Lathe Turned Wooden NFL Football

[Tony Maness]

I am interested in turning an actual scale “hollow” wooden NFL size football. I have included several pictures I found on the internet of the finished football I like and stages of the process. I could not find any details for: process steps, dimensions, mating angles of the wood strips, curvature of the segments, jigs, etc. Does anyone have any information to share on this type of “hollow” wood turning? The hollow form is more technically challenging than a solid form and has a unique feel when held. I am “punting” to the AAW community for help. Thanks

 

[Paul Lajoie]

Tony do a youtube search for Tim Yoder Beads of Courage. He turns a football shaped hollow form for the Beads of Courage program. Not sure if it’s regulation size, process should be the same tho. Good luck and remember pictures!

Paul

 

[Tony Maness]

I will investigate. Thanks!

 

[Dennis Weiner]

The size of an official nfl football is about 11 inches long by about 21 inches in circumference(around 7 inches largest diameter).

The way I would turn it is to create either a story board or at the very least draw a life size representation of the actual football on graph paper. I would probably take diameter readings from the actual football every inch or so with calipers and transfer them to the graph paper for later reference. Alternatively, you can take a photo and draw 11 grid lines on the photo to figure out the depth ratios. (It just fits on an 8 1/2 x11 stock paper)

Then turn an cylinder at least 13-14” long by 9 OD and mark every inch or what ever scale you setup and part in to obtain the depth at each point. ( I usually leave about 1/4” or so for smoothing over and sanding). Then turn away to reach that depth.




These are some of the methods I’ve used to copy any object accurately on the lathe. That’s the general idea. You may consider segmented construction fo facilitate hollowing. Footballs usually have two painted symmetrical rings which can act as sections.

Nice project. Enjoy!

 

[Mike Johnson]

Is the hollow form football a solid wood piece when finished or do you want it to open up like a lidded box?
If you want the piece to open up it would be easiest to turn (2) halves (ends) of the football and create a mated joint in the center.
If you want a hollow solid piece it would still be easier to turn (2) halves (ends) of the football and glue them together after hollowing.
An official NFL football has (4) seams in quadrants running the length of the football. You could use an 1/8" thick wood segment glued down the center of each quarter segment of the billet meeting in the center. A slightly darker wood 1/8" thick segment will provide a shadow effect for the seam.

 

[Tony Maness]

The size of an official nfl football is about 11 inches long by about 21 inches in circumference(around 7 inches largest diameter).

The way I would turn it is to create either a story board or at the very least draw a life size representation of the actual football on graph paper. I would probably take diameter readings from the actual football every inch or so with calipers and transfer them to the graph paper for later reference. Alternatively, you can take a photo and draw 11 grid lines on the photo to figure out the depth ratios. (It just fits on an 8 1/2 x11 stock paper)

Then turn an cylinder at least 13-14” long by 9 OD and mark every inch or what ever scale you setup and part in to obtain the depth at each point. ( I usually leave about 1/4” or so for smoothing over and sanding). Then turn away to reach that depth.

These are some of the methods I’ve used to copy any object accurately on the lathe. That’s the general idea. You may consider segmented construction fo facilitate hollowing. Footballs usually have two painted symmetrical rings which can act as sections.

Nice project. Enjoy!

Thanks

 

[Tony Maness]

Thanks. Lots of good ideas