<p>My younger D and her friend decided for some reason to put a large wooden tinker toy ball inside a class cup. The cup had water in it. The water has evaporated but the ball is stuck inside the cup. The ball appears to be drying out but has not shrunk enough to get it out. Any idea on how to get the ball out or is saving the glass a lost cause?</p>
<p>once the ball is dry, you can try to pour hot tap water over the inverted glass (in hopes of getting the glass to expand slightly from the heat, without heating the ball (or getting it wet)</p>
<p>if you don’t care about the ball, you could also drill into it, and insert a screw. Then you’ll have something to pull on.</p>
<p>Maybe bake the whole kit & caboodle at 275 for a couple of hours. It might get the ball to dry out and reduce in size. It must’ve been small enough to get into the glass at <em>some</em> point, so getting the water out of the ball might help things… I’m concerned that trying to do something to the ball itself (cut it, whittle it down, drill into it) would end up hurting the glass.</p>
<p>I would try to pour water in the glass all the way to cover the ball, then take a thin blade to try to push the ball out.</p>
<p>Pour oil down the sides of the cup to get some lubrication. Then try one of the ideas above. I like the idea of drilling a small hole and attaching a screw.</p>
<p>Some problems are solved by patience.</p>
<p>You’ll probably need the screw. The ball probably went in there because it was pushed in hard. YOu’ll probably need to use force to get it out. Can we removed a chunk of the ball? Do you have a laser?</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re going to be able to get your hands in there to hold the ball steady enough to drill a hole, and if you don’t hold it steady, I don’t think you’re going to have enough traction to get the drilling started. I also think that you’re not going to be able to grip it well enough with a pair of tongs or something, either, and I think that trying to do that will end up breaking the cup.</p>
<p>Take it down to your local college’s engineering department and offer a twenty dollar prize for removing the ball without damaging the cup! ;)</p>
<p>you could burn it</p>
<p>ellemenope, i think a dry ball that was just dropped in can be stuck if it is now wet.</p>
<p>If it’s stuck enough that you can’t move it in or out, you should be able to drill a hole for the screw.</p>
<p>burning it will most definitely break the glass.</p>
<p>You could take a cue from the Star Trek series – use the Transporter to move the tinker toy ball from your glass cup to the toe of one of your D’s shoes.</p>
<p>Alternately, you could follow aibarr’s advice and bake the cup/ball at 275 degrees (together with some cookies perhaps). I’d bake the cup upside down BTW, lest the ball shrink and fall further into the cup.</p>
<p>I’d second the ‘bake it’ idea. The wood should contract once the water is removed.</p>
<p>If the ball remains stuck then try the warming up the outside of the glass with hot water idea…</p>
<p>If it’s still stuck then try (assuming you care more about the glass than the ball) using super glue to attach some sort of knob to the ball so you can try to get a grip on it and pull it out. I’d avoid the ‘drilling’ idea as the vibrations could easily be transmitted through the ball and into the glass… shattering it. </p>
<p>If at this point the ball is still stuck in there place the whole lot (glass, ball, superglue residue and any other bits) in your china cabinet and tell friends it’s an extremely expensive and prestigious work of modern art on loan from the local museum…</p>
<ol>
<li>Fill the cup with termites (I have plenty at my house).</li>
<li>Wait a while.</li>
<li>Pour out residue.</li>
</ol>
<p>Okay. I just baked some gingerbread and the oven is still warm. I am going to try the baking. That seems to be the least complicated solution that has been suggested.
I don’t care about the ball. I do care about the glass. It is just part of a Costco set but we seem to be always running out of glasses.
The ball is from a giant Tinker Toy set that belonged to my son when he was young. I have no idea what possessed the girls to take them out to play. They did actually play with them.</p>
<p>Aibarr WINS! Along with NewHope33 suggestion to turn the glass upside down. 1 hour and 10 minutes. I heard a clunk. Ball had dropped out of the glass.
Thank You.</p>
<p>Who says Parents Forum is useless!</p>
<p>I love happy endings! Mom60, you could reciprocate by suggesting that dear spouse to be a bit more flexible about the kitchen re-design. Why oh why MUST the refrigerator be next to the entrance???</p>