How This Dumb Idea Started

Okay, so I got smacked hard playing volleyball last weekend – wrist still kinda hurts, honestly. Got me thinking: wouldn’t it be cool if hitting the ball didn’t feel like punching a brick wall sometimes? Saw some nice, pale beech timber offcuts lying around from a shelf project. Grabbed a chunk and thought, “Hmm… shock absorbing volleyball? Beech wood? Worth a shot, I guess.” Had zero plan, just jumped in.

Chopping and Shaping the Rough Bits

First, just eyeballed what felt like a decent size for a volleyball – way smaller than the real thing, obviously. Marked it kinda squiggly with a pencil, then grabbed the saw. Rough cut it out, splinters flying everywhere. Took the rough block to the whittling knife. Yeah, lots of hand cramping later, slowly shaving it down. Aimed for sorta round, but honestly? More like potato-shaped at first! Sanded the heck out of it with coarse paper trying to smooth things out. Still looked like a weird wooden potato. Not giving up yet.

The Dumb Attempt at “Shock Absorbing”

Figured just plain wood wouldn’t help my wrist much. Brainwave! Started carving shallow grooves all over the potato-ball. Planned to jam strips of old bike inner tube rubber into those grooves, hoping it would bounce and cushion. Took forever, carving each groove carefully – too deep, scared I’d split it, too shallow, nothing fits. Finally cut thin rubber strips. Used wood glue to stick them in the grooves, wrapping it like messy bandages. Pressed everything down hard, weighed it down with books overnight.

Testing Round 1: Total Flop

Next morning, excited! Yanked the rubber-strip ball out. Looked… okay, kinda? Tossed it down onto the patio slabs from waist height. Thwack! Sounded like cracking knuckles. Bounced maybe a whole inch? Barely! The rubber strips just flattened dead on impact, doing nothing. Felt almost as hard as before. Total bummer. Threw it harder against the wall. Crack! A nasty split appeared right along one of the grooves. Knew this groove idea was busted.

Back to the Drawing Board (and More Glue!)

Stared at my sad cracked potato. Okay, grooves bad. Needed something flexible inside. Drilled a hole into the cracked area, bigger this time. Stuffed thin rubber bands inside, coiling them up tight like spaghetti. Squirted super glue right onto the bands inside the hole, trying to glue them to the wood walls. Shoved some extra wood filler in to plug the crack and the hole. Sanded it smooth again, hoping the bands floating inside would work magic. Paint job next – slapped on some cheap white paint just to make it look less like firewood.

Testing Round 2: Actually Worked!

Let the paint dry, crossed my fingers, tossed it again. Thud. Different sound! Lower pitch. Bounced a few inches this time! Punched it lightly with my knuckle – still firm, but that weird hard sting was gone. Punched it harder. Yeah, definitely softer feeling than pure wood. Not super bouncy like a real ball, but the difference hitting it was noticeable. The rubber bands inside must be squishing when it hits something. Held it to my ear, gave it a gentle squeeze – heard a faint little crinkly sound from the bands! Success!

Final Thoughts on the Weird Wooden Ball

Well, I don’t have wrist pain from messing with this thing! It ain’t perfect. Still looks pretty handmade, weighs more than a beach ball, bounces low. But it works. Hits softer. Actually kinda fun just tossing and catching it now. Beech wood seems solid enough for the job if you build it right. Next time? Maybe try boring a bigger hollow before gluing the two halves together to fit more rubber bands inside! Learned a lot just by trying something stupid.