• August 2025 Turning Challenge: Wooden Version of Non-Wood Item! (click here for details)
  • Congratulations to David Croxton for "XOXOXO" being selected as Turning of the Week for August 11, 2025 (click here for details)
  • Welcome new registering member. Your username must be your real First and Last name (for example: John Doe). "Screen names" and "handles" are not allowed and your registration will be deleted if you don't use your real name. Also, do not use all caps nor all lower case.

Snow Person as 2 balls or 3?

Joined
May 5, 2017
Messages
137
Likes
17
Location
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
All my life I have made snow persons with 3 balls of snow so when I turn a wooden snow person I use 3 balls. Lately YouTube has been offering me videos on turning a snow person that only uses 2 balls (body and head).

Is the new trend?
For those who sell snow people do customers prefer 2 or 3 balls?
 
I think what makes a good snowman is proportion between the balls. Two or three balls both look good. And as others have said, the personalities that you can show through shape and decoration is more important.
 
When we've made snowmen in the yard, it's always 3 balls. When turned, however, 2 looks better to me than 3. Maybe it's like cartoon character hands, which have a thumb and 3 fingers, rather than the technically correct biological number.
 
Everyone has a different take . In our club I do not know two people who make their tops the same way and probably the same is true of snowmen. I like 3 but proportion is also important. To my eye the bottom is largest with each progressively smaller. Then you can add things like a little gitter paint on hat brim or as a turner's wife add a ribbon as a hatband. I use puff paint for coals and nose. I know you didn't ask for that.

Proportion is more important than the number is my final answer.
 
When we've made snowmen in the yard, it's always 3 balls. When turned, however, 2 looks better to me than 3. Maybe it's like cartoon character hands, which have a thumb and 3 fingers, rather than the technically correct biological number.
Ever notice that characters as Mickey Mouse, etc., wear gloves?
 
I never thought about it, we turned for the kids at Zoo lights, there were 5 of us and we all made them 3 ball with a stove pipe hat. Not much other decoration just colored hat with sharpies.
 
Never really thought about it, but when I made them in the yard with snow I always used three no hat and with wood always use two and a top hat. Either way it is just personal preference though.
 
Back
Top