Are these Titanium Nitride coated? I have been considering TiN coating pinballs for a number of years but I haven't been able to think of a good way to get complete coverage without a weird transition somewhere

I'm willing to bet anything that its TiN coated. In theory you should get some benefits due to the durability and slickness of the coating, however in a pinball application I bet the main benefit (besides looks) will be resistance to rusting. Certainly you won't have to worry about the coating chipping off as thats just not how TiN works. Its phsyically bonded to the metal at the molecular level so even if the coating wears off it doesn't come off in flakes. I do these types of coatings for a living. Maybe i'll bring a few balls into work and give them a try for myself.

Another pinball piece I want to do is leg bolts.

For anyone wondering how these will hold up, have no worries. This coatings normal application is much much more heavy duty than anything a pinball can throw at it. For an example, a common thing would be carbide cutting tools. If it can make carbide last longer, a pinball won't touch it. It won't have much effect on dings and divots that will develop, so don't expect your balls to last forever, but they will easily last at least as long as a normal ball but with the great gold color

Yes. Plasma vapor deposition to be exact.

I'm not so sure, the piece needs to be very secure when its inside the machine being coated. If it falls off then it can be a big problem. Even with your idea you'd still have 3 little marks were the ball was resting on the tiny points, and possibly 3 little discoloration marks as well. If it worked though it might be a decent improvement. You also have to take into consideration that you'd need multiple custom made fixtures to hold them, which wouldn't be cheap and might be hard to get a return on your investment.

It could be. Theres no reason somebody else couldn't have been TiN coating pinballs before back alley creations started doing it here. Like I mentioned, I'd been considering it for many years now.