Pretty cool use of an old bowling ball. Not sure I’d encourage this in our Woodshop looking at the mess of resin shavings it makes.
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My very first lathe project in High School was turning a bowling pin into a lamp. I still have the lamp.
They make quite a mess with all of the acrylic on them, but the wood inside is hard ash and they make a beautiful lamp.
Be very careful turning a bowling ball. Some have off center weights (by design) that can cause nasty vibration. The mixed media also lends to catching if you’re not careful.
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Actually ALL of them (even the free to use ones at the bowling alley) have a weight indifference, and it makes it very hard to find the axis of rotation. The weight imbalance is what makes a bowling ball hook. Bowling balls are made of 2-3 different densities of material, and some of them even have finely ground glass in the outer layer, and resins that slowly leach out of the surface.
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I’ve been out of the bowling scene for a while – I seem to remember there also being a neutral marking on the ball that could probably be used to alleviate some of our concerns.
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It’s usually defined by a dot that lets the pro shop know where to drill for maximum results that the particular bowler wants.
Correct, but once it is drilled the balance point changes.