I purchased the suggested 8" glazing ball to replace my missing Tommy Silverball Topper. But I cannot figure out how to secure it. I don't want it to crash off the top of the machine.

It does not sit very far in the hole in the backbox. There is one little hole in the ball. Not sure if I would shatter the ball if I try to put a screw into that.

The one picture shows how it does not sit down into the hole very far.

If you know how to secure this ball to the head, please let me know and include photos. Thanks.

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I am not certain what material the ball is made of. The listing says silver stainless steel. If it is, it is quite thin. It feels more like a coating on a Christmas Tree ball.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KCB5UWO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

One of the comments from a customer says it is "Polished stainless steel very durable and survived a Boston winter with no harm."
I guess that is encouraging so that I can safely drill it.

I was thinking of trying to drill a hole big enough to get a toggle bolt (wing nut) into it. If it really is metal, I should be able to do that. It would be nice to have a screw long enough to go through a piece of wood attached inside the backbox.

I am not too thrilled with the idea of glueing anything to it. Not sure it would stick on the shiny surface, but I could rough it up.

Whatever was in there originally to hold the ball had three screws in the side of the hole in the top.

Are these the standard drywall anchor screws with a plastic sleeve that one inserts into drywall? I was wondering how well that would work on this ball. If it really is metal, it might work. I don't want the crease to extend too far from the bottom and be visible outside the backbox.

I would have used a spring loaded toggle bolt, but the only ones I had seemed awfully large.
So I used the type of metal molly that expands as the screw is tightened. That would have worked fine, except that this molly depends on the outer disk of the molly 'biting' into the drywall to hold it into position. That does not work on a metal ball.

As I tightened it down, I could no longer hold the molly with pliers or a vicegrip. So I put some epoxy as best I could under the outer disk and hoped it would adhere to the shiny metal ball.

Much to my surprise, that worked. The ball is held in place by the piece of scrap wood I had handy. Should be easy to remove with one screw and reinstall if needed. While the ball should stay in place if the backbox is lowered, I put a note saying the ball should be removed.

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