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Author Topic: Wirewalker Help? :/  (Read 3902 times)

WretchedRapture

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Wirewalker Help? :/
« on: August 04, 2010, 11:01:50 PM »

So i've been working on Wirewalker today, and i dont quite understand how you get the top to continue to spin on the opposite hand. I can easily get the top to "walk" across the string, but then it just seems to slam into my other hand and stops spinning. Any suggestions? :/ And also if anyone can outline how to perform a merry-go-round I would really appreciate it, since its difficult to find tutorials online.
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ta0

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2010, 11:41:40 PM »

If you are using Spintastics tops, their tips wire walk fast because they have a thick groove. After the top starts walking release the tension and use the string mostly for guidance. Not only it will arrive at the other hand traveling slower, but it will have more spin. You can facilitate the landing on the hand by making the top jump at the last moment.

You start MGR with the top spinning on your dominant hand and using the other hand to place the string on the groove of the tip. You let the top fall between the thumb and the index finger while controlling the tension with the non-dominant hand. After the top falls about 6 inches you close the string loop with the thumb and swing the top at the end of the loop in a circle under the hand. Ideally, you want the top to perform one rotation per precession turn, so the tip always leans towards the center of the circle. Finish by popping up the top back to your hand.
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WretchedRapture

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2010, 01:42:05 AM »

Thanks alot Ta0! You've been a lot of help in such a short time haha. I'll be sure to work on these two tricks and update on any progress I make.   ;D
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WretchedRapture

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2010, 02:46:40 AM »

By the way, how do you open spintastic tops for maintence, like cleaning the bearing? On a side note, my blizzard seems to have a crack running all the way from the tip up to the rubber ring. I have not dropped it at all on any hard surfaces or bumped anything with it, and im pretty sure it came right out of the package like that. The crack seems to be inside the plastic, because I can't feel any ridge on the outside. The plastic wont budge, so its not like it penetrated the entire wall of the top, and it doesn't seem to effect performance at all. It spins very long and has a good balance. I was just wondering if maybe the top could have cracked while it was being made? I'm not sure how they are made, but perhaps during the molding process?
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Neff

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2010, 04:17:22 PM »

To open a Spintastics top, take the o-ring off, and twist the cap counter-clockwise.  It will only turn a little, it is not threaded, it just has two pegs that fit into slots.

The line you see is common in plastic fabrication, more pronounced in some tops than others.  See if you can find something similar on (or inside of) your sidewinder.

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topper777

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2010, 01:54:48 PM »

can a top with a bearing tip do the wire walker?
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Tomymoonly

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #6 on: August 06, 2010, 02:09:10 PM »

not really... kind of if u launch straight on between ur hands ^^ but that ll look ugly ...
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Dick Stohr

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #7 on: August 06, 2010, 09:53:20 PM »

No, wire walker tricks are done with a fixed tip top only.  If it is a bearing tip and it looks like a wire walker trick it is something else.
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Practice hard and play safe.

Neff

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2010, 09:58:26 AM »

For the top to move on it's own, it must be fixed tip, otherwise, the top can slide around, like in corkscrew.  John Hornbeck does lots of slide-ey stuff, even a bearing Racetrack (circuito) in this one:

http://vimeo.com/3911846
« Last Edit: August 07, 2010, 10:03:31 AM by Neff »
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pplgrande

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Re: Wirewalker Help? :/
« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2010, 03:13:20 AM »

Thanks for the video Neff, never seen it before, It just opened a new set of tricks in my mind with that bearing circuito he did
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