Garden Art Experiment- Gazing Ball Base-Part 3

Ready to decorate.

Regular readers know that I am trying to find a replacement for bowling balls as a base for making a mosaic gazing ball.  I have had emails from people that have had problems finding a bowling ball or other suitable substrate for making a gazing ball.  Other types of balls have not been able to hold up to the weight of all the glass and grout, causing the ball to deform.  So with that in mind, I am attempting to find a way to make an inexpensive, base for making a gazing ball.  The good news is that I believe that I have made something that is even more cost effective than I thought it was going to be when I started the experiment.

My folding work bench.

To recap: I made a papier mache mold of a ball using paper, flour, and glue.  See the posts from earlier this month for photos and a complete explanation of the steps leading up to this point.  After the mold was dry, the hemispheres were removed and glued together.  So far, so good, other than that the hemispheres had developed more of a lip to them than I had anticipated.  The lip has continued to plague me throughout the rest of the process.  I am taking pains to keep that from happening on the next experiment.  If it should develop, I plan to slice it off with an Exacto knife so that the hemispheres line up evenly.

Now for the good news.  My original plan had been to cover the ball with two layers of the alkali-resistant concrete board tape to help hold the grout in place.  I did cover the ball with it as seen in the photos on the previous blog post.  As it turns out, the adhesive on the tape was minimal and it gave me considerable trouble with slipping around while trying to cover it  So, I only used the tape on one hemisphere of the ball.  I decided that in the interests of experimenting more quickly that I would try to cover the other half of the ball with concrete without using the tape.  It worked.  This is very good news, because that knocks out a few dollars  from the cost of making the ball.

So at this point, the costs associated with making the ball are: one child's ball that can be reused for making further gazing ball substrates, a little plastic wrap to cover the ball, newspaper (I get so many flyers in the mail that my newspaper is free), some multipurpose white glue,  a box of stepping stone mix for two eight inch stones, and some latex dry mortar add mix.  I can only give an estimate of expenses, but this is roughtly ten dollars.  As I said in earlier posts, if you are only making one ball, this method may not save you any money.  If you plan to make more than one gazing ball, this method is worthwhile because the glue and laytex add mix will make more than one ball with the material purchased.  Especially the add mix.  The costs can be further reduced by purchasing some mortar at the hardware store in larger quantities rather than by the amount needed for a single gazing ball.  Also, items at the hardware store are generally less expensive than the at craft store.  So, if you are still interested, this is how I proceeded. 

Begin by setting up a workspace.  In good weather, I work outside.  However, in the middle of winter, I had to pull out my folding work bench.  I could not use the regular work bench because my husband  has a project on it.  It was tight quarters in there, but I managed quite well.  My first priority was to protect the floor from any concrete that might fall while I was covering the ball, so I had to put down a plastic drop cloth.  I placed my workbench on top of the drop cloth and covered it with some plastic to keep concrete from sticking to that surface.  I covered a plastic bin with a trash bag.  The bin will hold the ball in place during the process and keep the mess to a minimum.  Note:  During the working process I used a larger garbage bag, then changed to the smaller bag during the cleanup phase. 

Once the setup was complete I went outside to mix the mortar and additive to keep the fine powder from getting into the house.  Note:  always wear a dust mask, eye protection, and rubber gloves when working with the powdered cement.  Mix up just under half of the mortar at one time using as much laytex liquid add mix to create a thick paste.  You only mix up half at once because when you are covering a sphere, gravity is against you.  You have to cover one hemisphere, let that dry overnight and then cover the other hemisphere.  If you try to cover it all at once, the only thing that is going to happen is that you have a pile of concrete falling off the ball. 

At this point, it is rather like frosting a cake.  Start by slathering the mortar on one section of the ball.  Once you have a lot of mortar on the ball, start to smooth and level it out.  I used a plastic putty knife for adding and smoothing the concrete.  Cover as much as you can, until things start to slide.  At that point, feather the edges of the mortar so that the edges are lower than the level of the mortar on the rest of the ball.  Set it aside to dry overnight.  The next day, mix and cover the other half of the ball, smoothing mortar over the feathered edge so that there is no seam in the concrete.  Repair any dings in the other side at this time as well.  Allow that to dry overnight.  Now you have a solid surface ball that can be used as a substrate for the gazing ball.

How you proceed with the ball from that point is up to you.  I will add a few observations from my experiences with making gazing balls.  

I use a shiny waterproof plumber's tape to cover the ball before I begin adding the decorations.  This adds yet another layer of waterproofing to the ball, and the shiny tape reflects a lot of light back up through the glass, giving the ball a nice glow to it. 

I use a silicon caulk for doors and windows for my adhesive.  It works well with glass and adheres well to the waterproof tape. 

Flat bottomed glass gems work well for gazing balls.  They tend to bounce the light around and have a more glowing appearance than flat glass.  They do give the ball a more bumpy appearance though.

If using flat stained glass, the more opaque iridescent glass will have a better glow to it than translucent stained glass.  

Shells can be used on gazing balls, but the grout tends to stick to them because they are porous.  Do you best to try not to get grout on them when grouting the ball.

Once the ball has been grouted, seal it with an acrylic sealer.

I hope that this experiment has been helpful to my readers looking for a substitute for a bowling ball in order to make a gazing ball.  If you make a ball, email some pictures of your creations.