What Is the Aluminum Foil Ball Trend?

The aluminum foil

When was the last time you gave a second thought to the aluminum foil that’s currently in your kitchen? Do you even know if there is anything there for you to use?

We often use aluminum foil for cooking purposes. It becomes a barrier item that prevents the thin crust of a pie from burning or insulates the chicken and potatoes from the charcoal on your grill.

One of today’s most recent trends is to do something else with this thin metal sheet. In Japan, people wad up the product into a ball and turn it into a metal orb that looks nothing like the material from which they started.

Although it looks like it could be an impossible task, anyone can transform a ball of pure aluminum foil into something that looks like a gorgeous metal orb. You’ll need a lot of time, an entire box of foil, and a few tools.

How to Create an Aluminum Foil Ball at Home

If you’re interested in creating a shiny orb from some aluminum foil at home, here are the steps you can take to produce the result you want. Please note that it might take a few tries before you’re able to have a successful outcome.

1. Crumple Your Aluminum Foil

The first step is to get your aluminum foil prepared for the shaping process. You’ll want to purchase a standard roll from any grocery store. Some products have a nonstick side to them – you’ll want to avoid that to take advantage of this material’s features.

Once you have the container, bring it home and unravel it. You don’t want to cut it to create the ball. After everything is laid out, work from the outside into the middle to create a roughly circular shape.

You can also unroll the entire sheet to start creating a ball from one end to the other.

Expect to see lots of wrinkles and crinkles on the product. That’s the expected outcome.

Depending on how tightly you compact the initial ball, you could end up having something as massive as a basketball when finishing this step. It could also look like something closer to a marshmallow.

2. Compress the Aluminum Foil

Once you have the aluminum foil in a massive ball, you’ll need to compress the various layers to create a smoother surface. The easiest way to do this is with a small rubber mallet. Although some instructions say to use a small sledgehammer-style tool, you’ll run the risk of tearing the outer layer with the latter option.

It will take more elbow grease to create a smooth, compact surface with the aluminum foil ball. You’ll find that it is worth the effort since you’ll face fewer risks of damaging your project with this technique.

This step is quite tedious. You’re going to be compressing the aluminum foil for a long time to create the density needed to complete the project.

If you want to get through this step faster, you can apply a metal weight to the aluminum foil to increase the compression ratio. The flat surface won’t create indentation problems or tears, allowing you to press more into each strike. You can use a metal hammer with this technique.

Should you get out of the round with your compression efforts, you can turn your attention to the proportional area to correct it with your hammer. Even when the layers get tight, you’ll discover that there is still some room to make adjustments.

You’ll want to wear some gloves for this step. Some of the aluminum can come off on your hands, creating the potential to generate stains. As the ball gets smaller, you’ll notice that it also gets heavier. Don’t worry about seeing cracks appear as it gets tighter. They’ll eventually disappear as you reach this step’s conclusion.

3. Sand the Surface of the Aluminum Foil Ball

Once you have the aluminum foil ball appropriately compressed, you can start the surface polishing work. The first step is to sand away any of the uneven surfaces that remain after you’ve been whacking the item with your hammer. Use a metal-grade product at the most refined grading possible to achieve a positive result.

You’ll know that the metal is compressed because the ball absorbs your hammer’s impact instead of compressing more. Although every result is slightly different, you’ll end up with a product about 16 inches in diameter.

As you’ll see in some of the online demonstration videos for aluminum foil balls, it helps to run the product underneath hot water to create more flexibility with the material.

A little pressure goes a long way here, which is why you’ll want to take your time. Continue working around the ball until you’ve got a lovely sphere looking back at you.

4. Polish the Aluminum Foil Ball

After you have the aluminum foil evenly shaped and prepared, you can polish the outer surface. The metal will glisten once you’ve applied enough of the product, especially when using an aluminum-specific product.

It might take more than one polishing effort to achieve the glistening ball you want to get with this low-cost project.

You will need to spend a lot of time polishing the aluminum foil to achieve a mirror-like surface. The best way to work on it is to secure the item in a vise with towels around it to prevent indentations. After exposing one part of it, scrub away at the surface while following the instructions provided by your preferred product.

Continue moving your way around the orb until you achieve the intended results. It often takes several hours to reach the final outcome.

If you work on the project from start to finish in one sitting, it should take about four hours to complete. You might notice some cracks in the final effort, which is something you can resolve with more compacting if it is bothersome. Don’t forget to share the results of your work on social media to show off all of your hard work!

Photo copyrights – sekaiminzoku

Other examples of people who did this on Social Media

More tutorials can be found on youtube