Spinning Top

Requirements - Design and build a spinning top that spins for one minute

Materials -

1 x Hex Bolt

1 x Large Washer

2 x Small Washers

1 x Nut

1 x Ball Bearing

Having been in Mr. Hathorn's 3D Modeling classes before, I had made quite a bit of spinning tops. I was happy to hear that this project would be different than the ones I've attempted before. This was also the first project that we did independently, which tested everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Having done project like this before I did not want to 3D print my top for this assignment. Instead I did some research and found a interesting page (On left). i choose to follow this path and was about to make a trip to The Home Depot for parts. I chose to scavenge around for materials first and I found everything I needed. I started by drilling into the bolt head and then glueing the ball bearing into the hole. After I put the washers on and spun it, it worked great. I was satisfied yet though. I then wrapped string around the bolt so that I could pull the string and in turn get the top to spin faster. In the end, my top spun for 3 minutes and with perfect conditions could have spun for longer. I used the accessing and analyzing information rubric by finding online the exact way to make the best design.