watch him hammer a ball of aluminum over 5.5 million times…
@@commandrogyne not bigger than mine
This was awesome. When you proposed cutting it in half. I quite possibly cracked the largest smile I had in a week... all year probably.
Could you encase the ball in a cube of clear resin and then cut that in half? Not only would it keep it stable, but it could make a REALLY cool display. :)
Was thinking the same.
You could, but the problem is the inner layers. The outside might be nice and polished but inside it's thousands of sliver of sheet that don't adhere to each other well. The resin doesn't penetrate it, so as soon as you cut it in half the entire insides will flake and ruin it.
Or put the ball in a square mold, and pour epoxy all around it, then saw the square block in half... Hopefully the inside doesn't look super boring though! xD
I was thinking using superglue to affix it between two square blocks of wood the same length/width as the diameter of the ball and then cutting it might work, but your idea is probably better.
Those look rather dull on the inside. Quite some Vids around where they are cut open.
For cutting aluminum put the blade in backwards and coat the blade with wax occasionally.
I worked on aluminum shipping containers. to cut sheet we used a circular saw with plain wood blade put in backwards. Wax kept the aluminum from sticking to a blade or drill bit.
Was going to say ive never worked with aluminum but ive worked in enough shops to know its a pain to cut
He knows what he doing lol
The initial rolling of the foil is really integral for this to work as smoothly as possible. If you want to avoid fissures you need to keep it taut basically the entire time and make sure you roll up the sides of the foil around the central ball, not let them stick out and push down later (it helps to have a non-aluminium core like a marble or a chestnut for this). It's also useful to consistently change the direction of the roll over time to maintain a regular pattern and get nice even layers. This also massively cuts down on the time needed for hammering.
I once finished hammering a ball with about half the mass in aluminium in about an hour, with basically no external fissures just by being really meticulous in the rolling process of the initial ball.
I feel like I'm the only one that likes the look of the fissures
Who made you the king of aluminum ball rolling?
Because he’s done it many times. I don’t see what’s wrong with providing advice to Adam when he has the experience to back it up.
@@LeafBoye It can definitely look cool, but in my experience it unfortunately also hugely increases the risk of layers flaking off either during the polish or when handling it afterwards. The only ways to prevent this that I'm aware of are to either lacquer the ball, which that can change how it looks and feels, or to regularly rehammer and repolish it, which is just a hassle.
Some people just like to be negative on the internet, don't pay attention to this sad kid :) These looks like legit tips!
There is just something primitively satisfying about watching a grown man bang a ball of metal for hours on a surface.
My best guess on sawing it in half is a sacrificial wooden box with the ball in it. Build the box around the ball and then cut through the center of the box. That would safely keep fingers away from the cut as well as hang on to the ball, even if it spins.
use an ax
My thought, as well. Could get a couple of board of decent length, put a hole in each that is maybe an inch smaller than the ball, put long bolts and nuts through the boards behind the ball, place the front of the ball close to the blade, then bolt the front ends of the boards. Essentially, you’re using the boards as a clamp but with the ball and blade on the inside. Hopefully, the grip of the ball inside the holes would be enough to keep it from spinning, and the length of the boards would keep the whole fixture from jumping/rotating. Once you cut far enough into the ball, you could use a wedge to keep the ball from clamping around the blade.
Similar to the trick that magicians use to look like they’re sawing someone in half, however you are actually sawing the ball in half.
actually the very best thing to do would be to make a wood vice jaw to the shape; and then lower the hand bandsaw down using a press jig. this will ensure not only the best cut but the highest safety.
Given the odd shape of a ball don't u think it would hard to get a tight fit, my thought was so in case it in acrylic or resin then saw through the box, same idea tho
My absolute favorite thing about this video is Adam occasionally leaving frame for a few seconds and coming back with just another piece of random equipment to aid in his wild endeavors
Sometimes when the aluminum ball makes flaps, the first instinct is to keep it flat against the ball and hope it some how magically melds seamlessly back into it. But the thing to do is actually fold it back or bunch it up so it can be hammered into oblivion. So fold the flap backwards, so the aluminum actually has something that can be smashed instead of just a flap that dangles no matter how much you hammer it.
I eventually just tore my flap off ... However, it took me a LONG to figure that solution out. *laugh*
Maybe it could be cut as it spins clamped on a spindle like on a lathe!
The pure glee involved in creating and shaping that foil ball , at the beginning , engenders absolute infectious delight !
Thank you !!!
The cracks have, I think, more to do with how you layered the foil. The long wraps in a single direction, then pushing the ends in. I'm betting those fissures correspond pretty closely with the crunched in ends of the last long wrap. In the once I have done, I did 2 things very different then how you constructed your ball. My layers were much more randomized. And I spent more time compressing the layers as I went along. I had some flaking as I hammered, but no fissures.
Another thing that helps is if you tear the foil into small pieces before starting.
How he layered it really bothered me tbh
Yeah…. Don’t roll it up like that, make each layer slowly go in an off angle so they end up in a different direction.
also, air needs to get out somehow
My 4-year old daughter asked to watch this video again as “that grown up boy making a silver ball” and I have no qualms with how she described Mr. Savage. I just really appreciate he’s helping us cultivate a love of science and making for her!
Hahahaha
"This is the most fun I've had with a roll of tin foil. Well, you can chew on it, but this is the second best!" - this phrase pretty much confirms it.
Grown up, as in adult-sized!
@@Puukiuuki no as in grey beard, talks like an old man, but gets exited about the same stuff kids do
Adam, have you thought about dipping/encapsulating the aluminum ball in a sufficiently large cube of epoxy resin and then cutting it after? If you used a vacuum assisted processes like Peter Brown sometimes uses, you could make sure the epoxy fills as much of the inside as possible and preserves the internal structure that would likely be mangled by a bandsaw blade.
Put the ball in the water, freeze it into ice, and cut it open. Maybe it's easy to cut by freezing cold
Came here to say that!
Do it
I work in metal and id add to use a lubricant on the blade as well since the aluminum will gum up the blade alot since its so soft
@@jy9915 the ball would probably melt the surrounding ice just causing it to spin because of friction adding heat to the tin
This is why I LOVE Adam Savage. I am a few years older than he is, and I STILL do things like this, SO MANY people as me WHY? My simple answer, and I am SURE Adam's answer, is… WHY NOT?
OH, and Adam, one last bit of wisdom. “Even the most perfect item, has critics, the imperfect, have none.” - Quote by ME.
Move the object, not the saw. Clamp the hacksaw in a vice. That's the best way to cut fragile things.
This does sound like the best thing to do. I assume it will just start breaking apart once you get deeper inside. Do want to see what happens tho!
Came here to say this
My thought exactly
If the work was clamped down or in a vice, it wouldn't move, especially if you made a jig for it. Also circular saws would have made the power tool option work just by nature of geometry. Circle plus plane equals wheel plus road. Circle plus sphere is 2 semicircles. Moving an object like that over a handsaw would take ages especially considering its made of metal. You ever cut metal with a hacksaw? it takes forever to get through uniform material, let alone stuff thats not going to chisel off and going to bend when it comes in contact with the teeth. I personally would have went stupid and put an axe head on top of it and used a hydraulic vice. Chop. easyclap.
@@elijahgooley385 I have used this very method to cut metal spheres in half. You cannot clamp a foil ball in a vice without destroying it.
My favorite part is when Adam realizes that a bandsaw isn't gonna work so instead he clamps a portaband into a vise to make... an even less safe bandsaw. I was waiting for him to clamp the ball in the vise then band saw it but I guess we'll never see the bisected orb.
good thing your comment aged poorly!
@@kal465 amen i found this video cause i was recommended the cut vid
oh hoho my good man i have joyus news!
I must say: Back in the day, mythbusters were some of my childhood idols. Just being able to do something utterly crazy, because "why not lol" was a dream. Now, years later, and watching Adam just being Adam and doing Something completely useless, but being so passionate about it, brings me so much joy.
You, good Sir, are an absolute legend. Please never Change
I love the childlike enthusiasm and joy combined with adult knowledge and scientific mindset. I relate, even though I am but a fraction as smart and educated.
There is a number of times that during this that Adam looks to be equal parts as mad as a hatter and as happy as kid on Christmas. And I LOVE IT!!!
Thank you Adam.
Adam, here’s how I would go about cutting the sphere in half. Make a cube out of plexiglass, place the aluminum sphere inside the cube and pour a clear resin over the sphere filling the cube up with resin. Once it has harden, you have a way to hold your sphere and cut it in two.
Just sandwich the ball between two blocks of wood with a small recess in their middle and clamp hard, or use a set of long screws. Then you don't have to bring your hands so close to the saw
Similar to my first idea. Just put the ball into something i'd call a "sawing sabot". Wether you wrap it in tape until you have a cube form, or encase it in resin, whatever; just embed it in an easy-sawable shape that you can discard after sawing.
that could be very expensive.
I thought of that too, what he could also do, is use 2 tape rolls and put them on either side of the sphere, and crimp them into the vice, then use the band saw
Or you know, just use a fixed circular saw with a guide shaft. You know, just throwing it out there. Those things will cut steel no problem.
I love how he didn't fully explain everyhing, he just said 3 not fully formed sentences and just started unraveling and absolutely going at it mid sentence. It feels like his soul was just telling him "i have to do this... RIGHT NOW"
Happens when you don't take your Ritalin.
#ADHDlife
With that little tongue sticking out …lol😂
I love this video ! I loved watching g you fumble thru your mind of different ideas and especially realizing you might get hurt so you stopped ! As an artist I’ve been right where this video was a million times . Watching someone else have such a good time going thru the process of the excited unknown and enjoying it even when it didn’t work out exactly like you thought it might and still walkubg away with all your fingers was a joy for me ! Thank you ! We’re from the same tribe
Lol how has Adam still got all his fingers?! The last 10 minutes had me squirming - it was like watching Wile Coyote with his ACME gear :p
OMFG sooo true! I think he should stick to cutting it with a saw, but find the finest-tooth blade possible. Even a coping wire saw (it's aluminium after all) and gently gold it in a vice.
He needs to form (perhaps wooden) inverse of it's shape to hold it....two bowls
Wile E Coyote had the advantage of being a cartoon, were things fail in a comedic manner. Real life isn't anywhere near as comedic when things go wrong...
@@nathanrcoe1132 fun at parties
I watch mythbusters reruns religiously. and ive always wondered how any of them have fingers left. lol
Yeah, those last 10 minutes were equal parts fascination and mounting horror.
It's honestly so heartwarming to see Adam just having fun
Completely agree
Sponsored by reynolds wrap tm
I have to agree. When his tongue 👅 is out, he's really into it. Lol
th-cam.com/video/wI8XOHSSwFc/w-d-xo.html
Adam, Mythbusters is the one TV show I miss the most. I stumbled on this TH-cam video and am very glad you are still your old self. Keep doing what you are doing!
Easy way to saw it in half is to mix up some lucite, submerge the ball, let harden, then saw the lucite in half.
i absolutely love this content, this style of editing and the way this was formatted brings a unique sense of chaos that's really entertaining if you pay close enough attention to it. its an interesting dynamic because with youtube we've been conditioned to think there isn't structure to videos and we're seeing everything live in the process however in these videos i love finding the bits that were included intentionally.
It's friday night, and I'm sitting here watching a dude beat on foil and enjoying it- one of the perks of getting old.
My 4 year old cousin sat in watched this week the way though. I really don't see your point. 😂😭
I understand your point maybe they just never had a life and don't get what your saying
I can beat that sad to say, I watched Ear Wax removal #47 from start to finish, then put Ear Wax removal #48 onto my watch later list.
@@utube1818 lol nice
Same! It's a Friday night, I have a frozen pizza in the oven, the husband is away, and I'm in my comfy pants. All in all, 9/10 Friday night.
I always enjoy Adam. Hes the actual definition of, "Do not try this at home".
He missed an oppertunity though. he could have named the vid "Watch adam savage slap his ball with a hammer for hours"
Come with me
And you'll be
In a world of OSHA violations
"When it all fails, just use C4." lol
Yes
watch styropyro. this is PG to his R.
Y'know, for years, I was like "man, the Mythbusters legal and insurance teams are so lame, they put a stop to some awesome experiments"
But now I know why. Adam just can't stop himself from doing something stupidly dangerous and sometimes dangerously stupid
It's reminiscent of a child playing with things they're not meant to. I felt like I was watching the kind of impatient moron you avoid at the jobsite because if they don't hurt themselves first they'll end up hurting you. Perhaps it's no coincidence that youtube suggested this mindless bedlam after I'd watched ten minutes of cranes falling over.
I'm dying laughing.
ok
I have never been so nervous to watch a prerecorded TH-cam approved video in my life
@@TIVIS014 Amen to that. The guy is out of control. Hate to say it but this video should be banned for safety's sake.
I would like to start with a huge heartfelt THANK YOU!!! My daughter is a second-grade teacher and they need all the support they can get!!! We even gave her classroom a Christmas present this year. We are always helping out by buying things for her classroom. Jitters Coffee Shop is a hilarious name.
Lol! My goodness, Adam, the cutting portion... The whole time I'm thinking "Is this really it? Is THIS how Adam will finally lose his finger?"
Especially when the stationary bandsaw didn't work, so he got out a less stable bandsaw.
I was thinking the same thing. It should be an OSHA “how not to video”
I kept saying "Adam, ADAM! Put the ball in the clamp! You JUST had your hands on the clamp, take the portable band saw out and put the ball in. No, don't move to ANOTHER band saw!"
That whole last quarter of the video I was howling "GLOVES, man!"
Clamping it would have been ideal, especially if he made two wood blocks with round divets to hold it tightly. Then he could go nuts with a saw or dremel.
@@Engitainment Gloves would make the danger worse. Gashing your finger is way better than getting some leather caught in the blade and yanking your whole hand toward it.
Adam: Trying to rig up a portable bandsaw in the vise
Also Adam: Turns the camera to show two actual bandsaws less than ten feet away
At first I was sure I was watching I Did A Thing attempt to do the most dangerous methods possible for cutting open an Aluminum Ball, and then I realized it was just Adam in his infinite excitement.
The DeWalt bandsaw is not going to run as fast or with as much power as a plug-in bandsaw. That's why he went to it AFTER trying the normal bandsaw - the normal bandsaw was biting into the ball and it was trying to jerk it out of his hands (very dangerous). That's why he tried the battery powered one after.
i was sitting there watching him put that portable band saw and yelling at my computer "no you idiot, you put the ball in the vise not the tool !!!"
Yeah I'd say it's easier to control the tool, not the ball.
@@jonnydude69 i died reading this comment. seriously. dear god, adam. i had to check out this video before watching the guys from the water jet channel cutting it in half. i didn't even know he did this!
I put a ball of foil in my clothes dryer (supposedly to control static, although I don’t think it did much). My point is that it was amazing to me how tumbling with clothes made it much harder than I could manually compress and it seemed to be a pretty good sphere and was much smaller. (Wish I’d measured it before/after.) Because of how much smaller it got, I added more foil. After the first tumble I had a larger sphere with a smaller one rattling around inside, which I found fascinating. After another couple tumbles, it had compressed into a solid ball again.
A rock tumbler could've maybe done it too or a cement mixer
I was laughing so hard seeing Adam hastily thinking of ways to cut the ball and quickly bailing on each method only a fraction of the way through, with each method just as dangerous as the last.
From one "Techno- Nerd" to another, I always loved your jovial and energetic delivery of what you say and do, that's a huge reason MythBusters did so well, You and Hyneman are Legends of Science, you have done it all. Keep your enthusiasm, and never lose your "lust for life". All the best
He’s a nerd not a geek.
@@vickielawson3114 Well, I have considered myself both in different instances, but you're right, he is more of a "Tech Nerd", maybe even a "Techno- Sexual" hah, but he is not so much a geek, as he is a nerd. All the best.
Edit: fixed.
As I watched Adam trying to cut the ball in half, what was running through my memory was a fireball exploding in his face, and him saying to the camera, "Am I missing an eyebrow?". Also, I got an image of a bookshelf full of OSHA Safety Manuals just bursting into flames.
If you put ALUMINUM PAPER on your ARM, what happens will SHOCK you👉th-cam.com/video/YAizeDRDlsU/w-d-xo.html
In which video did he get hit by a fireball..?
@@taffysaur That was a Mythbusters episode
@@taffysaur - It was Season2/Episode 2: "Cell Phone Destroys Gas Station". They were testing to see if a cell phone could generate a spark that would ignite gasoline vapor, and Adam was a little too close to the test cell, and got a little singed by the fireball.
I love the fact that the first like 5 straight minutes of this is basically just Adam banging this wad of foil on a rock like a caveman with a coconut. I feel like Adam might have really gotten in touch with his evolutionary forebears in this process.
In nomen omen
I'm not sure this is relevant, but I found long ago that a large wad of well-chewed gum can be, after about 5 minutes, fashioned into a strikingly symmetrical sphere by the teeth, palate, and tongue alone. Somehow it's possible to feel and correct gradually smaller and smaller irregularities. Even further, when you get bored with spheres, you can convert them in the same manner into equally regular cubes, albeit with rather rounded edges and corners. I've never tried a tetrahedron;
Hahaha yes!!! I thought the same 🤣🤣🤣
Chaotic straight from the start. I laughed so hard with him banging it and yelling "more"
17:35 "I want to handle it, but I also want to look inside it!" - reconnecting with his primitive inner being, no doubt.
Adam litterally sculpted my childhood.
that's rather poetic; well done
Probably one of my favorite parts of these videos is the audio editing 👌 speeding up the video while cutting the audio to present real-time, not sped-up audio is such a brilliant idea and has always been executed perfectly. SO much better than alternatives seen on other channels (modified audio, cuts, VO, etc…)! Bravo to whoever’s idea that was
Could you elaborate on this please?
@@albinogonzo3405 It seems like Tested speeds up the video but plays the audio real-time. Obviously that means that we only get to hear a small portion of the real audio, but I prefer hearing the real machining sounds to sped up sounds and prefer seeing the entire process to only seeing the important pieces.
Here’s an example where both the video and the audio get ‘cut’ to basically just skip all the boring parts:
th-cam.com/users/clipUgkx4Xznbfr0aRuTvM3IAYaDwx4f75BM3k6e
Here’s an example where both the audio and the video are sped up:
th-cam.com/users/shortsBDfX-Fj6ICI?feature=share
@@albinogonzo3405 he’s making a sarcastic joke about how the audio during the time lapse is not sped up or replaced with music
I was so invested and as serious as Adam was up until 12:30 and i absolutely lost myself laughing. I have no idea as to why that was so funny. But it got me. I am also truly blessed to have met this man many many years ago on a tour he and Jamie went on to talk to fans. Truly a remarkable guy and so so nice. I will forever and always be a fan of you
Yes! He blew that load all over the place! I couldn’t believe I didn’t see more comments about it!! My first thought was, “We’ve all been there”. Haha. I also laughed at 18:30-silver balls, silver balls….
Yes. Same
Nothing could’ve made me happier than hearing him say “I wanna cut it in half” bc that’s ALL I could think about the whole time! Sad you couldn’t find a way to actually cut through it but glad to know we had the same idea LOL
Your a creeper with attitude yep
If you want to see inside one of these balls Codyslab made one out of gold and cut it in half
I was yelling "No don't cut it!" to my screen. I like how mirrored the surface it was becoming and got sad at the idea of it being cut in half.
@@MrTarfu omg thank you!!
@@justanadams5374 wtf?
Watching Adam trying to tamp down the ball is like watching an otter furiously trying to open an oyster
Put it in an epoxy resin cube first. That will also give you a nice way to display it once it's cut in half
Probably the best option I read in the comments. Plus who doesn’t like playing with resin?
I am an old fan that hasn't watched in years. This video was more than I could ever ask for lol. Glad you are still at it Adam
His cue ball ain't made o' styrofoam
Hypothesis: Your fissures and peeks were caused by using industrial strength aluminum. The higher tensile strength of the sheet means you’ll develop a hardened outer shell faster, leaving the interior too porous to hold its shape later in the hammering process.
Lighter foil would condense more, so the core would be more structurally stable 🪩
I believe dam was correct when he said that he needed to pay more attention to the shaping from the start. I think I'm going to go buy a few industrial roles and build a huge one. When they release me from the asylum, after my wife has me committed, I will make a video of it :)
If I can make 2 of them solid enough I can pit a shaft through it for axles and make a giant 2 wheel skate board. Anyone getting rid of a spare helmet?
My hypothesis I that a steel core like a ball bearing would be superb to anything else planned in stages thru the whole process making it dense early
Annealing the aluminum would correct the work hardening issue. Easier said than done I suppose.
Ahhh... I see. So you are making one of Stephen Colbert's meanwhile monologues?
That's what You-tuber David Jones, just discovered him yesterday, says.
Absolutely amazing! Strangely mesmerized watching Adam trying so hard to split that ball. 😂
Words can't explain how happy finding you again after all the years lol I watched you so much as a kid and I just wanted to say thank you for entertaining me and teaching me so much random shit in life Adam!!!
Some interesting facts about aluminum foil: it is made from only large ingot of pure aluminum. It is hot rolled down to about 2cm thick slab of aluminum that is then rolled into a thick sheet. It is then called rolled tinnier and thinner. The last roll it actually too thin for the rollers to keep the foil from tearing easily, so it is doubled up. To keep the foil from sticking to the rollers and itself they use Kerosene. This is what gives the foil the shiny and dull side. The shiny side is caused by the polished rollers of the press, the dull side is from the aluminum pressed against itself since it was doubled up. One ingot will produce a 12 kilometer long piece of foil before it is trimmed and packaged to send to Savages the world over. Here is a link to a how it’s made video on the process. th-cam.com/video/v1z829NF9PA/w-d-xo.html
Not a bookmark
th-cam.com/video/wI8XOHSSwFc/w-d-xo.html
It's now made in China, what could go wrong?
Pure aluminium?
I'm pretty sure the metal in tinfoil also contains a non-trivial amount of tin.
Warmonger with tank in pfp
This challenge was realized in the most Adam way possible. The whole challenge is about discipline: doing something utterly meaningless for as long as you possibly can because the final result can be utterly smooth, round and shiny, a testament to your perseverance. Adam: let's cheat! It's not quite round, I don't care, let's cut it in half though! 😂
I see you also play osrs
@@1992jamogod bless
th-cam.com/video/wI8XOHSSwFc/w-d-xo.html
Those polish spinner machines are soooo fun to use. Very satisfying and you never wanna stop
Adam switching between like 5 different Cutting methods felt almost perfectly like a skit, despite most certainly being completely real.
This video is a bit like horror films, when it feels like the end has arrived, but there's still 20 minutes of play time left, and you know shits about to get real!! Love it
seeing adam look so damn happy while unrolling the foil is just.. the purest form of joy i think ive ever seen
When I die I want to be reborn as Adam Savage.
So happy that Adam's has those little cracks too. I was expecting to be annoyed that his was nicer than mine.
I started with a bit less foil, and I didn't make the foil ball all at once... I hammered as I wrapped. Mine is about baseball sized. It is a wonderful fidget object for my desk.
When Adam was banging the ball on the table I was laughing so hard because I couldn't imagine anything else except an otter just cracking shells
Yes, but why use a table when he has a perfectly good tummy!
I'm watching this in 2x so yah
It looked like it was the squirrel scene straight out of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
I love your analogy.
When you make a ball that’s loose like that, you could drill a hole through the middle and vacuum encapsulate it with epoxy in a small bucket. Cut that whole cylinder with the bandsaw, then sand and polish each sphere half on a large, flat surface to get a smooth viewing window to the middle of the ball. You could put in layers of copper foil or something to put in contrast while building layers.
That sounds mental.
Pro tip- put a mound of Bondo on a wood board and press the ball (with some release) into it. Make sure some it passes the tangent of the ball. Dot some super glue on some of the edges. This makes a fast, cheap jig you can run through the band saw. I've used this method for drilling holes and even milling parts that are hard to hold in a vise. The wood board keeps you hands away from the cutting blade too. Alternatively, you can melt machinist wax in a box, freeze it and then melt it back out.