Bachelor Party Ball and Chain

This summer, I was asked by a friend of mine (and fellow instructra-builder) to be in his wedding party. Of course this means that I would be attending the bachelor party. From the get go, I warned him that he should expect a surprise. I present to you, his bachelor's party surprise, a bowling ball and chain. This project is quick and easy way to get some laughs and raise some eyebrows (at the bachelor's expense of course).

For this project, you only need a few supplies and a sewing machine. You will need...

• Bowling ball (picked one up from a thrift store for $4)
• Length of chain (up to your discretion)
• Quicklink
• 7-16" Eyebolt
• Concrete lag shield anchor
• Lock (optional)
• T-shirt material
• Scissors
• Padding/ stuffing

For this step, drop the concrete anchor into one of the three holes drilled into the bowling ball. Make sure that you put it in the one that leaves the lease amount of wiggle room for the anchor. If it falls out, you might have to get a larger anchor. Remember, these types of anchors do expand, but only slightly. Be sure that the hole that you are installing the anchor into has a small amount of room to expand to lock into the hole.

This step is pretty self- explanatory. Just be careful not to over tighten the eyebolt into the anchor. The anchors are made of a soft metal and since the eyebolt is hardened steel, it can easily strip out the threads in the anchor rendering it useless. Once it is hand tightened, it might be a good idea to check the anchor for slippage by lifting the ball slightly by the eyebolt. If it holds, you can proceed.

I personally love quicklinks. When I worked at the theatre, I used them for all sorts of attachment applications. Simply open up the quicklink and insert it over the eye in the bolt. Depending on the type of chain you have, it may take some work to get the chain through the link. Once both are in, tighten the quicklink completely closed until the threads are fully engaged. I actually went back through with a crescent wrench to tighten it a bit more to ensure the bachelor didn't try anything.

Since I didn't want my friend to be completely miserable, I went back and added some padding to the chain to make it more comfortable. I started out by making a sleeve out of some old t-shirt material to slid over the chain. Once that was done, I took two larger pieces of shirt and sewed the sleeve onto the larger material making a pocket that can be filled with stuffing. Once the sleeve was attached to the padding pocket, I filled it completely full and sewed it closed.

To finish up, I slid the padding sleeve over the chain and added the lock to the end of the chain ready to seal the bachelor's fate. I decided to give the key to the best man so multiple people had keys in case I lost mine. All in all it was a fun gag gift and one of the more unusual projects I've made. The $15 bucks I put into materials was well worth the attention this project received. Thanks for reading!