Make a Rubber Band Ball

There are many great reasons to have a rubber band ball. You can bounce it, use it to keep all your rubber bands in once place, or squeeze it to strengthen your hand muscles. If you enjoy making your first one, this might even become a hobby.

Steps

Making a Rubber Band Ball

  1. Create a core. You can start with any small object, such as a marble or golf ball. A "true" rubber band ball, however, includes no other materials. Here's how to get it started:[1]
    • Select a short, thick rubber band, such as a band used to secure vegetables.
    • Fold this rubber band in half, then in half again, then a third time if possible. Do not twist it; you should end up with a flat "stack" of rubber.
    • While pinching the thick band flat, wrap a thinner rubber band around it.
    • Twist the slack of the thinner band and wrap it over the thick one in the other direction.
    • Continue to twist and wrap until there is no more slack in the thin band.
  2. Wrap rubber bands around the core. Start with two rubber bands placed in a criss-cross shape over the core. Make sure they're tightly secured. You may have to twist and wrap them around the core a few times.
    • Start with the smallest bands first, since they won't be useful once your ball passes a certain size.
  3. Add more rubber bands until the ball is smooth. Keep wrapping rubber bands so that you form a ball. Space the rubber bands evenly so that no one side of the ball is larger than any other. A ball without an object in the core will start out lumpy, but it should become smooth by the time it reaches the size of a golf ball.[1]
  4. Test the ball. Toss it in the air, or bounce it against the wall. Your new rubber band ball should have plenty of spring. Enjoy it as is, or keep adding more rubber bands and watch it grow.
    • Get it to the size of a tennis ball for the best bounce.

Rubber Band Ball Challenges

  1. Find all your rubber bands for free. Since rubber band balls are all about the challenge anyway, why not make it a little harder? Try expanding your ball without paying for any rubber bands. Here are a few places to look for them:
    • Ask friends and neighbors for spares.
    • Ask postal workers, newspaper delivery people, and other door-to-door delivery workers.
    • Look in shoe stores, which may use rubber bands to hold the shoe boxes closed.
  2. Make a ball without twisting any rubber bands. If you don't twist the rubber bands, they lie flat against each other, with no room for air. This makes the densest, bounciest ball. The trick to this is finding each new rubber band exactly the right size, so there's no slack when you loop it around the ball once.[2]
  3. Make it massive. Rubber band balls are extremely dense, so after a certain point they'll be too heavy to bounce without breaking something. After that, the challenge is to make it as large as possible. You can even beat the world record, if you can find 700,000 rubber bands.[3]
    • Once the ball is about the size of a basketball, wear safety goggles. Plenty of rubber bands will snap after this point, and you don't want them hitting your eyes.[4]
    • Rubber bands decay over time. To stop it shrinking or breaking apart, your project will need regular reinforcement.[5]
  4. Cut your old ball in half. Once you have a basketball-sized rubber band ball, it will probably sit there in the corner of your room, getting greyer and more frayed. Want to get one final moment of fun? Saw it in half and watch the insides emerge on their own, like a bizarre colony of worms.[6] If that description didn't turn you off the hobby forever, get out there and start creating!

Tips

  • If you're having trouble making a rubber band core, start with several short rubber bands instead. Wad them into a ball and pinch them together as you wrap thinner rubber bands around them.[7] Some people find this easier, but the core will end up lumpier and may spring apart before it has a solid layer wrapped around it.
  • When the ball gets too large to fit your rubber bands around, cut two bands in half, tie the ends together, and tie that around the ball.
  • Colorful rubber bands will make the rubber band ball more exciting and different, but the colors will fade with time.
  • For a neat gift idea, why not use a paper with a secret message as the core? Or to pull a mean prank, make the ball obnoxiously large and tell your friend their crush put a note in the center.
  • Make different layers of colors in the ball.

Warnings

  • Rubber will melt (vulcanize) naturally over time. Heat and UV light can speed this up, so keep the ball away from warm areas and sunlight.

Things You'll Need

  • Rubber bands
  • A piece of foil or a small ball (optional)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXeZLL0I5gU
  2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RxG9NqW5Vk
  3. ↑ http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-rubber-band-ball/
  4. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538824/Man-35-building-rubber-band-ball-3-years-old-weighs-250-pounds.html
  5. ↑ http://www.utne.com/arts/banderama.aspx?PageId=1
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=42&v=n2sJadTbuxo
  7. ↑ http://www.kidspot.com.au/kids-activities-and-games/Craft-activities+1/Build-a-rubber-band-ball+11470.htm
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