I was in a shop saterday and found all white ping pong balls, but the are thinner (plastic)than the ping pong balls with a stamp on it. I never made eyes with it so I was wondering if you make eyes make with the thinner balls last the same time as the thicker. I want to use them to cut in ball in halfs and glue it with a piece of foam in the ball to the head. I don't see often see all white ping pong balls......

Hi Gompie,

Ping pong balls are indeed cheep and they can make great eyes. I was pleasently suprised when i used colored ping pong balls to make the eyes of my first foam puppet "Gub Gub" in last years build along. Any color can have its effect, even white.

I hope that you will show us what you will have created with your ping pong balls. It is true that white is not that popular now a days since colors are more varied than ever in stores.

Puppet hug,
SHould

I bet they would work Gompie, but they may not hold up as well. Even regular Ping Pong balls can crush pretty easily and the ones you found may crush even easier. I think you well just need to take care of how you handle the puppet if you use them.

Gompie, you can use the ones that are thicker and remove the logo on them by using rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball.  I personally like the thicker professional ping pong balls.  Have you thought about yellow practice golf balls.  You can spray paint them white and they last forever.  Make sure you get the right paint for a foamy substance.

Hope this helps......

Daryl H

Gimpier, you can use the ones that are thicker and remove the logo on them by using rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball.  I personally like the thicker professional ping pong balls.  Have you thought about yellow practice golf balls.  You can spray paint them white and they last forever.  Make sure you get the right paint for a foamy substance.

Hope this helps......

Daryl H

that's a great idea.......................... I was thinking how I could do that

I can only find white ping pong balls but I didn't look in a sport shop yet, I think colored balls and colored eggs you can only buy in another country.....
I'm now busy with a paper patron for panzeraf a guy with mixed peaces of fur from a zebra, panther and giraffe........ but the process is slow because I can work a few times a week a hour or so but the process is going....
and the questions are rising so in a while a need help.... 

euhm where do you buy the practice golf balls.........

I bet they would work Gompie, but they may not hold up as well. Even regular Ping Pong balls can crush pretty easily and the ones you found may crush even easier. I think you well just need to take care of how you handle the puppet if you use them.

the puppets are going to use with kids including my own , at first the youngest one (1 year old boy who wants to know what it is and how its works) The eyes have to be strong , the aren't allowed but They will touch them.

I bought ping pong ball type eyes from here http://www.puppetminister.com and received them very quickly, but i do live in the states.  They are a bit bigger then ping pong balls but they have the safety lock backing.  Go to the web site and click on puppet eyes on in the left hand side.  They were $5.35 for 5 pairs or $10.45 for 10 pairs.  Maybe a bit more expensive then ping pong balls, but with very young children at least they won't crush or be pulled off.  Hope this helps.   

Angel

Hallo Gompie,

je kan allerlei balletjes vinden bij Decathlon. Ik koop ze ook hier in België. In Nederland ook te vinden.
Grtjs.

Sorry guys fotr the dutch language... telling gompie that all kind of balls can be found in the Decathlon stores in our countries.

Sorry guys fotr the dutch language... telling gompie that all kind of balls can be found in the Decathlon stores in our countries.

Snowballs? Popcorn balls? Hairballs? 

Sorry... bad joke. Thanks for helping with the local knowledge, Johian.

It is possible to reinforce ping pong balls by filling them with plaster or melted wax, etc., or lining the inside with tape or paper mache, etc., after you cut them in half. That could make them much more heavy, depending on what you use. The eyes that Ben sells at Puppetminister.com are high quality, professional eyes at a very good an incredibly cheap price. He does it more as a service to fellow puppet makers than as a money making scheme, though overseas postage might be prohibitive.

You need to be careful when you cut ping pong balls in half, because it's easy to slip and hurt yourself. Jewelers use a kind of jig, like a vise or clamp, to hold pearls when they drill or grind them for mounting. You could make something using the same principle to make a ping pong ball clamp for cutting them without holding them directly in your hands, but without crushing them.

http://images.google.com/images?q=pearl+drilling+vise


You could make one with materials as simple as a couple of tongue depressors or paint-stirring sticks and some rubber bands. These would look kind of like giant tweezers, and you could drill holes in one end of the sticks, or glue on some slip-resistant foam to hold the balls in place.

Or would that be too Rube Goldbergesque?

 

Ron G.


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