Infinities Custom are defined by 6 parameters: panels color, thread color, thread thickness, size, weight, and fill. That means that customization is not just about the looks of your juggling balls, but more importantly, their function.
Our favorite innovation lies in the last three parameters (size, weight and fill). Why?
Usually, you only get to specify the values of two parameters out of the three (for example, if you want size M and 100 g, that defines what the fill percentage will be), because only a single filling material is used. But that's a very limited approach – what if you want to specify all three? Because of that, we use different filling materials with different densities. By mixing the materials, we can meet any desired size, weight and fill combination (in some boundaries given by the lightest and heaviest material).
We'll cover all six parameters in this article, one by one. Let's go!
We have eight colors of synthetic leather: white, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, pink and black. While Stock Infinities are made only in single-color options, with Infinities Custom you can decide the color of each panel separately.
To define custom color layouts, we use the 8-letter code. Panels are ordered in the way that you can see in the image below.
Instead of naming colors, we use their significant letters:
For example, the ball in the first photo would have a code "WOWOOWOW" (or "OWOWWOWO" equivalently).
For each panel color, there is a matching thread: white, red, orange and yellow, green, light blue, pink and black. Stock Infinities have their thread color matched with the ball, but with Infinities Custom, you can choose a different one!
Even though we use about 2 meters of thread per ball, majority of it is hidden inside the ball. Therefore, don't expect the contrasting thread to draw everyone's attention from a distance – it's just detail that gives your set an elevated look.
Pro Tip: If you need to differentiate two sets with the same color of panels, you can do so by having the thread colors different!
There are two thread thicknesses that we offer with Infinities Custom: 0.6 mm and 0.8 mm. (The stock Infinities go with 0.6mm thread.)
The 0.8mm thread is recommended for those who want extra durability in seams.
There are seven sizes to choose from: XS (61 mm), S (64 mm), M (67 mm), L (70 mm), XL (73 mm), 2XL (76 mm), and 3XL (79 mm). The diameter is measured on a 100% filled ball, so lower fullness may result in a slightly smaller diameter.
Weight is measured in grams. The weight includes all parts of the ball: the filling, the panels and the thread. We guarantee that the ball weight varies by less than 0.5 g.
Jugglers have different tastes in the softness of the ball. When they like their balls softer, they ask the manufacturer for an "underfill". It is however tricky to communicate the specific softness that the juggler wants. That's why we created a metric called "fill", which translates softness to a number.
Fill is defined as the ratio of the bulk volume of the filling to the volume capacity of the shell (in %). That means that a tightly filled ball has the fill of 100%, a three-quarters-full ball has the fill of 75%.
How fill affects softness can be seen in this video (or even better if you try it yourself in one of our retail partners).
There are three different filling materials that we use: two types of plastic and iron. All of these fillings are durable, non-allergenic and water resistant. They all have very similar granulation: the pieces are round and about 2 mm in diameter. That means that squeezing the ball, all of the fillings have a similar feeling, except for the obvious difference in weight.
So how do we decide which mixture of fillings is used? It all depends on the before-mentioned parameters. We put them into an equation that tells us the exact amount of each material with the precision of 0.1 g. To find out which combination of materials will be used for a specific ball, you can take a look the following charts.
