tippetop

Graham Nichols, you got me started... I've turned a tippetop with some success (only one so far)--not complete success, because I think I made the stem too long and it just won't flip up. Didn't have time to remedy the situation or turn another one tonight, but here's a diagram of what I did:

is a 1 1/2" maple truncated sphere, bored at 7/8" to the sphere's center (approximately), and drilled for a 1/4" dowel which is rounded at the end to a hemisphere. First I rough-turned the sphere leaving a 1/2" neck at the chucked end--then bored and drilled for the stem. After finish turning the sphere using a race from a tapered bearing as a template, I glued the

1/4" dowel in, narrowed it a bit, and rounded the end before parting off the top.

Then I reverse-mounted the top, press-fit on to a 7/8" spigot and finished off the top's bottom. Of course, I had to drill a hole through the spigot to clear the stem.

For the next one, I won't glue the stem in until I get it's length optimized--I'll press-fit it to be able to move it in or out for adjusting the length. That seems to be a critical part of the operation.

I'd be out in the shop turning another one, but have to get to bed--got a 1 1/2 hr drive to our monthly AAW chapter meeting in the morning, so I can show off my half-a$$ed tippetop.

Ken Grunke SW Wisconsin

Coulee Region Woodturners AAW chapter