Spinning top with wooden pencil

thingiverse

Fun top for making cool patterns using a standard hexagonal wooden pencil. Before printing out the top body, print out the sizing template! It should fit snugly onto the pencil with just enough friction. Since printers and pencils can vary significantly, this might not work perfectly for everyone, so start by printing the sizing template to save time. If it's too tight, simply scale up the part in your slicer and try again. If it's a bit loose but still manageable, use some tape or another adhesive to secure it in place. The ideal fit is when it slides on smoothly and stays put, which is perfect for creating cool patterns. Once you've found the right scale for the sizing template, load up the top body of your choice (two legs or three legs - just pick what looks coolest) and print away. You can use 100% infill for faster spin times, but I printed the one shown here with 25% infill and 4 shells, and it still draws some pretty cool patterns. Don't worry too much about getting the best spin time - experiment with different start spins (spinning it on an angle works great from my tests) and try slightly inclining the surface holding the paper. This top is all about creating fun patterns, not necessarily achieving super-long spin times. The shape of the pencil tip might also affect the results, but I haven't tried that yet. Background: This isn't exactly a remix in the classical sense, but SirRob's "Air Head spinning top" directly inspired this design. I came across it back in February and had a failed print, but I was so impressed with the idea that I decided to try again - and got a good print out of it. Playing with that top led me to start designing and testing my own spinning tops. I've got a bunch of designs in the works, and I'll post the ones that turn out well, but this is one of the most recent and entertaining ones so far. If you want to modify this design or try something new, feel free to use the Fusion 360 file included - just please share your remix if you do!