Building a huge ball out of more than 175,000 rubber bands(1) is dangerous business. Really. "The rubber bands ... sometimes they'll break. That hurts," said Steve Milton, whose 4,594-pound rubber band ball was certified Tuesday as the world's largest by Guinness World Records officials. "As long as you wear your safety goggles(2), you're good."

Milton, 26, of Eugene, Ore., watched as four bodybuilders rolled the multicolored(3), rubbery mass — 5 1/2 feet high and 19 feet around — onto a giant scale in downtown Chicago for the official weigh-in(4).

He raised his arms over his head in Rocky-esque style when Guinness judge Sarah Wagner announced his ball had bounced(5) the previous 3,120-pound record-holder from the books. That record was set by John Bain of Wilmington, Del., in 2003.

"It was just a great project with me and my kids," said Milton, who worked on the ball with his 6-year-old son, Bryce Milton, and soon-to-be stepson(6), Austin Johnson, 7. "We did a little bit of research on how big rubber band balls are, and realized there was one out there that was 3,120 pounds and we knew we could do it."

Milton credited his success to a simple credo(7): add to the ball every day, even if it was for just a few minutes.

"We tried to do at least ten to 20 pounds a day," said Milton, who moved the ball to the garage after it dawned on(8) him the growing globe would soon be too big to fit through the door. "Some days we'd take off, and not do anything, but we definitely stuck with it."

Milton's fiancee, Nicole Johnson, said she thought at first that her family might be a little crazy.

"I was wondering," Johnson said. "But it turned into a fun project for all of us."

Milton bought the rubber bands, finally striking a deal with a manufacturer to buy them in bulk(9).

Guinness judge Wagner, who is based in London but flies around the globe certifying records (her previous assignment was the world's longest line of pizza in Italy), said the atmosphere for the weigh-in was great.

"You meet all kinds of people all over the world, and it's lovely because people have passions and you get to help realize them."

用175000根橡皮筋做成一个球是很危险的工作。真的。Steve Milton说：“有时候，橡皮筋会断，会伤到人。除非戴上护目镜，否则很危险。” 周二，他制作的4594磅橡皮筋球通过吉尼斯世界纪录官方审核成为世界最大橡皮筋球。

26岁的俄勒冈州尤金小伙儿Milton看着四个大力士将高5 1/2英尺、周长19英尺的彩色橡胶团推上位于芝加哥的巨型天平，进行官方称重。

吉尼斯评委Sarah Wagner宣布Milton打破2003年特拉华州威尔明顿John Bain创下的3120磅纪录。Milton像拳击获胜者一样把手臂高举过头顶示意。

Milton与六岁的儿子Bryce Milton和7岁的准继子Austin Johnson一起制作，他说：“这是我和孩子们的大工程。我们首先了解到世界上最大的橡皮筋球为3120磅，我们认为我们可以超越。”

Milton透露简单的成功秘诀：每天都缠，哪怕只缠几分钟。

Milton说：“我们试图每天增加10至20磅，中途也停止过，不过最终又专心制作了。” 当他意识到这样下去球会越变越大，可能很快就出不了门的时候，他把球移到车库中。

Milton的未婚妻Nicole Johnson说，最初她认为她的家人有点疯狂。

Johnson说：“开始我觉得很困惑，但是后来这变成全家人的娱乐活动。”

Milton负责购买皮筋，后来索性从生产商那里批量购买。

基尼斯评委Wagner说称重时候的氛围太棒了。Wagner住在伦敦，终日在世界各处飞来飞去为世界纪录做见证人，上一次是在意大利见证世界最长的比萨队。

“你在世界各地见到各种各样的人，很高兴看见人们心怀激情，而你能帮助他们实现梦想。”