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Ok, I admit that I like to make unique items, so here's another one. The wood is from a section of a cedar post, and that is a real golf ball (not a sponge fake). I have tried to show all sides of the "cube" as close up as my camera will permit for the photos. Enjoy.

p.s. - I see that there will be questions about soaking, steaming, and bending, but as in my Twisted Dovetail box, none of these methods were used.

p.p.s. - Since there are several people who are interested in the bottom edge of the block, I have replaced one of the photos with the closest shot I can get of part of the bottom corner. The bottom face is still rough from the bandsaw (horizontal marks), but you should still be able to follow the grain patterns. Keep smilin'.

p.p.p.s. - I sanded off the bottom of the block to remove the bandsaw marks, and Photo 6 has been updated to show a closer view of the grain pattern going around the corners without any joints.

FRUSTRATION PREVENTION:- Although it does take a while, going through the comments, to get to the actual explanation, I do explain how this was accomplished. So, please be patient as you try out your own theories. The reason why I delayed the explanation was due to the potential of a How-To publication, and I had been asked to hold off for a while on revealing the answer. Enjoy yourself. ;)

Gallery

Comments

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Looks more like seven holes in one (I think I counted correctly…)

Or perhaps one in seven holes…

Herb
 

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its a joke the golf ball isnt in there optical trickery
 

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You said you didn't soak the wood, but that doesn't mean you didn't leave it in the rain for a day or so. lol. Here is a link to the typical solution to this puzzle which you claim to have not done. We will anxiously await your answer. If you ever tell us.

Pinball Cage
 

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Matt - I like that solution, but it does use much larger holes compared to the size of the sphere. I do hope to have the answer out to all of you soon so that you will still have time to bug your golfing friends with one. Thanks for the link.
 

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Does the Golf Ball Say "Titleist" on both sides?
 

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Fascinating indeed. Well maybe you cut the holes and planted a golfball seed. Simply water it until it grows up. :) Seriously, after a second look, it looks like the bottom was sawn off, then reapplied, like a bandsaw box.
 

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I've given this a lot of thought (2.5 hour layover between flights traveling to the UTWS wood turning show yesterday), and I suspect that Promt and Dr Dirt together have both in combination may have come up with the possible solution.

I think that the block of wood started quite a bit larger diameter for strength. Or wrapped in several screw pipe clamps. The hole the ball is pushed into isn't much deeper than the ball is tall. Log drilled and hollowed on a lathe so the chamber the ball is in is larger than the ball itself. Or chiseled out by hand.

And as shown in the video golf balls are more flexible than we (or at least I) thought. LARGE piece of wood with hole some percentage smaller than the golf ball is at rest. Large cupped shaft pushes the ball in. Ball deforms to fit through short small hole into larger chamber. Some sort of shop hydraulic press or maybe a large bench vise? Once the ball is seated in, wood is trimmed down to size as seen in picture, now that the wood structure doesn't need be as strong to keep from splitting.

-DW
 

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Matt - Yes the ball has "Titleist 4" on opposite sides, the letters "MCT" in red, and "Tour Distance -90" in small black text. Beyond the brand name, I have no idea what the rest of the markings mean. I got the ball from a friend who plays golf.

rance - I've updated photo 6 again to show an even closer look at the bottom area for you to look at. I like the seed idea. Next time, a bowling ball seed dropped in through a ½" hole.

DW - logical step by step approach, but no lathe, clamps or press involved, and the block was cut to size and rounded over prior to teleportation of the ball.

Lots of great ideas and welcome comments from all of you. I'm not sure how to top this one.
 

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You obviously used one of those infamous "wood stretchers" we all know about to stretch one of the holes and hold it open while you inserted the golf ball. Then you just let it contract back to actual size and that's what we got here. So, what do I win? :)
 

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There had to be a golf ball sized opening at one time, and a straight glue-line would be easy to spot.

Cutting through the post with a scroll-saw following a growth ring would be easiest to hide.
 

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What if there's more than one block of wood? How about the block with the holes on top has no bottom and you just set the ball in and take pics, and then go to another block that has no top and a hole in the bottom for viewing the golf ball. No pics show both the top and bottom together. Maybe it's an illusion in photos but not as impressive in person. Maybe a mirror pic showing top and bottom would be good.
 

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You put the wood and ball in a vacuum and the ball shrank and fell inside. Then reformed at atmosphere.
 

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Matt - Ok, just to set your mind at rest, photo #5 has been updated to show both top and bottom in a mirror view.
 

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Ok. Mind at rest. Must have been done with that "Wood Stretcher" then.
 

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Alright, the ball wasn't modified, The wood wasn't cut, split, soaked or steamed. There is only one ball in one piece of wood. How was it made?
 

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OK If it wasn't what I thought above (plan "A"), then plan "B". Else plan "C".

Could the ball have been squeezed in some way as in down a long funnel, or a "pipe" or clam-shell clamp. (think of a pipe with the ID the size of the hole and cut in half lengthwise.) Hinge down one side, and some sort of a screw clamp on the other side. Ball gets squeezed into a smaller round shape in the Z and Y axes and squished in the X axes. The only analog I can think of that I can repeat here is the shape of a liquid capsule for some cold medicines.

Pipe is put in line and placed firmly against one of the more rounded holes and a shaft (think a syringe plunger) pushes said "tubular" ball into the wood cavity.

I don't see anything against some sort of lubricant such as a water soluble agent as in liquid dish soap that can easily be washed off afterwards and dried.

If not "A" or "B", then "C" :

Flue powder from Harry Potter…..

-Dave
 

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"Beam it in there, Scotty!"

-Star Fleet Captain Druid-
 

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I think he found it already in the wood. I have lost a lot of golf balls in the woods, trees must swallow them naturally!
 

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Folks, he's never gonna tell us how he did it. He's a Woodgician. :) And just like a magician, a woodgician never tells the trick behind his act. Even still, very fascinating, you're a genius (just like Wile E. Coyote).
 

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Ok, I am normally good at figuring things out but if you did not cut or split the wood or modify the golf ball I am stumped…

How about this, you said the wood came from a section of fence post but that you didn't split or cut it. How about that the fence post was already split when you cut the section, you hollowed out a place for the ball and then glued the split back together?
 
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