When I talk to turners and ask about their first projects, most of them say that they learned to make tops. Some of them learned as children and some in high school. But where ever you learned how to make tops, you know how popular they are with kids and adults alike.
Tops are fast to make spindle turnings and there are many shapes and sizes. It's a great practice project too!!
In this video, Leo shows us how to make a spin top with his skew.
This is a really good video for those you are wanting to learn more about using the skew. Leo uses peeling cuts for wood removal and end cuts for cleaning up the top and bottom and lastly he uses a planing cut for making the handle of the top smooth.
He also applies some chatter to the bottom and then colors the top. He does all this turning to make a beautiful spin top without hurry and finishes in 4 1/2 minutes! Touché!
In this project, Leo shows us how to turn a handled spinning top. This is the type of top that has 2 parts; the handle and the top. The top stem is wrapped with a string and then inserted into the handle. The string is pulled which spins the top and making it come off the handle.
In the video, Leo uses a skew and adds notes to the video to help us understand his cuts so this is very educational in the use of the skew in addition to learning how to make a spinning top.
Leo shows us how to make a fast top using a piece of dried beech (previous table leg)... it's a good video showing clean cuts, good tool control and a quick way to turn a top!
In this photo tutorial, Taran explains the basics of spinning tops including the naming of the top's physical regions. Then he tells us about wood selection for your top. He proceeds to turning the top, showing us pictures of each step along the way!
He concludes the tutorial with a lesson in how to spin the completed top. This is a fun project and the top is sure to be an ice breaker. And if you have older kids, a real popular item.
In this very clever and innovative tutorial, Charles shows us how he discovered "finger tops" which ultimately lead to his creation of "spinning vessels".
Charles' tutorial goes into significant detail on how to make both of these special tops!!
It might even be fun to make one just to see how they work!!
Turning tops is a great exercise in spindle technique. Skills learned in turning tops can be used in other spindle work. Tops can be very simple or as complex as you want. My plan is to show you how I turn a basic wooden top.
Russ shows how he makes a top and then shows pictures from his local club doing a County Fair and letting others turn tops for themselves.
This project runs close to my heart too as my local club also works with kids (and adults) at our local fairs and shows letting them turn tops themselves.
These traditional tops are turned and then embellished with a chatter tool and color. Larry's close-up pictures in this photo tutorial make it real easy to see each step of the process!
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