Nov. 8, 2024, 4:50pm

Thank you so much! I used to be part of a juggling group, and helped make the juggling balls. I left the group, and have wanted to make my own balls, but I didn't have the pattern or the terminology to find it. I know it's simple, it's the baseball pattern, but I had no idea what to look for. Thank you so much for posting these, I think that I shall take these in during my crafting groups to make them. Maybe I'll get some people interested in them..

Nov. 8, 2024, 5:01pm

Thank you for telling me that! I love to know when people find my documents useful!

The baseball pattern is my weakest pattern. There are a wide variety of variations on that design, and I currently have no theory on how to develop the best one. My pattern will give you a pretty good ball, and is based on fairly sound mathematics, but isn't perfect. There is an article I link to in that chapter document's "How I Developed This Design" section that gives a mathematical analysis of the optimal pattern, but it is a bit beyond me. My design is based on using circular arcs for the curves, while I think Bézier curves will produce a better sphere. I just don't know how best to design them. It is surprisingly difficult to design that panel shape.

The baseball design is fairly difficult to assemble. Unless you have a preference for that one, I recommend the 8-panel Octahedron. It is simple and easy to make and is very elegant, and is very round.

Let me know if the patterns and instructions work out well for you, and if you have any suggestions for improvements!