WOOD TURNERS OF THE HUNTER:
TURN 2000 INTERNATIONAL WOODTURNING SYMPOSIUM
SPINNING TOP DISPLAY
THIS IS THE CLUB TO WHICH I BELONG. IT IS BASED IN NEWCASTLE SOME, 160 KMS NORTH OF SYDNEY IN EAST AUSTRALIA. IT IS ABOUT 40 KMS EAST OF WHERE I LIVE,
THIS WAS THEIR FIRST EVENT OF THIS KIND AND WAS MOST SUCCESSFUL. TO TOP PEOPLE THERE WERE TWO DEMONSTRATORS THAT I AM FEATURING WITH INDIVIDUAL GALLERIES; BONNIE KLEIN (AMERICA) AND ERNIE NEWMAN (AUSTRALIA).
IN ADDITION TO THESE TURNERS I AM FEATURING ABOUT 180 SPINNING TOPS THAT THE PARTICIPANTS DONATED TO AN AUCTION WHICH RAISED ALMOST $700 AUSTRALIAN FOR THE JOHN HUNTER CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (NEWCASTLE) WHICH IS OUR FAVORITE CHARITY.
HERE THEN ARE THESE TOPS. ENJOY:
Most pictures are thumbnails. Click on them to enlarge.
For my comments I am using the convention of numbering from left to right
Mostly low CoG. On the whole a good design criteria. More stable spin
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1. A most elegant and well turned bowl with spinning top lid. I do not know who made it as is the case for all these tops. If I had bought them, then I would know!!
2 and 4 are tippe tops (flipovers) when you spin them they "magically" turn over to spin on the axle.
4. Is a hollow top that spins on its axle. Ernie Newman has popularised this in Australia but I believe it has Japanese origins.
5 Looks like a Karakasa. (Partly folded umbrella top)
4 Tongari. Pointed twirler.
4 An acorn top. One of my favourites to make.
2 Temawashi. Hand spun twirler. They spin fast and well as they have a low Cog and a very thin axle to twirl (Gets the revs up!)
5 A square type. There are a couple in the show but i have not seen these before, they seem to spin well and look a very different type of top. Like to cause interest.
1 and 3 are double layer tops. These have Japanese origins, but i do not know the name for them. 1 would spin quite well but the proportions of three (narrow but tall) would make it a less elegant spinner.
1 is a good spinning top. Wide diameter and narrow axle.
1 Rather dumpy, but something nice about it.
2 quite a nice design and should spin well. Quite heavy in the bottom.
3 Another hollow top.
4 Hineri. Twist twirler.
1 A good spinning design
3. The spinning tray does not belong to this top. The top itself is one of the most elegant in the display. I am sorry that the picture does not do it justice. This person entered two of this type and both are quite delightful. Probably my "first prize". It falls into the Tongari type, but is much more elegant than the Japanese version.
5 Good design lines.
1 is an axle spinner, sometimes made to look like a champagne glass
4 is a tippe top
6 is another square design
1 a two part top that looks and spins very well. A nice top.
Looks as though some of these are duplicates. Sorry
Perhaps this is the time to comment on the woods. There were a large variety offered but the best were the Mulga and Gidgee. They are dark, nicely coloured and often two toned. Viewers seemed to like these best.
No special comments
1. Ahhh this is a better picture. I thought that I have taken another. Isn't that just a great top? I think that the two part top is 2.
3 I suspect that Ernie Newman made this. It is an axle spinner with a sort of Mother of Pearl inset in the top. It looks great stationary and spinning.
4
Is a close of of the two tiered top we have already seen.
1. Thsi is my effort (now you see what a cheek I have to criticise!!) It has a steel point and a ring of beads. It did have a captive ring on the axle but as I thinned down the spinning axle to get it to spin better, the captive ring became no longer "Captive" :(
2 A fascinating and innovative entry. A little hard to spin but worked well as a "palm spinner" using the sides of your fingers! I must make one, kind of top.
3. Well, this is the ultimate in tops. If you can spin it then you get a prize. Our French demonstrator made this (And I am sure my "first prize top" too.) Quite unique, and I have one of these that he made for me. I hope you are green with envy!!
4 Another nice top
3. Thsi is another unique top. It has a lady crinoline over the axle. Great idea
4 Is onbe of a range of dot coloured tops that this person entered. Very pleasant.
1 Another two tier top
No special comment
1 I like the idea of making a matching tray
3 Is a supported top. Strictly speaking out of the rules, but still a nice top.
Sorry this is a poor pic. I had to be taken through a glass display case. It is my set of five ultra miniatures, made from 5 mm dia bone ( though some are smaller than that). They all spin, including the tippe top. I can not take a better picture as I swapped these with Bonnie Kleine for one of her tops.
No particular comments.
These are another pair of my "tops" though one is not a top, it is a drop spindle in bone and with a pewter inlay. 2 Is an aliminium top that I turn on a wood lathe. I don't like doing it, it is hard, hot and takes a long time, but it works ok.
No particular comments
No particular comments
I liked the plastic entry 4. I think it would need to be a string throw spinner
