Dorodango is pretty cool yet not too many people know about it. A definition straight from Wikipedia:
[QUOTE][B]Dorodango[/B] is a [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan"]Japanese[/URL] art form in which earth and water are molded to create a delicate shiny sphere, resembling a marble or billiard ball.[/QUOTE]Basically, you make shiny balls out of dirt. Most of the small amount of people who know about this learned of it from an episode of Mythbusters in which they used this art form to make crap (literally) shiny. They didn't do it much justice, however, so I thought I'd open a discussion about it.
Look how shiny these dirty balls can be:
[IMG]http://la.apartmenttherapy.com/images/uploads/atla07_dorodango.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://labs.cybozu.co.jp/blog/akky/archives/images/dorodango.jpg[/IMG]
All you need is dirt, water, a plastic bag and a refrigerator (optional, the refrigerator speeds up the process which would otherwise involve leaving the ball outside for hours to let the water evaporate). The process is simple and involves putting water into and taking water out of the ball at various stages. You can use any fairly fine kind of dirt, although the best looking ones use store-bought dirt for consistent texture and color. The balls themselves don't serve any purpose other than decoration and a monument to prove that you are awesome enough to make dirt shiny.
I have actually never tried this yet but it seems like it might be worth trying... So Facepunch, what do you think? Do you think the end product might be worth the boredom of making it? Do you think it might actually be fun to make? Will you try it? Have you tried it (if so tell us how it went)? Do you think this is cool/amazing or am I just an idiot?... either way, discuss.
i once stumbled upon an engrish tutorial on how to make them.
i wonder if they are dense enough to break a weeaboo's nose?
Thats pretty awesome and it loo-
[QUOTE=Maloof;21114592]Japanese[/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.facepunch.com/fp/rating/rainbow.png[/img]
I remember reading about this a long time ago in a magazine no one reads anymore. Muse. Good times.
I tried making it once. Takes about a month to get it super shiny.
what's the fun in making balls? :crossarms:
So what we have here is wet dirt
[QUOTE=Nerdrage;21114643]i once stumbled upon an engrish tutorial on how to make them.
[B]i wonder if they are dense enough to break a weeaboo's nose?[/B][/QUOTE]
Awesome idea but sadly no. It's basically a slightly hardened dirt cluster (those things that crumble in your hands). They can be handled and won't be destroyed on their own but a projectile it is not. Unless...
Unless of course you make it with crushed rocks? (idea for a thread: ITT we throw shiny rock balls at people with whom we disagree)
Otherwise it seems like the person at whom you throw the damn thing wins because he broke your awesome dirt ball :comeback: .
i foresee this situation:
You walk along and see a bunch of weeaboos sitting near a muddy puddle
You "what the hell are you doing"
Weeabo "we are practising and ART FORM from a culture MUCH HIGHER and MORE HONOURABLE than yours!"
You "looks like you're dabbling in a pile of mud"
Weeaboo "YOU wouldn't know! go back and FEED THE CAPITALIST MACHINE baka!"
*you back away slowly*
Mythbusters did this a while ago and with poop. It's still cool.
Nice balls.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI[/media]
Relevance is true.
`how hard are they? good enough to break glass?
[QUOTE=Peluri;21119266]`how hard are they? good enough to break glass?[/QUOTE]
These balls are as hard as steel.
It's Tea Time, we discuss Dorodango?
Wow, that looks so awesome. I'm going to try it and maybe post my results.
[QUOTE=Peluri;21119266]`how hard are they? good enough to break glass?[/QUOTE]
Quite brittle. Will probably be crushed if you use them as projectiles.
[QUOTE=BlazeFresh;21120175]How big are they?[/QUOTE]
as big as your palm
Dodge Durango
[QUOTE=PrusseLusken;21116155]Are there any tutorials for this??[/QUOTE]
Yes and no...
It's really popular in Japan but since they're pretty much the only people that do it all the video tutorials you will find will be in Japanese or without narration.
There are some fairly nice text tutorials, however:
[URL]http://www.dorodango.com/create.html[/URL]
That seems to be the most clear but it appears as if it requires a bit of experience and intuition to make the shinier / better ones.
Example of the kind of video you'll be able to find:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiRYMLiGuAg[/media]
[URL="http://youtube.com/watch?v=oiRYMLiGuAg"][/URL]
I'd love to make one of these.
What type of soil is needed? Can it be practically any soil at all?
[QUOTE=JSharpe;21125118]I'd love to make one of these.
What type of soil is needed? Can it be practically any soil at all?[/QUOTE]
You can use any type of dirt but the best ones are made with dirt purchased from gardening stores or the like (so it is a consistent color and texture and a finer grain). If you're going to try it for the first time I don't think the dirt in your backyard will be too bad. One or two of the sites I've read stress the importance of using dirt from your back yard and claim that it looks just as good but I cannot confirm or deny these claims.
Some more information for those interested:
Some basic step-by-steps:
[URL]http://www.ehow.com/how_2268956_make-shiny-dorodango-mud-ball.html[/URL]
[URL]http://web-japan.org/trends01/article/011005sci_r.html[/URL]
Some more detailed ones with pictures:
(ignore the meditation BS at the beginning) [URL]http://www.magiedubouddha.com/p_dorodango_intl.php[/URL]
[URL]http://www.kyokyo-u.ac.jp/youkyou/4/english4.htm[/URL]
Sorry for the URL dump but you'll get over it. Also keep in mind that if any of these tutorials say something along the lines of "put it in a bag for several hours" know that you can put it in the fridge for closer to 10-15 minutes so don't let that deter you. And technically the shiny balls are a newer form of the art called "hikaru dorodango" so you may find some information on the older form (just "dorodango") which only yields slightly shiny balls.
[QUOTE=Maloof;21125512]Words.[/QUOTE]
That's awesome, thanks a lot for the info. I don't mind it being super shiny or anything, I just want to make one and have it on my shelf. They look very decorative.
That's decorative.
Can you make one out of shit?
[QUOTE=Doctor_Communism;21130554]Can you make one out of shit?[/QUOTE]
Yeah Mythbusters did it.
I saw the pictures and immediately thought of Mythbusters, glad I'm not the only one.
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