Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
sphere play
john Lucas
I've had very little time to play lately but I had to try out the various sphere formulas as well as using the Vermec sphere jig. both work well. I roughed them out using nomograph that Dennis posted and then used the Vermec to make them perfect. This was a really odd shaped piece of colorply and I wanted to use as much of it as I could so this is what I came up with.
Re: sphere play
Dennis in Southern Oregon
A very intriguing piece John. I'm sitting here with my engineer's hat on trying to decide if the spheres balance or not and I think they are close.
Re: sphere play
john Lucas
Well I actually found the balance point but when I drilled the hole I got it off a little bit.
Re: sphere play
david delo
Very nice John. Like how the colors pop and make it look distinctive. Are these laminated pieces or have you colored them with pens or some other method? Lacquer finish????
Re: sphere play
john Lucas
It's color plywood our club bought from a guns stock company. They are cutoffs so all the pieces are really odd shaped.
Re: sphere play
Dick Coers
With the look of that veneer in the spheres, maybe a title could be, "I'll keep an eye out for you."
Re: sphere play
Barry Irby
Very cool! Does the top "float" on the pivot point or is it securely mounted?
I'm struggling to visualize turning the ply pieces. Do you have to work at getting the pieces centered so the circle of the last ply is symmetrical or is it even possible to get it off center?
Re: sphere play
john Lucas
The pivot was found by trying to balance it. I knew the plywood would be fragile that thin so I drilled and inserted a 1/8"brass brazing rod that is about 2" long into the bottom support. I drilled a 1/8" hole in the plywood balance arm at the balance point. Unfortunately I missed the angle very slightly so the small end is lower than I had planned. Thought about trying to bend the brass rod a tiny bit but was afraid I would break plywood base.
I didn't really do much to align the plywood other than change the size of the spheres slightly to change the size of the eyeball.
