I'm melllllllltiiiiiing...

September 5, 2007 12:42 AM

I want to make one of these bowls instead of buying one.

In theory it seems pretty simple to me - all I need is a nice round-shaped wok and a few bags of toy soldiers. I'm thinking it might be rather trial and error, but I don't want to a) get sick from any fumes or b) ruin a wok.

I realize this one might be a stretch but if anyone has some plastics-molding experience they might be able to impart, I would appreciate it...

posted by allkindsoftime to grab bag (10 comments total)

There's a tutorial here. Search for "army bowl" in Craftster for similar posts.
posted by clearlydemon at 1:00 AM on September 5, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

A better link.
posted by clearlydemon at 1:01 AM on September 5, 2007

I'm planning on doing the same thing this weekend with some cheap stainless steel mixing bowls. I thought they'd be better than a wok since they're cheaper and they have a flat bottom. I was thinking:

1. Get soldiers into larger bowl
2. Press smaller bowl into bowl of soldiers (to press them to the edges of larger bowl). Maybe fill the gaps at the side with more soldiers? Throw in a bunch of stones or something to keep smaller bowl in place
3. Bang the whole thing in the oven, and hope it works out.

Is that a reasonable approach?
posted by bunglin jones at 1:07 AM on September 5, 2007

Sorry, should have previewed.
posted by bunglin jones at 1:07 AM on September 5, 2007

Make one, hell... how do you clean it?
posted by alexei at 2:09 AM on September 5, 2007

Both links above don't really yield as pretty bowls as the one in the original link.

The metal bowl within a metal bowl tactic seems like a good one, but putting it into the oven fills the house with yucky melting plastic smell.

Also, the first link shows how putting it into the oven might leave you with a mushy mess and not with 1 smooth side and 1 textured side.

If it were me i'd get hold of a heat gun (maybe you can rent one from home depot? i had access to them while i was in art school) and try slowly heating the outside of the bowl. That way it would melt just the one side instead of the whole thing at the same time (thus giving you some texture towards the inside and smoothness towards the outside).

You could try to find an outlet on the outside of your house so it doesn't stink up the inside.
posted by modernsquid at 6:14 AM on September 5, 2007

Okay, I want to make one too now. None of the (handful of) tutorials I've seen have a bowl as smooth one the outside as the for-sale one.

It looks like the smooth-bowl-sellers completely melted a bunch of soldiers, and then put the goo in the bottom of a bowl, and jostled it around (to create the upside-down drip look at the edge of the bowl). Then, they stuck a bunch of army men in the goo, at a time when the goo was 1) hot enough to melt the army dudes a little bit and 2) cool enough so that the army dudes would stay in place.
posted by 23skidoo at 6:35 AM on September 5, 2007

That's about what I was thinking, 23skidoo, but my only thought was "How did they get the depression in the middle of the bowl. You pour all that goo into the steel bowl and its going to sit level across the top, like water would if you poured it in, follow what I mean? I'm guessing there's a third step after what you mentioned, where they press down the dudes into the glue to force the depression that forms the bowl shape.
posted by allkindsoftime at 7:01 AM on September 5, 2007

You pour all that goo into the steel bowl and its going to sit level across the top, like water would if you poured it in, follow what I mean?

But water doesn't stick to anything. You can tilt a bowl of water around, and it will just run back to the bottom of the bowl. This is more like nacho cheese: tilt the bowl, and some of it will stick to the sides. I think it's all a matter of getting the melted plastic the exact right consistency. If it's hot, but not too hot, then when you tilt the bowl around, the plastic (might) stick to the sides of the bowl. I
posted by 23skidoo at 8:11 AM on September 5, 2007

Another way would be spinning the bowl - that would force the goo out and up.
posted by TheNewWazoo at 9:29 AM on September 5, 2007