Build a Ladder Ball Golf Game- Make the Bolas!
October 17, 2007 by build
Filed under Made From PVC, Toys
***Update- There is now a video version of the ladder golf build click here to view -> https://justbuildstuff.com/?p=448***
In the previous post we built the ladder portion of the game, now it is time to make the bolas. A bola consists of two golf balls, one on each end of a string. Hopefully justbuildstuff.com can provide some tricks to make construction easier.
Here are the supplies that you will need to make a set of three bolas.
- 18 Golf Balls (I used 3 different colors and 6 balls of each color)
- 25 feet of ¼” nylon rope
I also recommend having the following tools
- Drill Press
- ¼” Drill Bit
- 1” Spade Bit
or Forstner Bit
Always remember to use care and precaution when working on any project. Always wear the appropriate personal protection equipment such as safety glasses and gloves. Never operate power tools or equipment you are not familiar with, always read owners manuals and don’t be afraid to sign up for some classes in you community that will teach you how to use power tools and equipment.
The trickiest part of this project is drilling a perfectly centered hole through the golf ball. The best way I have found to do this is by clamping a scrap piece of wood to the table of my drill press and drilling a 1 inch diameter hole in the board using either a 1 inch diameter spade or forstner bit (see photo below). We drill this hole because it is centered with the center of the drill bit.
Now without moving or adjusting the drill press table with the drilled board attached remove the 1 inch diameter drill bit and replace it with a ¼” diameter bit.
Now it’s time to drop the golf ball down into the hole we drilled, notice how it sits perfectly centered with the drill bit. Hold the golf ball with a vise, or channel locks to keep it from spinning. Slowly drill the hole all of the way through the golf ball (see photo). Repeat this with the rest of the golf balls.
The golf balls are drilled, now we thread the ¼” nylon rope through the holes. It helps to have a good clean end of the rope to make the golf balls slide on a little easier. I tied knots in each end of the rope so the outsides of the golf balls were approximately 20 inches apart. After tying the knots I melted the frayed edges of the rope to keep it from fraying further.
Now just repeat this for the other eight bolas and you ladder ball golf set will be complete!!
If you missed them you can check out
Build a Ladder Ball Golf Game- Build The Ladder!
October 16, 2007 by build
Filed under Made From PVC, Toys
***Update- There is now a video version of the ladder golf build click here to view -> https://justbuildstuff.com/?p=448***
Yesterday we introduced the ladder golf ball game and today we are going to go over how to build the ladder structure. The ladder structures are built out of 3/4″ PVC pipe (note that 3/4″ PVC pipe has a 3/4″ inside diameter and approximately a 1 inch outside diameter). To build Two of the ladder structures you need to buy the following items from you local home center.
- 5- 10 foot long sticks of 3/4″ PVC pipe
- 12- 3/4″ PVC “T” fittings
- 12- 3/4″ PVC 90 degree fittings
The next step is to cut the PVC pipe. For each ladder structure you will need the following.
- 9- 2 foot long pieces
- 6- 1 foot long pieces
To build one ladder assembly you should have everything in the photo below. Double the quantities to build two structures.
Now comes the fun part. Put the pipes together into the ladder assembly. You can use the photo below as a guide if you need to. I did not glue my structure together, because I would like to have the ability to disassemble it for storage and it seems more than strong enough without glued joints.
If you are interested in other PVC projects check out our PVC Flagpole project.
Build a Ladder Ball Golf Game!
October 15, 2007 by Kurtis
Filed under build, featured, Made From PVC, Toys
***Update- There is now a video version of the ladder golf build click here to view -> https://justbuildstuff.com/?p=448***
Here is another project for our series of how to build toys. This one is a game, one that has recently become popular under many names. I think the most commonly accepted name is ladder ball, but I have seen it referred to as Norwegian Golf, bolo ball, bola ball, hillbilly horseshoes and many others. The game consists of throwing bolas (golf balls on a rope) at a ladder structure; see the Wikipedia page for more information about ladder ball. This is another project that is built almost entirely from pvc pipe, which I find to be incredibly easy to work with and inexpensive to purchase. The project is split into two parts; in the first part, we will build the ladder structure and in the second part, we will make the balls, or bola that are thrown at the ladder structure.
How to build the ladder structure can be found here!
How to make the Bolas can be found here!
Fun With ABC Bath Toys!- A Foam Alphabet
My daughter loves to take baths. There are times when she is so crabby it seems nothing will make her happy, but when I put her in the tub she is singing like a lark in no time. Perhaps this is because she loves her bath toys so much. One of her favorite bath toys is something I created in an afternoon – a foam alphabet.
To make this project I used several different colored sheets of foam (shown below) that can be purchased from amazon.com
I plan to make more foam toys for the tub such as foam numbers, shapes, animals and maybe even some “paper” dolls. Let your imagination decide what kind of bath toys you want to make!
My Play Dough Pumpkin!
This is the pumpkin my daughter and I created using the play dough we made in yesterday’s posting. I think it is one of the best play dough pumpkins ever made. Luckily, I have a LOT of orange play dough so I can make more pumpkins. However, the next time I make play dough I am going to decrease the recipe and make a third of a batch at a time. Then I can make different colors with each batch. For the small-scale play dough user like myself I think this will be more than sufficient. On the other hand, If you have a classroom full of kids, or you would like to make enough play dough to give some away (Halloween is coming) I think the large batch is the way to go. Whatever quantity you choose to make, I hope you have fun exercising your creative muscles while you play with your play dough!
