Finger tops make great gifts

Tony

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We have a section called The Classroom that I think would be an excellent place for you to do a couple of tutorials please
 

DKMD

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Beautiful tops! I think it’s fantastic to take something so simple and humble as the spinning top and take it to such a refined finished product.
 

Tony

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Do you buy the tips or make them yourself?
 

Ed D.

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Do you buy the tips or make them yourself?
When I first started making finger-tops, I made them from a single piece of wood, which included the tip. But after talking to collectors, I found that they really wanted a tip that would stand up to heavy use, as well as add "bling" to the look. So I switched to steel ball bearings, stone and other hard materials. A lot of high end CNC machined metal finger tops use ruby crystals for tips. The tip material I like best are small stone cabochons (rivets) used in leather craft, like these: Stone Rivets

If you decide to use steel balls for tips, consider magnets as a design feature...
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Gdurfey

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Our turning club makes tops as a demo piece, but nothing, nothing like that!!! Wow, those are cool.
 

barry richardson

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Those are works of art for sure! Is there a ratio that you follow for the proportions?
 

Ed D.

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Those are works of art for sure! Is there a ratio that you follow for the proportions?
I don't have any strict rules for finger top design...whatever looks good works for me. The only thing I really pay attention to is trying to add some kind of texture in the upper handle area, so you get a better hold on it when giving the top a spin.
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