AN OLD-TIMEY WOODEN TOP

Building a spinner and a wooden top.

May/June 1980
 
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Amidst the gadgetry and gimcrackery of today's modern toys, a plain old-fashioned plaything sure looks good! And it would be hard to imagine a more oldtimey toy than the homemade wooden top put together by MOTHER's craftsmen.

The little spinner can easily be built by even the most amateur woodworker . . . and requires nothing more than a coping saw, a drill (with 1/8", 3/8", and 7/16" bits), some sandpaper, a small roundhead finishing brad, carpenter's glue, a 3-1/2" length of 3/8" dowel, a 2" section of 1" dowel, an old shoestring, a piece of scrap wood (that measures about 3/4" X 5" X 7"), and approximately half an hour of time.

To make the project even simpler, we've provided grid drawings that can easily be transferred to your working material. (Because of space limitations, the patterns shown must be redrawn on 1/2" squares, then traced onto your lumber scrap. Be sure to retain the center-point mark on the circular piece as you do so.)

Cut the wood to size, then carefully drill a "pilot" hole through the handle and cope out the round opening—as indicated—that serves as the top's string housing.

With that done, "guesstimate" the center of the just-cut opening and bore two 7/16" holes—on a vertical line that intersects the central point—through the upper and lower "walls". Next, carefully drill a straight 3/8" hole exactly through the midpoint of the toy's flywheel . . . to serve as the axle mount.

Now take your piece of 1" dowel, find its center, and drill a 3/8" hole about 1/4" into one end. Using a coarse piece of sandpaper (or a file), fashion the opposite end of the peg into a point as shown, and tap your brad right into the tip. To complete the "gyro" part of the top, lightly coat one end of your 3/8" dowel with glue and push it through the wooden disc until a 1/4" nub protrudes. Cover the nub and a small area around it with adhesive, and fasten your metal-tipped peg to the flywheel and its axle. Then temporarily slip the shaft into the handle's two holes and drill a 1/8" bore through the rod—as illustrated—to serve as a catch for the string "motor".

Finally, sand the entire knickknack to a smooth finish (you might want to round its edges), and stain it or add a coat of polyurethane if desired.

To set the gyro spinning, merely slide it into the handle, thread one end of the cord through the axle hole, carefully wind the remaining string around the shaft, and pull it smartly . . . the whirling gizmo will drop from the handle and dance merrily along any hard, smooth surface. There's little doubt that your home-built top will fascinate the youngsters on a rainy spring day . . . and who knows, once in a while you might be tempted to give it a whirl, too!

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  • Elle 12/21/2007 10:47:10 AM

    Thanksomuch for featuring a wooden top. In this high-tech age, some
    do not have any idea what a merry spinning top could BE. Any top.
    Here is the story of the "Strawberry Top" to add to yours: One
    year, I purchased a little wooden strawberry-shaped top to add to
    stocking stuffers. Three inched high, in the shape of a strawberry,
    and with a simply green spinning stick, protruding at the place for
    the stem, painted bright red/pink, with green strawberryseeds, it
    cost all of 75cents, at last-minute closeout at a local little shop
    sale. With lots of things of the day, under the tree, I did not
    give it much thought ... just a little thing to look classic and
    cute in the stocking for our very good children.... But my children
    were fascinated by the mirthful little top, and each Christmas,
    thereafter, they became gleeful at the thought of spinning that
    tiny strawberry top, and it became our way to kick off the holiday
    celebratory spirit, re: santastuff! As the years passed, the top
    became a special moment and a focus for the warmest and most loving
    and dear holiday feelings. When our spaniel pup put a toothmark in
    it, teething, we held our breath, at top-spinning time...would it
    spin? A wooden top depends on a delicate balance... pup chewing
    might ruin it!......it spun more merrily than ever! And with our
    otherwise-amazing pup's toothmark in it, we loved it all the more
    It would spin and spin, for more than a full minute and more than
    that sometimes....proclaiming the strong and merry life, in the
    very smallest things, that always touches us so much to heart! The
    year my husband died, it was summer and the following Christmas had
    some really sensitive moments, that first one without him, but in
    spirit! But the Strawberry top earned its honors, as I whisked it
    out with the children, in their early teen years, by then, so
    solemn , at my side ... hushed...."I guess we're ok", I said, as
    the top spun merrily and impertur

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