help with 'drawing' spinning tops, please!

Well, I calmed down enough to give it another go. I was right - the "pen" part was sticking out of the bottom too far. I found that if I drilled the larger hole to a depth of 1" rather than the 3/4" as per the instructions, it worked just fine.

They still don't spin as good as 'regular' tops, but the fun factor certainly is there.

I have found that a lot of kits have bad instructions, and some are wrong..

I messed up my first cigar pen from Rockler because the middle bushing is a stepped, 2 sized one and the instructions showed it turned backwards... I proudly assembled the damn thing and found that the bottom blank was too big for the trim assembly and the upper blank was smaller than the damn band...

Mac

Which probably means these companies haven't even tested out their own instructions. Jeez - that's dumb. I would be plenty angry (as I'm sure you were) if I spent all that money just to throw it away because of following instructions.

Brent, but when all else fails, ignore the instructions. OT, but I bet auto engine designers have never removed the spark plugs and I know some of the recipes in the local paper have never been eaten and probably never been cooked.

Turn to Safety, Arch Fortiter

Oh, great - thanks a lot - now you've got me thinking of changing those %^&$&(# 'n spark plugs (Of which you are 100% correct!).

I'm sure that most manuals have been translated from one language to another, especially on mass-produced items. I especially like the Chinese or Taiwanese-to-English ones that Harbor Freight is abound with.

Thanks for the laugh.

Hi Arch

I thought it was, if all else fails , read the instruction manual.

Then they get me confused.

Have fun and take care Leo Van Der Loo

Some time ago, I heard someone say (perhaps in jest, perhaps seriously- I can't recall) that the people who write the manuals are the ones who can most easily be taken from the production line to do it because they are incompetent.

Whether it was a joke or not, it certainly rings true- especially when I think of my mercifully infrequent and short-lived periods of factory work.