turn it is a wooden top whose axis is a woodcase pencil.
The packaging tells me that the design is by Miguel Soeiro and was produced by ESAD.CR and Viarco.
This is a short video showing the top in action. Depending on your browser, it will open inline in a new window, or download as an .mp4 file:
That was with minimal spin. You can get much more “air time” with practice, and the patterns left by the pencil also become quite intriguing:
I’m sure a crafty person could build something like this on their own. Do you like it?
Explanation of rigid body rotation and exercises on top motion would become easier if professors teaching classical mechanics use one of these!
I used to make these when I was about 11. I just shoved a pencil through a wheel from a construction set. Different pencils made different patterns as I remember.
The easiest way to make one of these is to just wedge the point of a golf pencil into the center hole of a steel washer. I used to play with them for hours.
I’m un-lurking after reading this great blog for a long while.
I like the spinning top. But I also have a question: The notebook paper shown in the video looks great. What kind of notebook is it? Does it work well with a fountain pen?
Thanks for a very interesting blog.
Cheers from Norway.
Thank you for all the comments.
Jan, welcome, thank you for your kind comment and for “un-lurking”. It is an A3 sized Rhodia pad with a “dot” pattern that is shown.
I’m un-lurking after reading this great blog for a long while.
I like the spinning top.