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Chuck Ellis

Chuck Ellis

Member
Messages
6,999
Location
Tellico Plains, Tennessee
These were the second preferred toys when I was in grammar school... first being marbles... thought these might be a fun thing to offer in my booth this summer...
First is oak, second is a scrap from a glue up I did for a pepper mill, Maple and spectraply Crossbones and Red Ryder, third is spalted sycamore and the last is cherry.
Haven't tested them yet, thought I had a ball of cord in the shop, but didn't find it, so will need to get the string to throw them next time I'm in town.
They are all finished with Hut polish and topped with carnuba wax.
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Haven't thought of these in a good number of years. These are sure fancier then the ones I had. If I remember black and red and really scuffed up.
Nice turnings.
David
 
Very cool Chuck, should be a good sell. :thumb:

One thing I've noticed as a grandpa is my desire to share the things I grew up with with my grand kids, funny how that happens. ;)
 
Ted Calver said:
You're going to have to become proficient in making those spin so you can demo them, Chuck. Can ya do it??
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It's been a while, but think I remember how... need to get some string though... I can't find the ball I thought I had... will definitely practice some before summer.

I was showing my step-son some old WWII ration books and my dad's tops were in the same box... his are probably 95-100 years old... they're a little banged up and one of them has a screw to replace the tip that he's filed down to a point... I also have a couple of his shooters from his marble set... they're not glass like most of what I had, they appear to be ceramic.
 
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Those look great, Chuck. :thumb:

I used to play with my Duncan tops a lot when I was a kid. I was discussing old-school toys with someone younger than me recently on Facebook, and she had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned tops. I did a little Googling and I was surprised to see the good ol' Duncan Imperial is still available. They are the ones that you can open up and store the string inside. I remember giving grasshoppers the ride of their life in my Imperials, lol.

Duncan Imperial on Amazon
 
Alright, someone needs to post a video of their own home made top spinning!

Those look like a lot of fun!
 
These tops are certainly better than the ones made with empty thread spindles.
Mind you with an elastic band, 1 or 2 buttons, and one short and one long stick, it was possible to make the spool into a tractor.
 
Kerry Burton said:
Holy "topic resurrection" Batman!...
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Thanks for posting that thread, Kerry. We were poor when I was a kid, and I remember the WWII ration books, but I don't remember ever seeing one of this kind of top. I was wondering how the string was wound and now I know. Going to have to try turning a couple of these.
 
Kerry, interesting thread you linked... I always had a knot in the end of my string and looped around the top tenon, then down the side to the point to wrap the string back up the taper... I tried spinning the tops in the shop... definitely out of practice.. gotta work on that before spring.

I used some brass cup hooks for points and cut the hook away, but I think they are too light, may need to find heavier points.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
I always had a knot in the end of my string and looped around the top tenon, then down the side to the point to wrap the string back up the taper...
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Thanks Chuck - that makes a lot of sense.

Chuck Ellis said:
I used some brass cup hooks for points and cut the hook away, but I think they are too light, may need to find heavier points.
Click to expand...

On mine I drilled a hole into the blank on the lathe and epoxied in a length of a decently-thick nail, then used a file to sharpen the tip (with the blank spinning on the lathe) so everything would be concentric. :dunno:


Vaughn McMillan said:
Looks like an inexpensive approach to tips:

https://shop.yoyoexpert.com/products/yyf-spin-top-replacement-tips?variant=18870866244
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Nice find Vaughn! :thumb:


Paul Brubacher said:
Mind you with an elastic band, 1 or 2 buttons, and one short and one long stick, it was possible to make the spool into a tractor.
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Not intending to derail the current conversation Paul, but you might be interested in another old thread of mine:
https://familywoodworking.org/forum...Mode-Rubber-Band-Powered-Toy&highlight=roller
 
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Quote Originally Posted by Vaughn McMillan View Post
Looks like an inexpensive approach to tips:

https://shop.yoyoexpert.com/products...nt=18870866244

Thanks for the link Vaughn, I had some of those tips back when I was in Houston, but couldn't remember where I got them and didn't find them when I started the tops... I think I'm going for the framing 2 headed nails... will give the tips more weight than what I did.

Glad I showed them and got some feed back... always good feedback here.
 
There is a fellow at the recreated olde timey village, Ozark Folk Center, in Mountain View, Arkansas that makes and sells tops. He has been doing this for quite a few years now and has made thousands. He makes most at home on a modern lathe. But, at the Village, as tourists approach him he begins pumping a spring lathe with his foot and does a little turning on one for demo purposes. He has refined the best choices for tip, string and even finger knot. Neat that he is keeping an old thing going.
 
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