Turning Golf Balls


thatCharlieDude

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Has anybody tried turning golf balls? Not blocks of wood into something that looks like golf balls but putting an actually golf ball on the lathe? My son and I went to a presentation last night by a young lady (probably in her 60s) who turns 75 cent golf balls into $20 ring boxes. I've search google but I didn't find lots of results for this type of turning. 

I ordered 24 balls and once they arrive I'll turn a few and post pics for the group. 

 

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I was at the "Turn-On! Chicago" meeting this last weekend and someone was turning golf balls.  I regret that I was not paying that much attention to this particular presentation, but I do recall his cautioning that some balls have a liquid core.

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3 hours ago, Tpt life said:

I have cut several in two mowing the college green space...  They are thin skin over a dense core that I cannot imagine will turn well. They are relatively soft plastic covering something like urethane. 

Watching the demo last night, the interior rubber compound turned like green wood. As a kid I remember golf balls having a rubber band like interior but according to the presenter balls today don't, they are solid. The cavity she hollowed out was just big enough for two rings. 

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2 hours ago, Mark J said:

I was at the "Turn-On! Chicago" meeting this last weekend and someone was turning golf balls.  I regret that I was not paying that much attention to this particular presentation, but I do recall his cautioning that some balls have a liquid core.

The presenter warned us about liquid cores but in this case the liquid came from used balls that have been submerged in a pond or two. I guess they're porous enough to allow lake water in. She said it smelled awful. 

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The construction varies a lot, not only between manufacturers, but different models made by the same manufacturer.

Talking about cutting balls with a mower, I had one of our pastures we weren't using set up as a practice range.  We had a ball picker that was pulled behind a riding lawn mower.    A local guy, who we will politely say is not carrying a full load, thinks that cutting grass on a riding mower is the best job ever (remember Forrest Gump?), so I keep him busy cutting grass.

I'd send him out to pick up the balls too.  It all went fine, until one day he decided he'd save time, and pick up balls at the same time that he cut the grass.  It might have worked a little better if the picker wasn't pulled behind the mower.

Golfballs.com is a good source for cheap balls, if you find a model that works like you want it to for turning.

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On 8/12/2018 at 9:38 PM, K Cooper said:

Is the inside color what you got or did you do something to it? You flattened the bottom? Pretty cool. 

No, I didn't color them. Different manufactures use different colored materials. It's fun drilling into a new one and discovering the color.  I did flatten them. Just a little turning with a carbine chisel flattens them. 

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