Okay, folks, let’s dive into my little project today: messing around with keel basketball and birch timber. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a bit of hands-on fun.

The Idea Pops Up

So, I was cleaning out the garage, right? And I stumbled upon this old, kinda deflated basketball. It got me thinking… what if I could make something with it, instead of just tossing it? Then, I saw this pile of birch wood scraps leftover from another project. Boom! The idea hit me – some sort of… stand? Display? I wasn’t quite sure, but the materials were there, begging to be used.

Getting My Hands Dirty

First things first, I pumped up that basketball. It wasn’t perfect, a little lopsided, but good enough. Then, I grabbed the birch. Now, birch is pretty, but these were just rough-cut pieces. I spent a good hour just sanding them down. My arms were definitely feeling it! I wanted that smooth, almost polished look, you know?

Figuring Out the “Keel”

This is where the “keel” part comes in. I decided to use a bigger piece of the birch as a base, like the keel of a boat. I figured it would give the whole thing some stability. I marked out a rough circle, slightly smaller than the basketball, on the base piece. Then, I grabbed my jigsaw and carefully, very carefully, cut it out. More sanding! Always more sanding.

• Sanded the base.
• Cut a circular indent.
• More sanding!

Putting It All Together

Now for the tricky part. I wanted the basketball to sit snugly in that circular indent I’d made. I used some wood glue, a generous amount, and pressed the basketball down. It wasn’t perfect, a little wobbly. So, I took some smaller birch pieces and wedged them around the base of the ball, like little supports. More glue! I basically built up this little cradle for the basketball to sit in.

The Finished (Sort Of) Product

After the glue dried (which took forever, by the way), I stepped back to admire my handiwork. It was… rustic. Definitely rustic. The basketball sat there, nestled in its birch wood “keel”. It wasn’t going to win any design awards, but it was solid, and it was something I’d made with my own two hands. I even thought about painting it, but then decided I liked the natural look of the wood and the worn leather of the ball.

It’s now sitting on a shelf in my workshop. A little reminder that even scraps and old sports equipment can be turned into something… well, something unique, at least. And that’s the story of my keel basketball birch timber adventure!