Cutting a golf ball from Ireland

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J

justbecause

CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 4, 2004
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128
Location
Olmsted,Ohio
Cutting a golf ballin from Ireland. I did not want to do it so it sticks out of the back of the frame. I need to cut it. You guys are great with help. Help!!!
 
G'day Kim,
Why is it going to stick out the back ?

Is it a mounting thing with sink mat ?
Other options might be possible . . .
Golf ball clip

If you really have to take something off the side of the ball, and * the customer is ok with this * . . . then perhaps putting it on a belt or disk sander would be better than trying to cut it ?
Use a respirator mask, not sure what these things have inside them :confused:
 
Hi Kim,
I'm not sure about this, but think golf balls may fall apart if cut in half. Also if this is a "collectible" it could be potentially valuable.
 
Actually, I think it would be worse than "fall apart". I suspect it would be more like 'explode', but I never did one to test the theory...
 
When I was about 11 or 12, I cut apart a golf ball just to see what was inside - - - hmmm disecting a golf ball - come Igor we have work to do!
Anyway - it was filled with rubber bands or rather it was one (or more) rubber bands wrapped around a hard chocolate center - (whoops that was the tootsie pop) actually a small very hard ball.
I also disected a baseball which was just string, the basketball was just air, the bowling ball . . .
 
We have cut balls in half for displays but we prefer to just have them come out of the back a bit if it's a collectors piece.
 
I can remember doing one, as a lad, and it rather exploded/unrolled violently. unless this one is solid core( contact maker to confirm) I'd strongly advise against ANY surgery!
 
Kim,

Like Mike said, the center of a golf ball is filled with wrapped rubber bands and filled with a hard rubber center.

The best you could hope for is to score the perimeter of the golf ball until the outer shell falls off. Then the “guts” of the ball will disembowel themselves (maybe easily, maybe with some difficulty). Then you are left with just a hemispheric shell which is going to be difficult to mount because of its concavity. It is not likely (for me, at least) that you would end up with with a perfectly straight line and cleanly meet on the opposite side. The edge of the cut would most likely be raggedy.

I can see a whole lot of problems doing it this way.
 
An addendum: As a suggestion, check “RealHotGlass”’s profile (I’m too lazy to look it up myself). I believe there is link to a web site which describes domed glass especially “sagged” for golf balls. I think that may be a better alternative than to try to cut the ball.
 
I worked in a small town club house as a kid. Spent a lot of time cutting open golf balls, (as well as experimenting with under age drinking! But that's a different thread!) Golf balls come with many different types of cores. And all have to be sanctioned by the professional Golf Association. Even the number and shape of the dimples have to meet a standard!

There are the rubber band cores wrapped around a solid ball. But there is also a rubber string wrapped core that has a ball filled witha liquid.

Other balls have a solid core with a rubber cover.

My suggestion, don't cut it! Not worth it, ruins the ball, as the cover will implode when the rubber bands unwind! Also how are you going to hold the ball so that you can cut it? I don't know about you, but my fingers are worth more to me on my hand thank you very much!
 
I think I'm detecting a pattern to the responses here. This may be a close to a consensus as we'll ever see on The Grumble.

Two suggestions:

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  • Deeper frame or bubble glass or one of those nifty Plexi boxes that fits in the rabbet of the frame.</font>
  • Tulle from your local fabric store (bridal section.) Wrap it around the ball, pull it trough a concealed hole behind the ball and secure it to the back. It will disappear, it's 100% reversible and you can rotate the ball as needed after it's mounted.</font>
Cutting the ball sounds like fun, but not if it's an item the customer cares about. (If the customer DOESN'T care about it, why frame it?)
 
DOn't cut THAT ball.

Mangle a different ball then show it to the customer. When they see the carnage they will agree to whatever you tell them.

When I was a kid I was told if the liquid ones were cut and it got in my eyes I would be instantly blinded. Telling a child that is a dare that cannot be ignored. After cutting through most of the balls I could find (my grandfather was not happy) I finally found a liquid filled one instead of the rubber band ones.

It squirted but that was all. No blindness and no more usable golf balls.

Then found a magnifying glass on a sunny day, but that is a stiry best left in warped for a different thread.
 
Originally posted by Bill Henry:
An addendum: As a suggestion, check “RealHotGlass”’s profile (I’m too lazy to look it up myself). I believe there is link to a web site which describes domed glass especially “sagged” for golf balls. I think that may be a better alternative than to try to cut the ball.
Click to expand...
Thanks Bill,
An example here - 6" square, depth for golf ball plus a little clearance.
Golf ball example with convex glass

If used with the clip, it's fast and fully reversible.

Take a browse through the main website here . . .
Tudor Glass
 
thank to all. I framed a golf towel and she add a ball and tee after I had framed the towel. That why my frame was not deep enough. It dose not sit flat on the wall. I dont think she want to spend any more money.
 
If you want to cut the ball, set your body open to the target line and use an across-the-target-line swing path, with a slightly open club-face angle.

Oh, not that kind of cut. Nevermind.
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Charge her $200 to cut the ball and maybe she'll spring for a deeper frame or the acrylic box extender.
 
CALL UNITED, OUR SPONSOR.

You can make the ball extrend in front of the frame instead of behind it!

United has a wonderful series of clear acrylic, dome-type ball mounts for a golf ball, baseball tennis ball football, soccer ball, etc., which work with ordinary-depth frames.

The golf ball mount is #5928, and it comes with an acrylic glazing sheet 23-1/2" x 13-1/2". The glazing sheet has a hole to accomodate the molded-dome ball mount, and may be trimmed to whatever frame size is required.

These ball mounts are very neat, fast, and easy to use.
 
Just to buck the trend...

Cutting the ball is easy, its not collectable so stopp stressing. You do want to know what the core is though - if I were in your situation I would probably go and buy a new ball whereas the sports shop can tell you what the core is. Rubber center is the easiest to work with.

Jamm the silly thing into a cardboard tube, the tighter the better and its got to be a thick tube!

Set your table saw to a reasonable depth, i.e. half the height of the tube.

Run the tube up to the blade far enough to cut into the tube and just below the half way point of the ball (you will want this set with the guides, and use the proper slide to ensure a 90° cut), rotate the tube in this position and it will cut the tube and cover away clean and straight.
 
oh, to get the guts out just carefully take to it with a knife from the back, a drill can be usefull as well.
 
Here are two rules that will save your butt in framing:

Rule #1 : Don't do anything you can't undo.

Rule #2 : Don't practice on customers stuff.

Refusing to do stuff like this save you a lot of grief and SOME customers will appreciate your professionalism.
 
Golf balls no longer have rubber bands in them. (unless it's an old ball) I recently cut three of them than sanded them down with a belt sander. They looked fine.
 
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