Bowling Ball Vise

The finished product!

I bought an old cracked bowling ball for $5 at a flea market. Put a nail in the top so i could mark the cut line.

Using a piece of string and a sharpie to mark the cut line

Using a hacksaw to score the surface of the bowling ball all along the cut line

Cut line has been scored all around the ball. Note the scrap lumber "cradle" i made to try and keep the ball from moving and rolling whilst sawing.

It finally dawned on me that i needed a new hacksaw blade. Here is a brand new one...what a difference!

The new blade cut very quickly. Beware of the horrific plastic dust...wear breathing protection!

Sucess! the cut was pretty even.

Another view of the cut surface

A friend who owns a machine shop kindly cut me a 1/4-inch thick piece of aluminum from 8-inch diameter stock. Here i have started to drill the pilot holes

The surface of the aluminum was rough from the band saw cut (at the machine shop), so i sanded the surface with emory cloth (wrapped around a woodenblock) and then some 360 grit sandpaper. Wet sanding helped better than dry sanding.

Close-up of one of the bolts. These will have to be epoxied in-place, as the material the bowling ball is made of couldn't be tapped.

This is the first "dry fit" of the parts. At this point, i hadn't purchased a vise so i couldn't yet drill the holes for the vise mounting studs.

All holes were drilled with a handheld drill

Here is the drilling for the vise mounting studs

the finished product, sitting in a tire that i got from a lawnmower place. Mounting the bowling ball in the tire allows the unit to stay in place when repositioned. The vise is an aluminum jewelers/drill press vise that cost about $12.

another angle. All 5 bolts were epoxied in place with a JB Weld product

last shot