Tippie Top: This Might Be the Most Fun Thing I've Ever Made

This was turned on my lathe from a small piece of claro walnut I had in the shop. It was originally from a bag of firewood I bought.  

I turned it in about 15 minutes, but it took anther 30 minutes to get the shape right for it to flip over on it's head.

Comments

[avidmtbiker]

Any pointers on the shape of it? Mine looked like yours, but never flipped. It would tip to it side, but that was it.

[kludge77]

I had that happen to. You can see in the video.
The trick is a perfect curve. Look for where the piece is stopping on its side. Then re-chuck it up and refine that section. I'd say I had to re-chuck the top about 4 times before getting it to flip.

[Vinsu]

Nice! Good job.

[theTransistor]

Neat. I wish our lathe had as many accessories as yours.

[stoobers]

You can make the mandrel he has out of maple.
You put a morse taper on one end and a peg on the other.

Or even easier, you can drill a 3/4 hole and tap it with a 3/4 - 16 tap.
(or a 1 - 8 tap, if you have a bigger lathe).

You also don't need those accessories, you can just use the spur drive. The mandrel is just a lot quicker.

[waldaddy]

Lol. Brilliant! You're pretty good with a skew chisel bro!

[kludge77]

Thanks!

[bob3030]

Very nice. That is a beautiful wood. Too nice to end up as firewood. Thanks for posting.

[Izac37]

Cool