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BRAZING BALLS TO ROD
 

Next to drilling balls, brazing a ball onto a rod seems to have been another long lost conundrum buried in the ancient pyramids of Egypt. Brazing is the best & preferred method to securely bond the ball & rod. I am already aware of other ball to rod attachment methods....some have used threaded brass balls screwed onto a threaded rod, then using thread locker sealant (or epoxy adhesive) and a lock nut jammed against the ball. The ball will sometimes loosen from the rod and your animation scene will be ruined or severely interrupted for armature / puppet repairs. Then, I know of the torturous and time consuming method of actually shaping & forming each ball and rod / shaft (as a solid piece), on a lathe turning machine; you will be spending the rest of your life, machining the ball-rods and never animate! Only very costly, computer controlled lathes can do this ball-rod shaping quickly and accurately. Another method is, to attach a ball to the rod but it still involves brazing.....one does not necessarily have to drill a hole into the ball; just file a flat area on the ball, then braze the rod directly onto the flat spot of the ball. Perhaps, this would work on small lightweight puppets where you do require much joint tension. I know that others have fabricated armatures this way. Finally, a technique that does not require brazing/soldering, is, Press Fitting the rods into the ball holes, but to do this effectively, you need very accurate hole diameter tolerances which requires purchasing of reamers to size your ball hole exactly (after drilling the holes). Remember, there are no specific ways but whatever works to accomplish your own needs. I am not saying that some of these method are not good. If you are a beginner, the simpler ways can work for light duty stop motion.

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