[Bandaid]

Â* Â* I carved a couple of golf balls to make into novelty trophys. Can anyone give me some advice as to what prep. I need prior to painting? Do I need a base coat or a sealer of some sort? Any help would be appreciated. Â*???

I have carved only a few my self,but all i do is ,give it a light coat of satin clear then paint, then shoot satin agin, just like i do stick spirits.
Treeline is selling a new booklet now By Justin Jepsen 'The Carving Range' 48 pges. on start to finishish of 4 golfballs . I plan on getting this book myself.

Captain - Ivan Whillock has an article in the November 2000 issue of 'Creative Woodworks & Crafts.' As best I can tell from reading it he just used oil paints. It was a face and he put a base coat of flesh paint on the whole carving and went from there.

I tried a couple balls when the article came out but it was just too intricate for my pocket knife. Just got my Stubai palm tools today so am going to give it another go. Live by the golf course so have an almost unlimited supply. I find more than even I can lose.

[Bandaid]

Â* Â* Thanks for the replies! Sounds like oil paints are the way to go. Anyone who hasn't tried carving golf balls should give it a try, it's a fun change from wood. (no grain!) Â*8)

I had a heck of a time cutting it in half. Any suggestions?

I put it in a vice and carefully cut around it with a hack saw. Had to rotate it several times to get all the way around. Just barely cut through the cover. Once you have it cut all the way around just work a screwdriver under half of the cover. Work it around the ball and the cover will come right off. Careful with the screwdrive it can go just as deep in your hand as a gouge.

Thanks. The first time I tried it I had a heck of a time cutting clear through with a knife. Finally got it done though. Those hides are tough. Can anyone tell me what brand of golf balls produce what color of center?

Not I, but I can tell you that the core color will vary not only by brand, but by models within a particular brand. For instance: Top Flight XL, Top Flight XL 2000 Extra Long, Top Flight XL 2000 Exceptional Spin and on and on and on.

[Bandaid]

Â* Â* A while back someone suggested using the inside tube from a toilet paper roll to mark the ball for cutting, I found it worked great. To make the cut I used a diamond edged disk in my Dremel which made a real neat cut. Use at a slow speed tho otherwise you start to melt the rubber.

O.K. Folks got up early this morn and made a tour of the golf course hunting lost balls. Brought them back the the shop and got to cutting. Here's what I've got so far, but be advised I do not have normal color perception. Not color blind, just don't always see colors exactly as they are.

Top Flite XL3000 Super Long - Blue
Top Flite Strata Tour 90 - light green
Top Flite XL2000 Extra Long - Pink
Top Flite XL2000 Aero Extra Carry - Pink
Top Flite XL Pure Distance More Carry - Grey
Top Flite Tour 100 - Light greenish blue
Top Flite XL Tour Trajectory - Blue
Top Flite XL3000 Super Straight - Grey
Top Flite XL Ti Titanium Extreme 100 - Blue
Wilson Ultra Tour Titanium Straight Distance - Pink
Wilson Pro-Staff Tour Accuracy - Blue
Wilson Pro-Staff Performance Spin - Blue
Wilson Ultra Tour Titanium Straight Distance - Pink (very thick cover)
Wilson Smart Core Professional Distance - Brownish Grey
Wilson Rely7Gcr - Light Yellow
Wilson Ultra 432 - White
Dunlop Advanced Ti Distance - Orange
Dunlop DDH Distance 110 - Grey
Titleist DT90 and DT100 - Wound (rubber bands)
Titleist HP2 90 - Blue
Titleist Pro V1 392 - Purple
Titleist DT Distance - White
Titanium M2 Maximum Distance - Grey

That's the fruits of my labor for the morning. Be aware, some of these balls are on the pricey side, upwards of $40 a dozen.

Some golf courses and golf driving ranges sell used balls for around 50 to 75 cents each. Also, Wal-Mart sells used balls by the dozen (don't know the price) and they very likely will have a mix of colors.