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[paulstewart]

There's a new whip top in my shop, ready for a test spin. (pictured here w/o the tip)  The finished top measures 83cm x 64cm and weighs 27kg.  It's painted and ready to go, but no whips.  I'm about to go start a fire in the stove and make a couple whips, so I'll be ready for the first test this week.  This is a pull rope start that will take two people, one to hold and one to pull, then 2 people whipping is the plan. 

[ortwin]

... I'm about to go start a fire in the stove and make a couple whips, so I'll be ready for the first test this week.  This is a pull rope start that will take two people, one to hold and one to pull, then 2 people whipping is the plan.  ...

Very impressive!
Could you please explain to the non-experts how you prepare a couple of whips on the stove??

[paulstewart]

there's an invisible comma between stove and the whip part of the sentence.  The stove warms the room for the human to be comfortable, then the human makes the whips

[ortwin]

... The stove warms the room for the human to be comfortable, then the human makes the whips

Aaahhh! I see! That what the stove is for!

 
Thinking of the starting method with the rope, you do not only need two persons, you also need a lot of space. Maybe you want to give the "gravity starter" method a thought (that I show here). If you want I can describe how I think it could be adopted to your top.

[the Earl of Whirl]

This is sounding exciting…….and exactly like something we would love to do at the Miamisburg Top Fest in August if we could somehow get you to come again!!!

[paulstewart]

This is an edited video of our first test spin.  We had it spinning for a number of minutes, not all shown on the video.  The rope pull felt good, the whips will get some changes.

[Jeremy McCreary]

This is an edited video of our first test spin.  We had it spinning for a number of minutes, not all shown on the video.  The rope pull felt good, the whips will get some changes.

Love the shape of this top — quite elegant.

But the video got me in trouble. Woke up at 0430 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. Got up, left the bedroom, got out my phone, saw this post, and played the video.

Unbeknownst to me, my bedside radio was on in Bluetooth speaker mode, my phone had somehow connected for audio, and the whipping sounds woke up my wife, who first thought they were some intruder banging on the bedroom window.

Next thing I know, she's handing me the speaker with murder in her eyes. "Do something with this!!"

Trust me, you do NOT want to mess with my wife's sleep.

[paulstewart]

Tops really do offer all kinds of lessons to learn, eh Jeremy?   

[paulstewart]

Keith and I got together for our third practice with Octavia the Bottom Top.  We get consistent 110 (+-) second spin time with just a rope pull.  We practiced whipping and while our whip action seems pretty good, it does not improve spin time.  A couple changes will be made and hopefully the whipping will improve. 

[paulstewart]

[Mark Leithead]

Cool!

[ta0]

I love the colors of Octavia.

The torque provided by the whipping action is proportional to the radius. However, the moment of inertia increases with the radius squared. In particular, for a thin cylinder I = m r²
Therefore the angular acceleration from a whiplash decreases proportional to the mass and to the radius. In other words, big whip tops are difficult to keep going.

Looking at the video, my intuition tells me that the whiplashes are puny with respect to the top. The only solutions that occur to me are:
1 - Heavier/wider whip material
2 - A non-slip coating on the top
3 - More frequent whipping

About point 3, I suspect that shorter whips that can be swung more frequently, could be more effective. Tthey may also allow a third player to be whipping.

[johnm]

Perhaps this video is an edit of several trials as the pull start suggest a counter-clockwise rotation as viewed from above while the whipping action suggests a clockwise intention for speed maintenance.

[Jeremy McCreary]

Excellent! The paint patterns make for very interesting video effects, and the music's a perfect match to these effects and the whipping action as well.

Agree with ta0 about whipping frequency. The choreography's quite dramatic, but landing blows on every other swing of the arms seems inefficient from a momentum transfer standpoint. Is it possible to hit the top on every swing at least some of the time?

[ortwin]

...
Perhaps this video is an edit of several trials as the pull start suggest a counter-clockwise rotation as viewed from above while the whipping action suggests a clockwise intention for speed maintenance.

Well spotted! Now I can also see that.