The Factory

How to make a Cup and Ball, a masterclass.

By Dave

"All you have to do is lathe away all the wood that isnt part of the Cup." Dave said in the factory.

Every one knows that Footbags come from the ocean and that stars grow inside nebulae, the origins of Cup and Ball, on the other hand, are terrestrial. Russell and I produce them in the factory at Alpha Base, in Peterborough Ontario. It is over the last year that Alpha Base has gone from producing good Cup and Balls to the world’s finest. Our experience playing and building these instruments is without equal and a workshop more specialized is difficult to imagine. In my articles, On Cup and Ball Design: Ratio and Superballs: A New Dawn, I explain how that importance of ball weight was revealed to me, not by angels but by experience and experiment. Not only have our balls improved but so have the cups. Objects that I thought were mere toys have become much more refined and beautiful as my skills improve. Art you can play with!

There are two types of wood used in the factory: Ash and Pine. The Pine is the most common wood for Cup and Balls. Its pretty easy to work with but its soft and compared with the Ash its just not as strong. After a few months of heavy play the cup ages and loses the precise feel that it had in its youth. The Ash cups can take much more abuse than their pine cousins. But with that said, Russell and I keep pine homecourts, CLX and CLIX, though both are second string they operate quite well and kept us happy for years. But, our champions are composed of Ash, Smashly and the Golden Hind. The wood that we used is bought locally and grew in the forests of Eastern Ontario.

Dave, measuring his wood. Each pencil lined rectangle contains one Cup and Ball.

These are the steps to Cup production.
1) Divide the board (as seen above) into small blocks.
2) Liberate each block with a table saw.
3) Mark the Centre of each end with an “X”
4) Drill the cup 27mm deep.
5) Oil the lathe tip.
6) Centre the block of wood on the lathe, be patient, this is one of the most tedious jobs.
7) Lathe the cup’s rim to a  diameter of 36mm.
8) Roughly sketch out the shape of the cup.
9) Smooth the block so that if your fingers get caught the spinning wood will do no damage.
10) Make the cup perfectly smooth and slightly flared so that 34 mm from the rim the neck (cervix) begins. The base of the cup, before the neck begins should measure 38mm in diameter, creating that flared look and adding strength.
11) Roughly shape the stem.
12) When the stem is ready, mark a line 108mm  from the cup’s rim.
13)  Upon that line, cut until its diameter is about 24mm.
14) Lathe the rest of the stem in relation to this line, slowly shrinking as you draw closer to the neck.
15) Smooth the neck and sculpt it until you reach the desired shape.
16) Sand and Sand and Sand with 180, 220, 340, 400, 600 grit sand papers. Use the reverse side of the 600 for a sweet polish.
17) Since you sanded off the 108mm line, mark it again.
18) Cut the Butt using extreme care and patience not to prematurely rend the  cup from the lathe. This is the most delicate operation in Cup and Ball construction. At this point mistakes cannot easily be concealed.
19) When the butt of the cup is joined to the remainder of the block by only a toothpick sized bridge, sand it with each grade of sandpaper.
20) Apply olive oil to the surface of the cup.
21) Slowly and carefully, crease the toothpick sized connector precisely where it attaches to the butt.
22) Release the cup and block from the lathe.  With your left hand on the block and your right hand on the cup, gently twist, liberating the cup from its block for the first time.
23) Using a woodburner, mark the future drill-hole in the centre of the butt.
24) Take a small drill bit and drill a pilot hole into the cup.
25) Using a bit that matches the size of your dowel (I use 6mm) drill the final hole.
26) Again with the wood burner mark the serial number into the cup.

Cup production is only one third of the tale, making good strings is crucial. This is a fairly simple compared with lathing but it is not without problems.
1) The string must be cut from the spool.
2) Cut doweling into 10mm pieces.
3) Drill holes in each dowel for the string to pass through.
4) Thread two pieces of doweling onto the string.
5 ) Tie a knot at one end. Take care to have about 4cm of string beyond the knot.
6) Tie the other  end of the string so that when taught, 177mm separates each dowel.

Ball production is the most simple area of Cup and Ball building. All you need to do is drill a hole through the centre of the Ball and make sure that its depth is sufficient to accommodate  both dowel and the knot from the string. If balls are too light I add weight using non-lead fishing sinkers and pound them into the orifice with a nail punch until the desired weight is achieved.

Once all of these pieces have been assembled they must be united. For the sake of brevity, just repeat these steps to complete the ball. Take the cup and fill the hole in the butt with glue. Now, take the excess string and run it parallel with dowel and slide it in. This may take a great amount of force but it should be this tension that holds the instrument together, the glue, though important, is only secondary. Lastly, secure the cup in a vice, taking extreme care not to cause damage, and cut away the few centimetres of excess string.

Short of spending an afternoon with me in the factory this is as close as I can bring you to understand the work that goes into each instrument produced at Alpha Base. These procedures, it should be mentioned, are organic and constantly improving and so are the Cup and Balls produced at Alpha Base. Though Cup and Balls are born of the earth cast your eyes up to the stars and let the heavens guide your ball.

Nebulae: where stars are born.

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