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How to drill holes in rubber balls?

17K views 32 replies 20 participants last post by  ArlinEastman 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I have some dowels and small rubber balls that are destined to become drumsticks for my son. Does anyone have suggestions for a safe way to drill a hole about halfway through the center of a small rubber ball?
 
#2 ·
You might try freezing them and drill before they thaw out. I remember years ago seeing my boss drill some sheet rubber. He dropped some dry ice into acteone and them dropped the rubber in and drilled after being in the mixture for a few minutes.
 
#4 ·
clamp them in a wooden clamp or between two blocks of wood using bar clamps and using the drill press, would be my guess.
 
#5 ·
I had same thought as Blackie, clamp them in wood handscrews, or between 2 blocks then you can clamp to drill press or bench top. If you don't have a drill press, measure the depth you want to drill to on the ball, and mark that depth on your drill bit, put a piece of masking tape around the bit there so that you can easily see where to stop. Hope this makes sense, good luck!
 
#6 ·
Freezing seems like it would help with tearing and make a smoother hole, but may not be a good idea if you don't have a drill press. It will make it harder to drill, making clamping more important. An awl or other pointed object to make an indent should help discourage the bit from wandering if you don't have a drill press.
 
#7 ·
I will try freezing; thanks. I do have a drill press and will probably try to make some kind of jig for repeatability.

I thought about just clamping it, Blackie, but was concerned about the fact that the clamps would be compressing the rubber and increasing the pressure on the sides of the drill bit. Unless if I somehow clamped it on top and bottom and then drilled through the clamping surface; that's a thought for the jig design I guess!
 
#8 · (Edited by Moderator)
Another thought, make an L shaped jig large enough to hold the ball sorta like a fence using 1/2 ply, drill a hole through it at the location to pierce the rubber ball with the tip of a wooden screw, screw the ball up against the fence to hold the rubber ball firm to the fence, clamp the fence to the table and see if that would work, only down side it would leave a small hole where the screw entered.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
an alternate thought
if they are solid rubber
is to heat a smaller metal rod
(enough to melt not burn)
and melt it in
then squeegee the stick in
it should hold it tight

and round the end of the stick slightly
so it doesn't rip the rubber going in
maybe some random notches on the stick end
so it has more to hold it on
 
#10 ·
I would drill a deep hole in a block of wood, slightly smaller in diameter than the rubber ball. Drill a smaller hole all the way through the block. Force the ball into the hole with a clamp. Remove the clamp. Place the block of wood in the drill press vise and drill the hole in the ball. A brad point would probably work best for drilling in rubber. Use a dowel through the smaller hole to remove the ball from the larger hole.

This is an idea. I haven't tried it.
 
#11 ·
Elisabeth you will most likely have trouble with the drill self feeding. Your idea about clamping on top and drilling through the clamp is a good one! set the depth stop on the drill as well so the drill doesn't get sucked totally through the ball.

You can make a shaped clamp by drilling a pocket hole with the correct size forstner bit. drill so that the top surface of the ball hits at the same time as the edge of the hole. It needn't be the same diameter as the overall diameter of the ball. If you screw two pieces of stock together and drill a pilot hole through then use the forstner to make the indentations in each half to the proper depth you can position the bottom piece on the table and clamp that first. Then clamp the ball in place with the second peice useing screws where they were used to hold the pieces in place to initially drill the pilot hole. Set the drill stop and have a go. The spur bit would probably be your best bet for the actual hole in the ball.
 
#12 ·
I have made several tongue drums for kids and have had to make the drums sticks for them. I used a Forster bit to drill hole in a 2×4, just enough for about a third of the balls to set in, set the depth of your drill bit (I use point twist) so the it will go slightly better than half way through the ball. Hold between thumb and first finger, drill slowly, when you set the the proper depth, let the drill bit sit a few seconds at the bottom and then remove. Should have a nice clean hole. I use 5/16" oak dowels.

Have fun
 
#13 ·
A quick easy way to make a holder for the balls is to paste wax one, make a hole larger than it in a couple of blocks of wood, use epoxy to form around it. Cut the blacks apart when the epoxy is cured. You'll have a perfect holder for your jig.
 
#16 ·
why not buy a set of drumsticks nothing will be better for the job even used they should be cheap enough .If you must do it yourself then start out with a centre drill then a standard drill with luck it should work.Alistair
 
#18 ·
Scotsman wrote: "why not buy a set of drumsticks nothing will be better for the job even used they should be cheap enough"

It's because my son is obsessed with drumming things - we bought him a set for $8 a month ago and he barely lets go of them - and the rubber balls protect things from getting dented. They are rubber balls epoxied onto dowels and dipped in tool-dip. But the dowels are getting grimy, chewed and worn at the bottoms and sometimes he wanders off with both and then comes back with only one and we have to hunt down the other one, so it'd be nice to have some spares without spending $8 per pair for them. A dowel is 57 cents for 4 sticks worth, we got a big bag of hi-bouncing balls for $2; the plasti-dip is the most expensive component!

Thanks for all the jig ideas everyone, and especially the pictures. I have some experimenting to do!
 
#22 ·
In my experience rubber is difficult to drill. I tried a couple of times with some rubber in a vice and the drill, as has been said, self feeds. And the vice distorts the rubber such that if you do get the hole to drill, the hole is distorted and ragged…

That being said, I successfully drilled some rubber stoppers once, by wedging them into the taper of my lathe, then drilling from the tailstock. The twist drills worked!

So I recommend that you use a jig like A1Jim shows and StephenW alludes to. I think if you get the ball wedged into a circle shaped jig so it cannot move, that you'll find even a twist drill will drill a clean hole.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
I ended up a) freezing the balls and b) making a rubber ball sandwich. The freezing (chest freezer for a few days) didn't actually get them very cold/solid particularly, but it kept the outside of the ball from getting damaged by being held in the jig. There was no difference in drilling the frozen vs unfrozen ball.

Here's the jig - two scrap pieces from a bed project a couple years back, two leftover bolts from a swing set, and a bunch of drilled holes. I didn't even need the wingnuts I found to put on the end of the bolts - they aligned everything without needing to be fixed in place and it made disassembly easier too.

The inside surfaces of the jig:

Table Wood Desk Wood stain Floor


The bottom:

Wood Wood stain Table Hardwood Plywood


Sandwiching:

Wood Engineering Creative arts Gas Thumb


Wood Rectangle Hardwood Flooring Plywood


Drilling (a reenactment):

Wood Wood stain Hardwood Plywood Pattern


Sticks superglued and drying:

Window Sports equipment Household supply Gas Musical instrument


I've got some Plastic-dip from HF and once they're dry I'm going to dip the balls and the first inch or so of stick to make the join a bit firmer.
 

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