Sally,

I actually did this when I was on vacation in August. I dug a hole in the ground (loamy soil beneath pine trees), half buried the ball, covered with plastic, and then applied a layer of 'tufa.

You'll want to make sure and keep your 'tufa a bit on the dry side so you don't get slump. The finished 'planter' is kind of interesting but you'll have to add a flat to the bottom, which sort of kills the shape. Also, it isn't very deep.

All in all I wouldn't really recommend it except as an experiment.

peak

Crap. Well, thanks anyway Peak. Do you have a photo?

Also, is there a better way to make a tufa sphere planter?

Sally.

Sally, I used a small basketball to cast a 'spitter ball' - one of those spheres that has a tube running up the inside so water can cascade over it... anyway, this is what I did in order to leave room for the pump, it might work as a planter.

I cut a circular opening in the basketball, big enough to get my hand in. Then, placed the basketball in a bucket of damp sand to give the sides strength, and continued to add sand to the outside as I added tufa to the inside. I packed tufa inside the basketball until the tufa was about 2" thick in the bottom, then placed a plastic 'beverage' cup in it, again filled with sand, and continued packing tufa around it, using a stick to get into the corners (oh wait, a sphere should have no corners...). After it had set up (overnight I think), I very carefully sliced the basketball down one side, peeled the basketball off, then carefully pulled out the cup.

If you need drainage holes you could drill them after demoulding or if you want a larger planting space, you could carve out the innerds like a pumpkin before the tufa gets too solid.

Also, if it's going to sit on something other than a flat surface (i.e. flowerbed or lawn) you could leave the bottom curved. Very cool.

Something I did learn about basketballs is they have seams inside from the manufacturing process, you may have to whittle these down. You might want to use release agent as well, I didn't and it came off just fine.

Hope this makes sense.

-GC

Excellent instructions, GC. A lightbulb went off in the dull recesss that is my brain. Thanks.

Sally, for some reason my spherical planter pics seem to have disappeared. Here's one after I'd applied a layer of 'rete and a couple of 'tufa to the balloon:

{{gwi:74614}}

peak

Thanks GC, excellent instructions! I will definitely try this and will share pics of my results with ya'll!!

Sally

I just split a volley ball half way at the equator, then packed it full with tufa. About half way, i put a big layers of safety glass shards, then continued to pack it full. Unmolded with ease, then I washed the sphere with a hose and washed out the loose glass..instant geode!

Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: geode in the sun

Jo! That is very cool - looks amazing. The glass stuck with no problems?

WOW!!! That is soooooo cool! So, you split the ball in half, and filled the two halves and then glued them back together? No, that can't be right. How'd you get the two volleyball halves to stay together after you split the ball?

Sally

{{gwi:74615}}

peak

That is gorgeous! Another wonderful idea from Jo!

Deb

Thanks guys! I split it only 5-6" so it flapped, like it had a mouth to feed tufa into. When I demolded, I just pulled its big ol' lips over it's head! It's a little tricky, but it works, and if you do this in sand, it should be easier. I stuffed it on the work table, and so it got a flat spot on the bottom, which worked for me. Now it can't roll away. The glass stuck really well. You can get it to shine even more by cleaning the glass with limeaway and a brush, but I kinda liked it a little gritty for a natural appearance.

Jo

Oh great...now people will think I'm weird for collecting safety glass from accident sites.

No really, this is so creative and beautiful! I'm sure a hundred great ideas will spring from it too...

Debbie

LOL You don't need to go visiting accidents except maybe you would get some pretty tinted pieces. You can go to anyplace that sells auto glass, or tempered glass they use for store windows, display cases. Ask if they have any broken tempered glass they want to unload. They are all too happy for you to take it. Safety glass doesn't shatter, you don't want that, you want tempered.

I hope you get some and make something really cool.

Jo

Wow, nice geode in the sun.
If you have kids in school or grand kids, they can ask at school for the old basket balls ( that are tossed to the curb ) and you can make some nice round balls.
I think it was Michael that made some nice spheres , he added sand as he was stuffing and washed sand away , and came up with an interesting balls.
I used a big plastic ball from walmart, and covered it with crete, that you could leave an opening and use as a planter.
Dena has some real nice spheres also.
Bonnie:)

Here is a link that might be useful: sphere

Louisiana greetings---Very colorfull sphere. Also like the Sun Face? in the pic.
Joel

Mosaic Mercantile sells "beach glass", which is colored glass mechanically tumbled until it's smooth. It would be interesting to incorporate this type of glass in a geode.

I've been trying to come up with an idea on how to make my own mechanical tumbler, so far without success.

peak

Awwwwwwwww Man !! I'm getting my inferior complexes back ! I have so many !! My XI is a complete bust. I will take a a picture of my "mend and make-do" for which I am getting justly famous. Sheeesh-a-meeemie Crackers! !! That globe is just gawjus.

Sheesh-a-meemie Crackers? Hmm I think you need to post a .wav file, copperfish. I gotta hear that one.

peak

bump

I used a kid's rubber ball to make this 24" ball. Sometimes I float candles in it.
{{gwi:74616}}
The small ball has a plastic ball inside of it. I got a big bag of them at the goodwill for cheap.

Bump

Wow, Mudmaker! I don't think I saw this the last time through. What a wonderful sphere/water feature!

I just got a 24" ball at Wallyworld--I'm gonna make me one too. How did you support it while you were covering it? Did you use fabric or drywall tape?

Deb

In the water feature ball you could float those colored shiny spheres. That is so neat. All these ideas are just gorgeous!! Thank you so much for sharing!

I just got back from HD, and they had 'plastic' globes like the glass light covers. They come in 10" and 12" and they were on sale. I'm thinking I can cut it in half and that way I can reuse it. I bought a hot knife this week so I'm going to be experimenting making molds from various plastic stuff I found at Big Lots. Now I need some broken glass to make a geode. I have some blue beverage bottles saved. I wonder if this will work. How would you go about getting it to break in uniform sizes?
Dixiesmom

Dixiesmom, You really can't get them uniform and it is too dangerous to use just regular broken glass. You really need to get the broken safty glass for this project. You could get a kiln and fire off the sharp edges....but who's going to do that! Not me.... ha ha.
Jo

Take a look at the pieces done on the Little and Lewis website.I saw these guys at a talk a month or so ago,and they had a number of photos of the balls,done as shown here.What they did in addition was to paint the inside a deep black colour,so that there would be further mystery.
BUT...And again,not to be a spoiler,but these types of empty vessels with still water are perfect for mosquito breeding.West Nile virus,anyone?Little and Lewis also had one of the open balls with a small pump inside,just barely moving the water.Looked very chic!

These spheres are wonderful ! As a water feature they have tremendous potential, I can envision pedestals, paints, great variety. To handle the mosquito threat...And algie... you could consider adding one or two goldfish. I have dogs and cats that love to drink out of just about any standing water.They especially like buckets where I am rooting cuttings. After a few visits to the vet I put a few little 8 cent feeder fish into these water sources and had no further trouble. Another solution is the addition of chlorine to the water. I have a water fountain with no fish, and no animals near, that I use a good dollop of chlorine. If the container is sealed well, I don't think it would hurt the container.

You can just use "mosquito dunks" to prevent mosquito larvae from developing in standing water. They are organic and completely safe, even if your dog or cat eats several of them, but they prevent mosquito babies from living in the water. You can even use them in your dog or cat's water dish. (They have beneficial bacteria in them that kill mosquito larvae but are totally harmless to animals.) They are small round "donut" shaped thingies and you can buy them at most nurseries, I think including Lowes and Home Depot. A google search for mosquito dunks will give more info.

This is a sickness. The other day when I was driving down the road, a rock flew into my windshield and broke it. The first thing through my mind was... Woo Hoo!!!!! Now I can make my geode!

I'm right there with you Dixiesmom!
When my DH had to have the windshield replaced on his truck, I told the fella at the glass shop to box up all the pieces.
He looked at me like my head was going to spin at any second!

I use my cement mixer and some fine dry sand to polish regular glass to take the sharp edges off.
Smash up a few bottles or what have you and give them a trip in the cement mixer. You might have to wrap the paddles with a rag to keep them from breaking larger chunks.

Gorgeous--all of them!

Yeah, a couple of months ago my husband had to break a window in my car because I got locked out (well, actually it was a accident breaking it, he was just trying to pry it open to have access inside).
Well, anyway the broken glass is still in the same spot on the side of our dirt drive mixed in with a lot of oak leaves, stones, dirt, and other debris.
Now, I'm out there sifting through it, shoveling it in bucket, trying to sort out all the broken glass pieces.
Isn't it amazing what can be created with what is just 'lying around'.
(I'm kinda one of those people who never throw anything out and it's times like this I'm glad that I don't!)
J

Bump. Sorry to revive such an old thread (don't know if it's accepted ettiquete around here) but I want to second Deb's questions about that water feature.

Is it hypertufa or some other concrete mixture? Any mesh or other support used? And you removed the kid's ball by popping it when the sphere was dry?

Any suggestions on how a concrete newbie could succeed making a similar partial-sphere? I have a spot in my rose garden where this would be just the thing covered with moss and filled with water for the birds.

Thanks,
Kristin

Kristen
I'm glad you bumped up this post. Lots of wonderful info.
Peakpoet you mentioned keeping tufa a bit on the dry side to prevent slump.
What is slump?
~Debbie~

Slump is when the mix is too wet and it won't stay where you want to put it. It slides down, hence - slump. Something I'm still grappling with LOL

Thank-you rockhewer,
I've been calling slump something else (can't post it though because it may be sensored.
~Debbie~

"Beach glass" can also be "made" by giving broken glass, and some sand a trip in an electric ice cream maker. If you don't have one, you see them at thrift stores for about $5.
Whoever asked about taking the ball out above--it can be removed by inserting a needle (meant for inflating the ball) and removing the air. That way you can use the ball again. It will get fatigued after a while but better than a single use. I got a small pump and needles at WM and it is easy to inflate the ball and deflate when the 'tufa sets up.
There was another very long thread on making balls last summer. Did it fall off?
spiderwoman

My mind is racing!!!size>color>
I am just so thrilled to see these ideas!
I have been saving a boxful of tempered glass crumbles from a broken patio table top.
You shoulda seen hubby's eyes roll when I said "let's keep that" *lol
I just knew there had to be some wonderful creation that could be made of them.

Okay, now all I have to do is wait for weather warm enough to properly cure the tufa.
Ooooo, and I gotta try that hollow ball project too!

Oh man, I can't wait!!

~~ ellie ~~

Wow- I have been sitting here for hours, literally, reading all these awesome hypertufa and concrete threads!!! I'm so awed by the beautiful things you guys make. I am so going to try this this spring!

This is sooo interesting..........bumping it up!
Julie

Bump.
I found a great site with recipes and instructions for making hypertufa spheres. Looks like a great project for the garden!
http://www.artistic-garden.com/garden-sphere/

Thanks for the link, dlbk, These are great looking spheres.

Nice link, but I resent being "forced" to sign up for a newsletter before I can review the contents of the page to decide if I WANT a newsletter.

Anita - I never had to sign up for a newsletter to see anything on the artistic garden site. A pop up for the newsletter showed up on my screen, but you only have to click at the top right corner (where there is an 'X') to delete it. Give it another try!