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[yoyospin]

These three tops fell off my lathe this week. They measure about 3" x 4" and are hollow, for cord storage. The matching buttons press fit into the top's opening.

Colorwood, with red/black acrylic spacers and New England Holly:



Hawaiian Koa, white acrylic spacers and dyed Box Elder burl:



Aromatic Eucalyptus burl from Australia:

[mailman]

Absolutely beautiful!

[ta0]

Beautiful, as always! 

That the buttons fit on the wholes is a great idea. But I have a suggestion. If a top can stand up on the crown it's much easier to display (specially if your shelves are crowed with tops  ). What is needed is a button that holds the string on one side, so the knot does not protrude on the other.

They measure about 3" x 4" and are hollow, for cord storage.

Hollowing also makes it a better performer.

[yoyospin]

Took your advice ta0, and came up with a way to capture the cord, hidden on the button's under-side. Here's the result: African Wenge, Colorado Maple Burl and East Texas Osage Orange...









 

[Jatt]

Your tops look amazing! And the button idea looks like it worked really well. I have a question for you how much vibration do your tops end up having when finished? Do u have to balance them

[yoyospin]

Your tops look amazing! And the button idea looks like it worked really well. I have a question for you how much vibration do your tops end up having when finished? Do u have to balance them

Thanks...if I'm careful, these tops always come off the lathe perfectly balanced. The only issue I've run into is where the wood's density (weight) varies from one side of the top to the other. So choosing the wood, followed by paying attention, is the most important thing...same as with turning yo-yos. You can see the density of this Red Palm wood change from sapwood to heartwood pretty easily. No amount of balancing was going to make this yoyo not wobble...

[ta0]

Took your advice ta0, and came up with a way to capture the cord, hidden on the button's under-side. Here's the result: African Wenge, Colorado Maple Burl and East Texas Osage Orange...

Finally somebody does it!    Great job!
That Colorado Maple Burl now even more perfect! 

[cecil]

BEAUTIFUL tops. I would have put Spintastic C tips in them.

[Jeremy McCreary]

Thanks...if I'm careful, these tops always come off the lathe perfectly balanced. The only issue I've run into is where the wood's density (weight) varies from one side of the top to the other. So choosing the wood, followed by paying attention, is the most important thing...same as with turning yo-yos. You can see the density of this Red Palm wood change from sapwood to heartwood pretty easily. No amount of balancing was going to make this yoyo not wobble...

Wow, that Red Palm is gorgeous, Ed! Guessing that the black is the (vascular) sapwood? Is it more or less dense than the heartwood? It's fun to think about the sapwood as one 3D object embedded in another.

I don't envy your having to worry about material density variations, but I do envy the structural rigidities you can achieve. When it comes to wobble, LEGO tops present pretty much the opposite design problem: Mass balance is guaranteed for fully seated parts in rotationally symmetric arrangements. But wobble can come from structural oscillations alone, and some visual designs flex more than others -- especially when executed in LEGO.

The LEGO top below was all about the visual of that red 20-sided ring, and to keep the ring round, it could only have 2 spokes. You can imagine how spoke and ring flexures during spin-up might set up structural oscillations lasting well into spin-down despite perfect balance at rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnKNU-OHhA

I hate accepting wobble to get a certain look, and I can usually tinker my way out of it. But LEGO plastic just wasn't stiff enough here.

[yoyospin]

Wow, that Red Palm is gorgeous, Ed! Guessing that the black is the (vascular) sapwood? Is it more or less dense than the heartwood? It's fun to think about the sapwood as one 3D object embedded in another.

Thanks. Sapwood is live wood where the sap flows, closest to the outside, or bark-side of the tree. In the case of Palm wood, the denser packing of black fibers is a sign of sapwood. Palm heartwood (fewer fibers) gets more and more "punky" (soft) as you get closer to the tree's center. If you were to cut this particular yoyo in half, leaving two half-spheres, the less fibrous heartwood half would probably weigh 10+20% less than the sapwood side...something I learned the hard way, after this yoyo was made.   

[yoyospin]

BEAUTIFUL tops. I would have put Spintastic C tips in them.

Thanks. The black tips are turned from 1/2" Delrin rod. I finish turn the wood and plastic at the same time so there's a smooth transition. I look at tops the same way as the yoyos I make - old school, no bearings, 100% handmade.

[Spintowin]

Great looking tops.  Nice work.