DiY Golf Ball Containers

[+Vicious Cycle]

I have an idea for a series of caches for which I would like to use the golf ball containers. Geocaching.com sells them, but at $8 a piece it would be cost prohibitive to purchase 18 of them plus spares for replacement containers. So I've decided to attempt the DiY route. I've got a bag full of used golf balls and the microcentrifuge tubes that will go inside the balls. After a few tries with the power drill, I finally found the right sized drill bit to make the hole and the tubes slide right into place. 

 

The problem I have is with the glue. I tried using some general Elmer's Glue for keeping the plastic microcentrifuge tubes in place in the gold ball, but the glue doesn't seem to adhear to the plastic, nor the internal material on the inside of the golf ball. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for holding those plastic microcentrifuge tubes inside the golf ball? Gorilla Glue? Super Glue? Epoxy?

 

Thanks!

Edited April 27 by Vicious Cycle

[+kunarion]

8 minutes ago, Vicious Cycle said:

I have an idea for a series of caches for which I would like to use the golf ball containers. Geocaching.com sells them, but at $8 a piece it would be cost prohibitive to purchase 18 of them plus spares for replacement containers. So I've decided to attempt the DiY route. I've got a bag full of used golf balls and the microcentrifuge tubes that will go inside the balls. After a few tries with the power drill, I finally found the right sized drill bit to make the hole and the tubes slide right into place. 

 

The problem I have is with the glue. I tried using some general Elmer's Glue for keeping the plastic microcentrifuge tubes in place in the gold ball, but the glue doesn't seem to adhear to the plastic, nor the internal material on the inside of the golf ball. 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions for holding those plastic microcentrifuge tubes inside the golf ball? Gorilla Glue? Super Glue? Epoxy?

 

Thanks!

 

Considering how often you will need to replace the tubes, don't glue them at all.  Drill the hole so the tube fits tight and snug.  Then pull out the old, install the new when needed.

[+cerberus1]

Agree with kunarion...  Snug tube.  Saves on maintenance time - sorta.

I think you might have more of an issue with people spotting a golf ball, not noticing a "tube" and pocketing them.   I do...    

Aren't the "tubes" polypropylene?   

Now that old rubber band rubber has been replaced by a solid synthetic rubber core, poly to rubber, loctite super glue all-plastics might be okay.

 

 

 

[+HHL]

10 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

Aren't the "tubes" polypropylene? 

Yes, they are:

https://www.eppendorf.com/us-en/eShop-Products/Laboratory-Consumables/Tubes/Eppendorf-Safe-Lock-Tubes-p-0030123611

[+Wacka]

Worked in biotech before I retired(molecular biology). We called them Eppie tubes. Used thousands and thousands of them.

[+kunarion]

On 4/28/2023 at 5:43 PM, Wacka said:

Worked in biotech before I retired(molecular biology). We called them Eppie tubes. Used thousands and thousands of them.

 

I have 2 boxes of 500 each.  Thought they'd be fun Swag items.  Filled with glowing beads or something.  Or as a "Three Piece Chicken Dinner" (consists of three corn kernels).  I haven't made anything yet.  But as actual cache containers, the things are 110% terrible, I just can't do it.  Maybe one day I'll glue bugs on the caps and sell them as amazingly devious creative cache tubes and make a fortune.  I have golf balls but I'm not confident that it's safe to drill random golf balls.

 

Edited April 30 by kunarion

[+Joe_L]

You could try Liquid Nails (it also comes in a tube). 
 

Also, try roughening the tubes with a little sand paper to prepare the surface for the glue. 

Edited May 4 by Joe_L
Corrected to “roughening”

[+Vicious Cycle]

On 4/28/2023 at 4:02 PM, kunarion said:

I have golf balls but I'm not confident that it's safe to drill random golf balls.

I've already drilled several of them making prototypes. The drilling isn't the problem, it's getting the eppie tubes to stay in the gold ball after I've drilled it out. I need t get a 27/64" drill bit, as my 7/16" is a snug fit for the tube, but not snug enough to hold the tubes in tightly. I'll post here again after I've tried the new drill bit.

[+kunarion]

38 minutes ago, Vicious Cycle said:

I've already drilled several of them making prototypes. The drilling isn't the problem, it's getting the eppie tubes to stay in the gold ball after I've drilled it out. I need t get a 27/64" drill bit, as my 7/16" is a snug fit for the tube, but not snug enough to hold the tubes in tightly. I'll post here again after I've tried the new drill bit.

 

You could wrap the tubes with layers of good duct tape to build up the size to fit.  Then if it still isn't holding, some craft glue or Liquid Nails as suggested might do, while allowing the vial to be pulled out later to change it.  Not a water-based glue.  There's no household "glue" that reliably works for slippery polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers, but for your golf ball plan, there are a lot of options.

 

That's a lot of work for something that fails after a couple of weeks.  They may sell for $8, but they ain't worth it.  Prepare for a ton of frequent maintenance or a lot of disappointed cache hunters.

 

Edited May 4 by kunarion

[+Vicious Cycle]

35 minutes ago, kunarion said:

Prepare for a ton of frequent maintenance or a lot of disappointed cache hunters.

I can always change the containers out for something more sustainable if needed. It's just that the golf ball containers fit with the theme of this series of caches that I'm planning. I'll do whatever I need to in order to keep the containers in good shape, and if that means replacing the containers with something different, then so be it. But I'd like to give these a try and see how it works out.