Sorry, it's 16 inches not feet. I hit the wrong key when I posted.

This seems to have worked fine but for your next sphere you might want to try making the concrete the consistency of pudding. Try putting some in your right hand and sort of smoothing it onto the mesh with your palm in a right-to-left swipe. That works for me.

I like to decorate my spheres with concrete leaves. I put the concrete on the leaf and then gently place it onto the sphere and shape it a little so the edges are the thickness I want.
A friend of mine took this idea and just did something really pretty. She did one circle of slightly overlapping hosta leaves around her sphere. This is gorgeous.
I also had fun taking concrete shapes I made in old ice cube trays and putting them on a sphere. I have photos you can access below if you haven't seen them. Look for "leafsphere" .
Laura

Here is a link that might be useful: my photos are here

Hey , I like that crater look !

Make sure you deflate the ball before you have too much crete on it.
I've heard of the balls inside exploding the crete to pieces when the air heated by the sun expands. ..... there goes all your hard work ..... ;-((

Ltd, thanks for the ideas. I especially like the idea of making a circle of leaves around the sphere but I think I will try it with maple leaves. All my hosta leaves have turned yellow and wilted due to frost--Darn! I love your spheres and your ideas.

I have a question about the pudding consistency mix. Won't that be really runny. I was using a much thicker consistency, smearing it on in the same manner you suggested but it still ran down the sides. Maybe it was the manner in which I put the coating on---I thought I was suppose to do the whole sphere at once. Did you cover the sphere in small sections, letting it dry before moving onto the next section? Just curious. Your spheres are really smooth.

Scooterbug, I deflated and removed the ball after the first layer of scrim and concrete. That way I can use the ball over and over again.

Serene

Serene, for the 16 inch sphere I did it in 2 sessions - first I did the top half then let it dry til morning. Then I turned it and did the rest. I have never had a problem with running concrete so I can't think what to suggest. My layer of concrete would be no more than 1/4 of an inch thick if that helps...
Laura

Are you using Quikwall or concrete. There is a huge difference.
Stucco is formulated to be 'sticky' with very low slump (dripping).
Covering a ball with a stucco product is much easier than using a concrete product.
Quikwall sounds just about perfect for balls.

Hi Serene

I hesitate to suggest this because lime is so darned caustic, but adding 1/4 to 1/2 part hydrated lime to your concrete recipe will make it stick much better. It will weaken the mix somewhat but the workability will be much improved.

This is one of the main reasons stucco products work best, they already have the added lime.
But handling the raw lime requires the care you would use handling acid.
The only advantage is rolling your own 'stucco' is cheaper than buying a readimix.:)
Lime is inexpensive.

I did use Quikwall, sorry I should have been more specific. I did the initial layer of Quikwall a quarter of the sphere at a time since as the scrim kept sliding down. I think the problem is the polymer-fortified mix and not mixing it right-3 parts Quikwall, 3 parts sand, 1 part acrylic polymer, 1/4 water. I've never been very good at math and I might of added to much water. I'll have to be more careful next time I mix.

LOL!
Sorry for the misunderstanding.
Carry on.:)

I was looking for a GIANT Sphere 16 feet. But yours looks great. Maybe draw the world land masses on it stain the countrys different colors and have your own globe to put on a pedestal outside.
Paws

Serene, If you are mixing sand in with your Quickwall you are making a much different product than I use. I think of Quickwall as a complete product as it comes in the sack. I just add water.
Just to check this out I went to the Quickcrete site and noticed that Quickwall comes in sanded and unsanded bags (not at my Home Depot but evidently it is available.) So, probably I get the sanded bags and you get the unsanded bags and we are using the same recipe.
I also use my own mix of portland cement/sand/bonding agent/fibers and it seems to handle the same as Quickwall and give the same results when I use it with the EIFS mesh to cover balls. The only difference I notice is the Quickwall people sure mix their fibers in better than I do and theirs never get clumpy.

Here is what the company says they put in Quickwall:
QUIKWALL SBC (surface bonding cement) is a Portland cement based formulation combined with 1/2" long alkali resistant (AR) glass fibers. AR glass fibers give QUIKWALL SBC its great strength by acting as reinforcing elements. AR glass fibers are utilized because of their resistance to the alkaline attack of the Portland cement matrix.

Laura

SereneSeen,

I like your sphere. It amuses me to see this topic arise again in the forum. Until you try it you don't realize the little things that make such a difference in the finished product. You are right in observing Laura's smooth finish; it is not as easy as it seems when you are trying to keep the ball round and prevent drips. She is really good at it. I am speaking from the experience of several failures. Your product looks good; keep doing it. And thanks for the pictures.

David

Laura - can you talk about the leaves you made. How did you get them so thin? I have tried twice and I must be doing something wrong. My leaves are much thicker Mike

Plantman, my leaves may be thicker than they look from some of the photos - I was trying to show the thinnest parts. All I do is mix the quickwall pretty thick and pat it on like everyone here says to do. I just kept playing with thinner and thinner to see how thin I could go. The center vein line is reinforced with more thickness and (if the leaf is bigger than 12 inches) a piece of mesh cut to run the length of the leaf. My personal preference is a leaf that is as thin as possible without losing the "heft" that tells you it is concrete.
Good luck experimenting with thinness!
Laura