Sweet!! I've made three spheres about tennis ball size over the past couple of days. My son wants a basketball, I told him not right away! I'd love to see how you glue this up. Have you blogged about it? Do you have any more pics? Would you share a little more please!
I glue (5) of the hexagons together in a circle like. I make (2) of these for the ends. Then I add the middle (10) hexagons. I then fit in the (12) pentagons.
To cut the pieces for the ball pictured, I screw a block into the center of the top plate of the fixture that will rotate on the bottom plate fixture. The top plate has (5) holes for a pentagon and (6) holes for a hexagon and a center hole (that will rotate around a dowel in the bottom plate). The base plate has a dowel in the center and then a dowel to clock the holes in the top plate.
I'll post some more pictures later.
I start with planed lumber that typically measures .78 - .92 inches thick. I wouldn't go much thinner. Here are some pictures from other soccer balls that I made.
Keep it ??? I have a few people that have shown interest. It really depends if they'll pay the premium for this one. If not I'll keep it as its my favorite one so far.