Portland, Oregon woodworker Frank Howarth of Frank Makes posted a fascinating video where he demonstrates how he transformed a chunk of walnut into a beautiful 8 ball.
I have woodturned an 8 ball from a chunk of walnut that has been kicking around the shop for about a decade. I first turned a sphere from the walnut. I originally was thinking of making it into a Death Star but then we came up with the idea of making it into an 8 ball. I cut the white of the 8 into the walnut sphere on a CNC router. A large part of this project was figuring out how to hold the sphere on the CNC table securely. Then I cut the white of the 8 from a piece of maple to fit into the sphere. I then continued turning the sphere and made the 8 flush with the surface. I used walnut oil for the finish.
