Mending a Split Bocce Ball

When playing All-Terrain Bocce Ball, once in a rare occasion one of your balls might land directly on a non-forgiving rock. We all know that Bocce Balls can take a beating when playing outdoors, through metal studios, or through the farm, but it's when that darn ball lands smack dab on top of a rock when the fun ends.

Let me show you how all hope is not lost, and neither is the time in between your All-Terrain Bocce Ball matches.

Simple, start gathering some pertinent items to fix it.

Items you'll need:
- Two 2"x1/4" bolts
- 1/4" coupler
- Small tube of epoxy

Tools you'll need:
- Drill press (1/4" bit, 5/8" bit, and a countersink bit)
- Packing tape
- Screw Driver
- Epoxy applicator

First things first, clean off both pieces of the bocce ball and then make sure they marry up tight (assuming you had a clean break). Once snug, tape the ball up in every direction.

Then find the most perpendicular point from the horizontal break to drill through with the 1/4" bit. This will be approximately the furthest area away from the break on either side. Counter punch these spots then drill all the way through. WARNING: A dusk mask may be wanted/needed at this point, resin will go flying during this process.

After your through with the 1/4" bit, do not take the tape off, instead insert your countersink bit and take enough out of each end so the diameter of your bolt is slightly smaller, leaving the bolt a hair below the surface of the ball.

Now that you have a 1/4" hole all the way through with a countersunk hole on either side for your bolt, go ahead and take the tape off for this next step.

I had the luxury of a lathe, so I turned my own coupler which is always a treat to have something perfectly true. Still, most store bought couplers should work. At this point, match up a drill bit with the diameter of your coupler - The hole should be a hair wider then the coupler.

Go ahead and split the length of the coupler and sink that into either side of the inside of the bocce ball. This will carve out an area for the coupler to receive both bolts entering from either side. The hole on each side should also go a hair deeper then the coupler to allow for a little room for tightening, leaving it tension free.

Go ahead and assemble as a dry run. After you hand tighten the two bolts down equally the ball should be pretty snug and fit perfectly back together.

Always good to do a dry run.

A smart last step before you epoxy is to randomly place some small drill holes on both inside surfaces of the broken bocce ball. This will allow room for the epoxy to spread into and cling onto the outward edges of the ball.

Your 1/4" bit will work for this.

Epoxy away. Get enough in there so it squeezes out on all sides equally. Go ahead and crank down on your bolts. You should feel confident in your work to hand crank down on the two bolts for a tight tight bind.

Scrape away any seeping epoxy until it stops.

Just wait a good 24 hours before you commence playing, and then don't stop playing for a good 24 hours.

Oh, and watch out for those darn rocks.