I'm trying to make a scale model of the solar system, hoping to go out and find some appropriate spheres but I'm curious if anyone has some good ideas about places/ways to get really small orbs of various diameters
With the sun I'll be using I'm looking for spheres with diameters in the range of 0.75mm - 22mm (basically 1/32" - 1") - any ideas?
(You are definitely allowed to make joke answers even though I put 'serious' in the title)
for some of the range, maybe a variety of shotgun pellets?
the standard non-lead ones range between 2.29mm and 5.08mmYeah, I was thinking that might be a good way to go. I don't live in the US though, I'm not sure how easy it'll be, but thanks that really helps me even know what ranges are available.
fuck, that's a good point
i should really stop assuming everyone else here is a yankee lol
i apologiseHonestly I'm sure that's a gettable commodity in most countries, something tells me it'll be hard to find in an urban centre though
fair
if metal is good, maybe searching forbearing [size]mm [country]might get you something useful
there are a bunch of shops that show up on google for that here in the uk
Might be too expensive, but they make gage balls (used for metrology, QA and inspection) in very precise arbitrary sizes (typically in 0.001 inch / 0.01mm increments). Ball bearings of various sizes might work too.
Might look at going to a bead shop, some of the little boutique style craft stores will have specialty stuff and price by the piece so you wouldn't have packs left over.
Yeah I'm definitely trying to get through this without hundreds of extra spheres lol - a bead shop might be the right idea thanks!
Hardware shops are a good place for specific measurements and round things.
I mean, you don't mention the purpose/requirements of this model. Is clay/blutac/maché out the question?
It's not out of the question, just a last result as I'm looking for something that can be handled by students for years so durability is key
You got some scrap 2x4 and a sander or grinder? You'd be surprised how close you can get just eyeballing it if you have a surface to hold it in place 90 degrees from the grinder.
I've gotten styrofoam spheres for a similar project from a craft store before. They're easy to work with, paint, and they won't shatter if you drop them.
If you're trying to make the planets scaled correctly to each other though, you're gonna some reeeeeeally small ones and some reeeeeeally big ones, lmao.
Naw there's not really that big a difference in scale between planets, like maybe a factor of 25 between between Mercury and Jupiter. Ultimately they're all going to be small because I'm using a 10-pin bowling ball for the sun
