Bowling Ball Fountain

Step 4 Drill the Balls

WIth the balls able to be stacked we will now need to drill holes through them to allow the passage of the tubing that will carry the water. Make sure you choose a bit that is the same diameter as the outside diameter (OD) of your tubing and long enough to pass all the way through the bowling ball. I chose to use a masonry bit because bowling balls are dense. And it turns out there is something that very much looks like concrete in center of them.

To drill the hole I loaded the ball into the rest, chose a spot that looked like it was in the center of the cut off portion and drilled. The first ball was no problem because I drilled a pilot hole. So I just applied frim steady pressure while drilling and the bit travelled straight through just like I wanted.

Next I stacked one ball on top of another making sure the edges of the cut off portions of the balls were aligned. I then passed the bit through the hole in the first ball and drilled a little divet to mark where I wanted to drill the hole. I removed the first ball and proceeded to drill the hole through the second ball. However, I had a bit of a brain fart and forgot to drill a pilot hole and apparently didn't keep the drill oriented very well. I ended up with a hole that didn't take a straight path. The angle was such that the tubing wouldn't be able to pass through both balls and maintain their alignment. To rectify this I drilled a second hole parallel to the first. I then used a ballpean hammer, a chisel and my masonry bit to remove the material between the two holes.

For the last ball I marked where I wanted the water to come out of the rounded top. I drilled a pilot hole and then followed it up with the masonry bit. This hole also went slightly off course. However I was able to rectify this less serious detour by simpling widening the hole on the bottom of the ball. I just drilled a second hole that intersected the first at a shallow angle, and then cleaned it up with a chisel.