I set me a bit of a task with me balls some years back when I decided to make a lazy Susan entirely out of wood! Well not quite but the glue is wood glue
18" diameter and 36 x ⅝" ball race! Done in ash. All done free hand, well. I like a challenge
And all done on my Record CL1 using the outboard bowl fitments.
If anyone were to ask me to make one for them I would tell them that 'off' was the second word and they could use their own word for the first
But I have to admit that the balls were not a difficult as I thought they would be.
Turning balls freehand isn't as difficult as it sounds. well, I don't think so
A couple of years back i saw a vid whhere they did balls, lots and lots of balls. All perfect..... basically a drill and holesaw set at 90 to the piece being turned and slowly advance the spinning holesaw into the workpiece. It was set up in a sturdy jig..... of course thats defeating the skill aspect of what you are doing......