Spin Top challenge - Live and Remote- how long will it go?

[Kent Crowell]

( This note was submitted to our newsletter and to the AAW editor Josh Friend )
Dear All,
I wanted to get more interest and provide a way for members to participate in- person as well as remotely in a President's Challenge - Top Showdown.

The Challenge:
Who can produce a spinning top with the longest elapsed time in advance of our meeting for a shot at $565 in gift cards and prizes. Record your spin with a timer to prove it and post the video where all members can view it..

We made up some rules for the President's Challenge - Top Showdown and posted them on our club website.

Here is Mark Middleton's winning entry from our members facebook page. His top went 7:21 for first place. Our dues are $50 but he picked up an oil change worth $65 from a trusted local business.

1st place Mark 7:21 $65 McWhorter Tire Oil Change https://www.facebook.com/100000242421215/videos/4749600245058009/
2nd place Christian 6:42 $25 Velocity Bike Shop https://www.facebook.com/christianjensen93914/videos/3391620027588901/
3rd place Kent 4:00 $25 United Supermarkets https://www.southplainswoodturners.org/contests.html

A gift certificate was presented to our Guest Speaker, Don Ward to have lunch at the Tech Cafe $25 . In addition, more Oil Change gift certificates from Stanley Ford Brownfield were donated to our host YWCA Lubbock to use as needed.

All of these tops were entered before the meeting and all makers attended in person and brought their tops to share.

I could write a story sometime on how to use your web site, newsletter, and do an in-person top spinning demo to secure gift cards and prizes.

A side note, at our meeting Saturday, I gave my big top a heave of a spin and told the group that I would have to shut up when it stopped spinning and to listen as I don't have time to repeat things - I was being timed..
I spoke fast and did not take questions. Got all my chairman type announcements in before the top died in 4 minutes.


Carpe Diem,
Kent Crowell
South Plains Woodturners President
432 528 2891
kcrowell56@gmail.com



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[robo hippy]

So, what categories? Finger launched, string launched, router launched, hand thrown, launch box, string on a stick thrown, weight limits.... Saw one on You Tube with machined tops, one designed by engineers, one by top spinners. They were launched by machine at some thing like 1000 rpm, which is how fast we can do with finger spinning. Top spinners won at some thing like 18 minutes....

Yea, I know, I went and made it difficult....

robo hippy

 

[Kent Crowell]

Hey Roby, Thanks for your comments. We kept it simple. Just make a mostly wood top that would go long.
The winner made one top and only did one video. Have made 3 tops with multiple trys on popcorn tin lids, Pyrex glass pie dish, and old “China” plate.
No motors, no magnets, etc like the gift that goes 27 hours....

We had a youth class after the meeting and the kids got to try out some of our finger snap tops....

 

[robo hippy]

I have posted this one before, and now there are more about making this type of throwing top. Mine weighs maybe 3 pounds, and I can get 5+ minutes with it. I throw back hand, kind of like the frisbee. These spin for a really long time, in dirt...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPGC0oubUKo


robo hippy

 

[Perry Hilbert]

There's an Amish turner near here, who makes tops once in a while for the kids he knows. He puts a round headed tack or nail in the tip and some of his go a darned long time. I wondered before about a top contest at my club, but thought the rules should limit the top to all one piece of wood under a certain diameter. I haven't Brought the subject up yet just due to shyness. But when we start allowing other materials we are likely to get something that is 95% metal with a special alloy tip and a tiny wood inlay in the tip. I made a few tops, all of wood. the first had a tip that was too soft, but the second was made of a really dense piece of apple and would go about 90 seconds. It was also 4 inches in diameter, which tends to store the centrifugal force longer, but is slightly harder to get spinning. The third I made could barely get 30 seconds, so I made one from three inch diameter sugar maple, that was kiln dried. I parted it off using the tip of my skew and the tip got a little scorched. I really think that made the tip more durable. But I still can't reach 90 seconds with it. I think I have too much weight near the center. All spinning was done on a formica counter top. So far I made about a dozen larger tops and all but one or two were donated to an old one room school house museum as a hands on for the kids to play with similar toys that would have existed in the 1870's. .

 

[Mike Johnson]

Many of the long spin tops use small diameter ceramic or carbide spheres for the turning points, you can press them or glue them into the base of the top.

 

[robo hippy]

For finger tops, I generally go with the 1/3 rule. So, center of the mass is at about 1/3 of the over all height. You don't want the mass near the bottom since your release would have to be almost perfectly vertical to keep the edges from rubbing. I have made some out of the 3 inch maple baseball blanks. While some times I can get a decent spin with them using just fingers, spinning them from my palms, hand on either side of the stem, then one hand pushes and the other pulls, gets far more rpms on it. A small cocobolo top, about 1 inch diameter, will get close to a minute. The 3 inch maple tops can go for 2 or so minutes. For throw tops, I don't like nails for points since they will drill holes into the floor. If you search the internet, you may be able to find plastic tips. Craft Supplies used to sell them, but not any more. I went to a local plastic supply shop and bought some 10 foot sections of delrin. It is hard enough so that it won't shatter when it hits the floor, and soft enough to be able to turn easily. I think the cost is about $1 per foot. I did see in one Gasing video that they would spin the tops on emery paper to polish the tip.

robo hippy

 

[Gerald Lawrence]

I have not made any for long spin time but of note is that a slightly rounded tip will spin better than a sharp tip. Mine are mostly made for finger snap and you do have to practice to get good at it.

 

[Tom Gall]

There's an Amish turner near here, who makes tops once in a while for the kids he knows. He puts a round headed tack or nail in the tip and some of his go a darned long time. I wondered before about a top contest at my club, but thought the rules should limit the top to all one piece of wood under a certain diameter. I haven't Brought the subject up yet just due to shyness. But when we start allowing other materials we are likely to get something that is 95% metal with a special alloy tip and a tiny wood inlay in the tip. I made a few tops, all of wood. the first had a tip that was too soft, but the second was made of a really dense piece of apple and would go about 90 seconds. It was also 4 inches in diameter, which tends to store the centrifugal force longer, but is slightly harder to get spinning. The third I made could barely get 30 seconds, so I made one from three inch diameter sugar maple, that was kiln dried. I parted it off using the tip of my skew and the tip got a little scorched. I really think that made the tip more durable. But I still can't reach 90 seconds with it. I think I have too much weight near the center. All spinning was done on a formica counter top. So far I made about a dozen larger tops and all but one or two were donated to an old one room school house museum as a hands on for the kids to play with similar toys that would have existed in the 1870's. .

I like to drip thin CA into the endgrain where the tip will be. If I forget I will put it on the tip before the last cuts. Years ago I used to use small ball bearings (1/8"-3/16") for the tip.....but that was too much work!

 

[hockenbery]

When we were teaching kids classes regularly. Spin tops were our first class project. Most kids would make 2 a few would finish 3.
We always had an informal spin off at the end of class.

Thin handles did the best.
Whenever a kid wanted to put a ball at the top or their handle I would tell them to do that on their second top.

when they spun the top with the ball on the top it would start wobbling quickly and stop spinning way before the thin handled one.
The kid would already have one that spun really well.
I would tell them they now had an artistic one that looked really cool with a ball on that did not spin too well and a functional one that spun well.

 

[Perry Hilbert]

I like to drip thin CA into the endgrain where the tip will be. If I forget I will put it on the tip before the last cuts. Years ago I used to use small ball bearings (1/8"-3/16") for the tip.....but that was too much work!

thanks

 

[robo hippy]

I did see a You Tube video where a group of engineers and a group of top spinners made identical weight metal tops. The engineers made a top with a slightly rounded tip, and the top spinners made one with a pointed tip. They used some machine to bring them up to identical speeds, some thing like 1000 rpm, which they figured was about the best a human could generate with a good finger snap. The pointed tip outlasted the rounded tip by about 2 minutes. I think they went to some thing like 18 minutes.

If you look on You Tube, check out 'Tim's Tops'. This is a guy who goes all over the world collecting toys. Some very interesting variations he has...

robo hippy