I got this wild hair the other day (well maybe a couple of months ago) to make snap-lid style boxes from billiard balls. I bought several sets off of eBay for cheap. They are regulation 2.25" dia. balls made from phenolic resin. This stuff is hard on your tools. I was constantly sharpening. I used a cup chuck to hold the ball while hollowing. The 5 ball has a black acrylic finial, the 8 ball has a holly finial and the 10 ball has an African Blackwood finial.
Thanks to Jeff Lavine for his great tutorial for making snap-lid boxes. The article was in the winter 2005 edition of Woodturning Design.
As usual, all comments welcome.