by cmh
Fun top for making cool patterns using a standard hexagonal wooden pencil.
Before you print out the top body, print out the sizing template! This should fit onto the pencil, hopefully with a little bit of friction. Due to differences in printers and pencils, this may or may not fit your pencil well, so save time and start with the sizing template.
If it's too tight, scale the part up in your slicer and retry. If it's too loose but not too bad, you can use some tape or something to hold it in place. If you get it just right, it'll slide on and stay put, which is perfect. Once you get the sizing template part the right scale, load up the top body you want (two legs or three legs, just a matter of what you think looks cooler) and print away. You can use 100% infill for better spin times, but I printed the one in the photos with 25% infill and 4 shells and spin times are good enough to draw some cool stuff.
It doesn't get the best spin time, but experiment with different start spins (spinning it on an angle works great from my tests) and also try slightly inclining the surface holding the paper. This top is really more about the cool patterns than a really long spin time. I'd bet the shape of the pencil tip might also affect the results, but haven't tried that.
This isn't a remix in the most literal sense of the word, but SirRob's "Air Head spinning top" is directly responsible for this. I came across it back in February, and had a failed print and was going to give up, but I thought the idea was cool so I managed to try again and got a good print. I played with it for a while, but that started me on the path of designing and testing my own spinning tops. I've got a bunch of designs and will try to post the good ones, but this is one of the most recent, and one of the more entertaining.
Fusion 360 file included if you want to change it to your whims. If you do, please post a remix!
