This goes nicely with my nail in the block “puzzle” as a way to confound coworkers.  Once again it takes advantage of wood’s ability to swell along the grain when wet.  I started with a 3″ block of maple and drilled centered holes all the way through.  I had a 3/4″ pinball, so 5/8″ was the drill diameter

After looking at it for a bit, I felt like the holes were too small for the total block size.  I needed bigger pinballs or a smaller block.  The install was pretty easy.  I dunked the block in a bucket for a day, and then pushed the ball in on my wood vice with the help of a small 1/4″ deep socket.  The hole still looked ok, but I threw it back in the bucket for a few hours to make sure it returned to its original shape and size.

With the ball installed and everything dry, I took it back to the table saw for a diet.  All the edges came down till the proportions seemed right.  I liked the look of the chamfer, but my crummy chamfer bit chewed up a few edges.  Still, overall it looks nice and should leave some heads scratching.