Awesome Spheres

Balls are essential – and not just the ones between your legs. This educational video from New Mind delves into the physics of ball bearings and how critical they are to modern life. The rolling efficiency of spheres is unparalleled, making them perfect for all sorts of machines and manufacturing applications.

It’s amazing what you can do with a precise laser cutter. This video from Tranyond shows how a powerful fiber laser can cut such fine lines that it can turn a flat sheet of aluminum into a series of nested spheres. The trick is that each cut leaves a tiny bit of metal on its edges to keep them connected when it’s opened up.

This spherical plaything flies and hovers when you toss it. If you throw it just right, it’ll also come back to you like a boomerang. It uses a pair of counter-rotating fan blades to work its magic, and they’re contained inside of a cage to protect them from damage. The one in Roo’s Reviews’ video is no longer available, but there are many other versions on Amazon.

The spherical S1 Circle speaker from UB+ offers impressive sound in a small package. It’s about the size of a softball and packs a pair of 2.5″ woofers and 28mm silk dome tweeters for crisp and clean audio, backed by 40-watt and 20-watt amps. It has a strap for carrying and a flat base to keep it from rolling. Available in six colors.

This glass and wood decanter set from Viski adds a touch of class to your drink service. Its globe-shaped 32 oz. decanter and tumblers are each etched with a world map design. The tumblers hold 12 oz. and are curved to concentrate aromas of whiskeys and other spirits.

The MSG Sphere in Las Vegas has quickly become one of the world’s most talked-about attractions. Inspired by its enormous LED display surface, DrZzs & GrZzs thought making a replica of the digital wonder would be fun. Their 8-foot diameter backyard mini-sphere has 20,028 RGB LED pixels and is driven by a Kulp 32 controller and xLights software.

This video from TEKNIQ shows how factory workers take man-made “volcanic” glass and transform it into perfect spheres. The labor-intensive process starts by slicing large sections with a circular saw, and then hammering away the outer layers until they get a rough ball shape. Using other rotary tools, they refine the shape until it’s round, then polish it.

We bet you’ve never seen a chair like this. This amazing work of functional art features a back and seat made from 210 stainless steel spheres. Both the spheres and tubular steel frame have a shiny chrome finish to reflect the surrounding environment. Designed and fabricated to order by Shepherd Studio.

We’ve seen jawbreakers face off against a blow torch, a hydraulic press,and a sanding belt. But Ben’s Worx used his power (tools) for good not evil, turning a Monster Jawbreaker into a work of art by turning it on a lathe, coating it in resin to preserve the design, then turning it again to form a new sphere.

One of the more interesting items you can produce in a machine shop is a sphere inside of a cube. Emil Hogslätt shows how he produced one such object using a DMG Mori 5-axis milling machine. The finished product is immensely satisfying, as are the soothing noises the machine makes as it cuts and smooths the aluminum piece.

We’ve been spellbound by the many unconventional LEGO structures posted on the Brick Bending channel. For this creation, they linked together 3696 1×2 plates with 72 2×2 plates to create a spherical rhombicuboctahedron. You’d never know where this build was going if we didn’t tell you first.

Scott from Wonder World was fascinated by a video that showed how large metal spheres are made using explosive hydroforming. Here, he dives deeper into the process, along with other methods used for making spheres from steel, such as the shiny art pieces made by Shenzhen Maoping Sculpture Arts.

Artist and maker Peter Brown found some western salsify, a plant that looks like a gigantic dandelion and dipped it in a vat of clear resin. After a couple of failed attempts, he managed to keep one of the seed pods intact and centered, then gradually shaped it into a perfect sphere.

Artist Frank Howarth is back with another one of his beautiful spherical wood creations. Rather than following a strict, repetitive pattern, its triangular segments have a random look to them.

A hero’s engine is a spherical device that spins using steam pushed through a pair of opposing jets. Jimmy Kimmel Live regular “Science Bob”​ Pflugfelder created this unique version of the hero’s engine that spins up rapidly as liquid nitrogen vapors create the necessary pressure to get it spinning fast.

HMM’s playful desk accessory combines a pencil eraser, a pen holder, a business card holder, and a fidget toy. Each of its six outer pieces can be used to correct mistakes, while the gaps hold cards, and their backside can hold a pen. Plus, it feels great just rolling it around in the palm of your hand.