SpinningTop

Hi all, Christmas is just around the corner and I'm still still making presents. I have now completed the batch of wooden pens and a trinket box for my Grand daughter which will be an extra present. To make sure her younger brother wasn't left out I thought I'd better make him something from wood too.

Over the years I have seen how grand parents make wooden things for their grand children and I've always thought it a nice idea. These days getting a record voucher, or a google play voucher is so easy, but also a bit of a cope out. Anyway, I've made them both something from wood and I hope they like them.

I had thought of making a yo-yo for my grandson but because the two sides need to be perfectly balanced I decided against it. What I settled on was a wooden spinning top and a base to spin it on. I hadn't had a go at a top before so it was something new to me and I wondered how I'd get on with the shape. The base part was like a bowl with shallow dip in the middle and again something I'd never attempted before.

Thankfully, we have a smart telly and I'm able to watch loads of woodturning videos on Youtube. buying  a smart telly was one of our best investments and it has completely changed our viewing habits. If you are thinking of getting a new telly, a smart one is the smart option, you will be impressed.

Anyway, here is a picture of the spinning top and its base.

The black pyrography lines were burnt around the base with wire which was quite easy. However, I struggled to burn the circle on the underside of the top. I had read that a burn mark can be made by running a piece of cardboard in a groove while the lathe is running. This wasn't as easy as it seemed, because a piece of cardboard that is small enough to go into the groove just crumples when enough pressure is exerted on it to make the wood burn. I had to experiment with various thicknesses of card and shapes to eventually get a decent burn mark.

Having finished this present I hadn't realised that another difficulty would lye ahead. In our house, my wife does all the wrapping at Christmas because she likes it and is very good at it. Anyway, when I gave her the spinning top to wrap she said, " I hope he enjoys it because I can't see what fun anybody can get from a spinning top."  At this point I picked up the top and spun it on the base to make sure it worked and try to impress her with my expertise. Anyway, she took the bait and had ago at spinning it herself, the first couple of goes were failures but than she was hooked. I left her playing with the top while I got on with some other stuff and when I returned half an hour later she was still spinning the top whilst timing herself to see how long he could get it to spin for. She's now put in a request for a top of her own. I just hope my grandson likes it as much as my wife.

This will probably be my last post before Christmas, so I will wish you all a good one and I hope that it is very peaceful.

By the way, if you would like to see picyures of my pens, here is a link to a
Video on youtube.