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[Eric]

Yep......"Frustration".................that's the name of my new top........

I have been sitting on two blocks of Norfolk Island Pine for several years now; 6" in diameter. and about 8" tall.  I got them right after Alan, Dorothy and I saw some amazing thin hollow form vases/bowls turned from this wood at the American Association of Woodturners annual symposium in Portland, OR. in 2008.  It's really amazing wood, the trees grow very straight to about 50' and one of their key features is that the branches grow in symmetrical rows around the trunk.  When cut, the wood has rows of knots where the branches sprouted.  Here is one of the blocks:



The reason that I've not previously used the blocks for tops is that I have presumed that the knots would make it very difficult to balance the resulting top.....
Well, I gave in to temptation last week and turned a beautiful 6" top out of one of the blanks.  And, in the process, I learned something.....my original presumption was correct......To make things more interesting, there's a worm hole that goes through and back (you can see it in the picture). Here's the top:



The first throw was quite scary....it wobbled so much in the air that the tip was a blur, I caught it with both hands...barely.  On the second toss, the tip hit me in the thumb so hard that I spent the next ten minutes on the floor writhing in pain (it's been a week now and my thumb still hurts).

I don't give up easily, so I put the top back on the lathe and hollowed it more...much more.  The wall thickness now ranges from 1/4" to 1/8".  I figured that if I reduced the thickness of the knots I would reduce their weight and hence their impact on the top's balance.....well, nice idea, but the result was only marginally less scary. 

Next, I added a bunch of weight to the tip section (glue and a 35 gram steel ring).   I have had success in the past by adding lots of weight to the tip area to overcome natural imbalance.   This helped a bit, enough so that I decided to try to really balance it.  Then, I spent two hours with bits of sticky-tac putty trying to balance the top.  As of this point, after more than 10 hours of work, I can actually play with the top, although it still wobbles too much for my tastes.
 
This top was going to be for the INEPPT raffle, however, it doesn't play well enough and as such, I have made a different top (a very cool one) for the raffle.....stay tuned, you'll see it soon....

[Larry D.]

Such an incredible amount of stick-to-itiveness!

That top is definitely eye-catching!   
I imagine that row of knots would create a great effect while spinning.

Thanks for sharing your saga with us Eric.

[johnm]

Great story!  Thanks for sharing your adventure with "Frustration".  I've had lots of occasions where my mind cannot overcome the instinct to catch a poorly balanced top--the hard lessons the thumb learns are slowly sinking in (thumb are dumb that way ) but I fear I will never master the snap start.

In this case it seems some art is only (well mostly) for looking or collecting keys like most of the works at the symposium.  With this amazingly thin wall, perhaps you could have the only rotating spintop lamp shade.

[Neff]

Awesome!!!  The red knots really pop out.  How much does she weigh?

I'd like a crack at balancing that baby, I get a little OCD with top balancing sometimes 

[ta0]

Wow! Beautiful! I wouldn't have minded winning that baby and figuring out how to balance it. There must be some type of rig one can make to balance these things methodically. One day I need to look into dynamic wheel balancing patents . . .

If this is an example of the kind of top we can expect for the second raffle, I am saving my money for those tickets!

[Spinningray]

Fantastic Eric!

I have a piece of that very same wood from Eric. It sits on a shelf in my shop and I look at it every day. I have been thinking it would be very difficult to balance. Looks like it is. I'm sure I will try to make a top some day.

[jim in paris]

Thumb Up : Ouch !!

i hammered my left index yesterday , that hurts too !

what a beautiful top ! even if it wobbles a bit it is a master piece
 the finish seems so shiny and the work on wall thickness 1/4 to 1/8 !! amazing!
very catching saga , thanx for the fun story


and like everyone else , i'm eager to see the next one 

about balancing /anti wobble actions
have you ever thought of inserting a metal ring around ?
 Philppe did that to my big topdog,after having put various leads and counterweights with no results

 that would harm the elegance of the wood , i agree


good day
jim

[RotatED]

Stunning!
Can't image being so talented that your 'frustration' pieces end up looking like that!!

Quick newbie question:
When you have a problematic top that defies normal balancing efforts, would it be possible to make a mixture - of say quick setting epoxy w/ metal filings - load up the interior, then spin the top (either by throwing or in a lathe) and let nature take its course?  Would the c-force cause the expoxy to be perfectly spread and balanced?

[the Earl of Whirl]

That top sure is fantastic to look at and admire.  Sorry the knots are not allowing it to spin very well!

[poptop]

I've wondred if these things might work for us?

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/I don't known if I understand completely the theory behind it, but it sounds a good subject to experiment. Another possibility would be to pour liquid adhesive or soft putty and see if is settles in the right places. I don't understand completely the theory behind this so I am curious what the result would be.

[Neff]

Loose stuff inside a top is bad news IMHO

[robtsou]

Never one to "turn" down a challenge, huh, Eric?

[jochs12]

I've wondred if these things might work for us?

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/

It looks like this could work with any round objects of any size, like bb's, bearings, ceramic balls, ect.  You could inclose them in a tube inside the widest area of the top like thus:



Other forces involved, including being thrown around might through off the balancing effect but it could be an interesting experiment.

Mr. Neff said he was able to balance this top

Among the things I am proud of at worlds 2011, ranking high is that I got to balance this:

Was it with just the right placement of putty or were there other tricks that you used to get this to work?

[topper777]

the wood grain looks beautiful. im sorry to hear about your first couple of throws. i hope you can get it spinning right because that would be a nice prize in a raffle

[poptop]

I was thinking the bb's would move freely when the top was first thrown and ran out of spin, then stay put at higher RPM.  But then again, I'm not sure they truly work in tires...the drill demo impressed me.  So does your diagram--nice.

Chris's balancing skills are paranormal.

[Neff]

Mr. Neff said he was able to balance this top

Among the things I am proud of at worlds 2011, ranking high is that I got to balance this:

Was it with just the right placement of putty or were there other tricks that you used to get this to work?

Sometimes you need to balance a second spot with putty.  This happens when you find the right spot and the right amount of weight to add, but it still is not smooth.  Leave that weight alone and start looking for another spot to balance, this time toward the tip of the top instead of the crown.  Start at a spot 90 degrees to the other sweet spot.