I have a left field answer for the fly ball and dimpling situation.

Why do pinballs have to stay silver and steel which is damaging to wood.

A modern way to fix the issue could be to go with the rubber coated glow balls that were on the 1999 version of Segas
Viper Night Driving machine.

No dimples on my Viper machine and it plays better with the glow balls (rubber coated) which weigh less than a Std steel pinball. Maybe pinball manufacturers could do both to minimise dimples cause steel n wood don't really mix ? .... Food for thought ?