Some of you asked how I made the concrete balls for my
yard art. Here you go!
What motivated me to become a ball-maker? Cost was primary. I would have to pay from $80 to more than
$600 to buy cement globes, even if shipping were free. The bigger they are, the more expensive. The biggest ball I made, using a basketball
as a mold, was fourteen inches in diameter.
I also made six, eight, and ten inch spheres.
I started by buying cheap glass globes for lighting. A hardware store should have six, eight and
maybe ten inch diameter glass ones for you.
DO NOT USE ACRYLIC. The glass
breaks easily after the concrete is set; acrylic might be hard to break without damaging the concrete ball. You’ll pay up to $10 for the ten inch glass globe.
For a larger 14 inch mold, I used a cheap basketball I
bought from Walmart for $5.00. You need heavy rubber that ‘stands’ on it’s own
after you’ve cut out a hole and let the air out (hint: cut out the air nodule…make a hole about the size of
the neck of a lighting globe)
(Caution: wear a mask, protective glasses and gloves when you work with cement.)
(Caution: wear a mask, protective glasses and gloves when you work with cement.)
Buy white mortar from your local hardware store along
with gray liquid coloring. You decide if
you want all the globes to be the same color, or a variety of white/shades of
gray. Mix the mortar with water (and
dye) to give it the smooth consistency of a
milkshake. Small batches are easier to manage; I used a special stirrer
on the end of a drill to mix mine more easily. Some may want to mix in sand or tiny rocks for texture.
SPRAY THE INSIDE OF THE LIGHTING GLOBES WITH PAM OR SILICON SPRAY. No need to put lubricant inside of the rubber ball.
SPRAY THE INSIDE OF THE LIGHTING GLOBES WITH PAM OR SILICON SPRAY. No need to put lubricant inside of the rubber ball.
Set the mold in sand or dirt to distribute weight (I put some in planters as you can see), and especially for the rubber basketball, to keep the ball round in form. Pour mortar into the
globe (or basketball). I bought a
plastic, wide-mouth funnel to make this easier.
Let cure for at least 48 hours. Place whole mold in a plastic bag and with
protective glasses on, begin banging on the glass to break it off. You’ll have
some bits to work on at the end of the process. Be sure to get all glass pieces
off so you don’t cut yourself.
You can smooth, even shine the surface, by using fine
sandpaper, but I like the natural, rough look.
The picture below shows my final products. In my next blog entry, I’ll show you where
I’ve placed my globes in my new landscape.
Here are some DIY takes from Google:
My hero in CÉZANNE’S GHOST http://a.co/bQdl7jp is a budding sketch artist. In fact, the ghost
of post-impressionist PAUL CÉZANNE, lurks
throughout this mystery novel.
We’re all artists in our own way…and now I can say I ‘sculpt’ concrete balls!
We’re all artists in our own way…and now I can say I ‘sculpt’ concrete balls!
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