Spinning Top Mk.19 | 48 minute spin
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 มิ.ย. 2022
- This video documents my most recent and best-performing spinning top - Mk.19. I made this top completely manually without any bought-in components.
Mass: 377g
Diameter: 70mm
Height: 67mm
Tip material: conical HSS (permanent)
Base material: concave tungsten carbide
Best spin: 48 minutes and 1 second (started by hand with multiple twirls)
This top is not for sale
Iacopo Simonelli inspired my designs, check him out:
/ @iacoposimonelli7191
I will be making another brass-aluminium top with an altered design next!
Feel free to like, comment and subscribe :) - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
![โอ้มายก๊อด! ไม่ถึงชั่วโมงหมดเป็นแสน 😅 [cc] แดนแพทตี้ SS2 | EP.42 |](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OH2ShXfO6tA/mqdefault.jpg)
Ignoring the science for a moment, let's appreciate the sheer beauty of what you made
This is insane! I never thought something like this would be physically possible. It’s a delight to watch such achievements. Well done and keep it up!
Thank you very much :)
TH-cam introduces me to new things all the time like this dude that makes precision tops.
Not sure if I’m disappointed or relieved that the full spin footage isn’t included! Thanks for sharing your passion!
Thanks algorithm, I didn't know I ever needed nor wanted to see such an impressive feat of engineering on something that seems so mundane to the average person. Excellent job.
🤣Pesky thing that algorithm...
Almost midnight and I stumble over this video. You absolute madlad, that is the greatest spinning top I have ever seen. What times we live in.
Thank you!
I would have never imagine so much interest and science dedicated to this topic hahhhahaha
the zoom in with the magnifying glass was so so so cool
48 minutes, it’s a good thing Nolan didn’t know about this or I’d still be in the movie theater.
James, your achievement and presentation is brilliant. I have watched your experiments and progress with Spinning Tops over the years and it is very satisfying to see the latest and ,so far, the best outcome for all your efforts and tenacity. You will be a great engineer.
Thank you! That means a lot :)
He IS a great engineer.
48 minutes is pretty insane
thanks :) still more to do though!
Bloody brilliant work. Incredible, It's amazing watching you progress. I have never considered before your video that a spinning top is a battery, essentially a store of the manual input of energy. Keep it up, well done.
Stumbled across this video accidentally… found it sooo fascinating as an mechanical engineer and so peaceful as well!!
I'm glad you liked the video :) I'm studying engineering at the moment!
This actually blows my mind! 48 minutes is insane!
Very impressive spin time for a hand spun top.
Thank you!
Very impressive is an understatement.
How did a year go by and I not see this? Precision engineering in all its forms is to me the summation of both mankind's ingenuity and the ability to express it as art. A spinning top such as this is like a program, but the source code it is compiled from is knowledge and skill. And like any good piece of software, simply knowing what it is made from and what tools were used to make it is not enough to replicate it. It is compiled knowledge, rendered into an object that does a deceptively simple task extraordinarily well...and I love it.
Thank you very much! Many years of research have gone into this hobby haha
100 hours! This makes me feel much better about the time I "waste" pursuing my invention ideas.
This is what we've come to for TH-cam. Watching a top spin for 45 minutes.
Unbelievable work by you, James; and a thing of great beauty too.
Thanks Sir :)
Fascinating design and presentation. I am deeply impressed with the amount of thought and work that has gone into material sourcing, design and production. The video is beautiful to watch, workmanship exquisite. I am still figuring out how you obtained the data to plot the decay curve. Absolutely brilliant, well done James!
Thank you! I measured the rpm of the top each minute using a tachometer :)
What an achievement both in mind and metal! I like it!
Immensely high-quality engineering! This is truly a feat to behold. Well done.
Thank you very much :)
I love this video James and what a great piece of design that is also beautiful visually. Well done!
Thank you very much!
Something about this checks all the boxes.
Amazing stuff! Looks like perfection made real
Very Well Done. Beautiful work too.
Cool,very well made!The best is that it looks as it would stand still!
Thanks :)
That was beautiful, I teared up a little.
What amazing presentation quality! I especially loved the way you used the magnifying glass to show the spinning top a bit more closely.
In highschool we had a top competition in physics class. I used a large vinylrecord with lead tape wrapped around the outside and a ballpoint pen stuck through the middle. won handily!
SUGGESTION: As a retired professional engineer (P.E.), I have several suggestions for you: (1) Use magnets to elevate the Mk.19 top and thus eliminate the physical contact point between the spinning top and its stationary table base. Although a physical contact point creates only a small amount of friction, its elimination might be significant enough to matter. However, I don't know if magnetic drag is a thing. (2) I wonder if the shape of your torus could be more aerodynamic if its shape was a true doughnut shape instead of having a squared outer edge. The surface area of a circular outer "edge" would have less surface area per unit of mass than that of your Mk.19 top. The overall mass would be reduced, but you could increase the diameter of the top to offset the loss of mass moment of inertia, albeit at a tradeoff of increasing its surface area. The optimum shape of the outer edge might also be parabolic or some hybrid of curves surfaces. Perhaps you know some friends in at NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), or the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), who know how to use finite element analysis to optimize the shape of the top. (3) Reduce the length of the grip surface on the spindle. I noticed that you only use the top half of the serrated spindle when winding the Mk.19 top. Thus, you can probably eliminate 50% of the serrations located, i.e., the ones located in the middle of the spindle, since you don't really use or need them. The unused serrations in the middle of the spindle only add aerodynamic drag. Since you can take as long as you desire to wind the top, you don't need serrations in the middle of the spindle. You only need serrations near the tip of the spindle. (4) Shorten the spindle. I'm not sure why you made the spindle so tall, other than for stability purposes, perhaps. (5) Fabricate the Mk.19 top out of a denser material, such as lead (or osmium, if you can find it. Ha. Ha. LOL), which would allow you to maintain the same mass moment of inertia but while using a smaller diameter top, which would significantly reduce the top's surface area and hence its aerodynamic drag. (6) Coat the surface using a super slick material. I am thinking that polished brass, although smooth, might not be as smooth or as "wind resistant" as other materials. You could use electroplating to apply a different material onto the outer surfaces. Although I am not a metallurgical engineer, I would also recommend that you consider the use of non-metallic materials as possible candidates for the cladding, e.g., graphite is a well-known super-slick surface. (7) Bevel the table base so that the top can tilt further from the vertical gravitational axis without hitting the table base, which will extend your timed runs a bit. (8) Eliminate the air gap between the inside of the torus and the spindle. OK, this will add more mass, but who cares? You are not bound to keep your top within a prescribed weight limit. The huge amount of surface area between the spindle and inside edge of the spinning torus adds a significant amount of surface area, and this inner edge is moving at quite high speed. (9) Use a string, or a pair of oppositely wound strings, to conduct the initial spin-up. Have you ever played the game "Battling Tops?" If so, you know what I mean. I suspect a pair of long strings being pulled rapidly - dare I say violently - in opposite directions could launch the top at a much higher RPM than that accomplished by just using your twiddling fingers. (10) Travel to the highest elevation place on Earth you can find to reduce the atmospheric pressure, and hence reduce aerodynamic drag. OK, you don't need to travel to the summit of Mt. Everest, but the tallest mountains in the U.S. offer elevations of 14,000 feet or more. The atmospheric pressure at 15,000 feet (depending on the air temperature) is approximately 8.3 psi, which is a 43% reduction in atmospheric air pressure. Wait for a low humidity day, and then run your experiment. The reduction in air pressure will reduce the Mk.19 top's aerodynamic drag significantly. Good luck. -tim
These are some good suggestions Tim thank you!
About (1) I see this as cheating a bit which is the main reason I don't use it. It should help however eddy losses may become a significant drag factor.
For (2) this is the most interesting optimisation challenge for me and something I am still working on. Getting the optimal mass, radius, height and curve for a given material is hard!
(3) I'll do this next time but it won't have a very significant effect because of the small radius here.
(4) A longer spindle makes it easier to spin with multiple twirls. However with how well-balanced these a turning out to be, I agree it could have been shorter.
(5) See my latest video! I used 80-20 tungsten copper alloy. My next top may be 90-10
(6) I'm no expert so would have assumed only the surface finish determined how slick it was. I'll look into it!
(7) True but the limit to how far Mk.19 could tip was mostly determined by the underside which I didn't want to contact the spinning surface.
(8) I did this with Mk.21 and will likely continue to
(9) String could get it a lot faster but I like starting with my fingers haha
(10) A bit of a dodgy technique but maybe if it helps break the hour barrier I would try it lol. Although no mountains around me
Congratulations, the design of your new top is very elegant. I see that you also improved the quality of the finishing of the polished surfaces.
The performance is also very good, as could be expected for a design like this.
Thank you! Yes this was quite the experiment regarding the square flywheel. It seems to me that rounding is indeed necessary - perhaps because our tops are relatively large in diameter compared to other external-tip edc style ones. I'll post the rpm data on ta0 soon!
Air on the G string was perfect.
That's insane, very beautiful yet weird looking top. 😆🤩
What a great way to top off the day. 😁
Bloody hell this needs way more views. This is extremely sick.
Thanks :)
What an elegant device.
Thank you :)
Beautiful piece.
This video convinced me that engineer ASMR was a real thing
Such a beautiful looking object.
Thanks :)
That is beautiful!
Id buy that for sure.
Loved the top and equally impressed with your choice of music.
Thank you haha :)
brother wonderful creation. What is the music?
👏 lovely video and work
Very cool and well-made video!
Awesome achievement!
Nice blend of theory and practice. Have you considered a retest in a vacuum and a mechanical spin up device for more constant initial conditions?
I have wanted to do this for a while, however I haven't had the opportunity yet. I might try asking my university. Iacopo Simonelli made an interesting video where he optimised a spinning top for a vacuum environment if you are curious!
I was thinking a toroid shape to possibly reduce drag, but I guess if you’re using a vacuum then the shape doesn’t really matter. What about using even harder materials for contact points?
@@Bansheekilrwhy toroidal? Doesn’t need to produce thrust
People did this already using a floating platform, it spins quite literally forever.
Nothing spins quite literally forever.
I really like the plots. Very interesting.
Thank you!
Beautiful!
Simply Beautiful
Great video! Instant like for Bach
Thank you haha
Esthetics of top are mesmerizing. Perhaps reducing area and depth of knurl, interrupted cut (or, bands) along with a lay to the pattern that doesn't "cut" into the air around it might increase time in spin. I look forward to you breaking 60 minute spin!
Awesome explanation 🙏
Hes talking about a top like it's a exotic sports car. Well done. It sucks you right in.
This makes me question reality.
You got yourself 100th subscriber.
Wow! Thank you for subscribing, glad you liked the video :)
Marvellous! :)
Excellent work! Extremely stable too. I'd like to see you use a drill with a special attachment to get it spinning initially at an even higher rpm. This should give you several hours of spin time I would think. Also, some sort of indicator applique (not machined, to maintain smoothness of the material) would make it easier to see the spin rate as well. This, inside a vacuum chamber would be crazy.
All good suggestions and things I would like to try in the future!
@@hiper_tops Excellent. Your top spins so smoothly that it literally looks like it's just sitting there, stationary, on top of the pedestal. note: I noticed that the MK 20 actually spun for "only" 41 minutes, so it looks like the path you're on with MK 19 is the right one.
@@JustWasted3HoursHere Yes, it is hard to tell what factor is superior for Mk19 though haha
@@hiper_tops Exactly. I can't imagine how many iterations you'd have to create to narrow that down. A possibly very expensive process!
Outstanding
Pretty damn good!
This is such a lovely video
Thank you :)
Magnificent video. I love watching hobbyists like you push engineering for a specific goal to its limits.
I don't know what the world record is for the longest spinning top, but I can't imagine that you're very far off.
Thank you! Iacopo Simonelli has made a top spin over an hour in the right conditions but the "rules" are lenient at best (Guinness allows for batteries which I disagree with - hence the record is 27 hours)
@@hiper_tops Wow, yeah, there should definitely be a separate category for that.
The precision of this top is amazing.
Thank you!
Brilliant 🌠
hey man this is awesome ! keep grinding those gears in your head!
Thanks :)
I would love to see how long this could spin with a motorised start at higher rpm's !
I'm a year late, but this is a freeking masterpiece
If you guess that air friction is significant, try placing a glass cup on top of the spinning top. The air inside will gradually spin along with the top and reduce the drag.
Unfortunately thats not how fluid dynamics works
This is insane… how are you this talented and skilled and only doing your A-levels… DAMN?!?!!
Also the Bach background music, great choice!
@@Nooticus Hahaha thank you :) Going into second year uni this October!
@@hiper_tops abolutely crazy talented! i just finished my second year!
That’s incredible. Would be wild to see: smoke against black background to visualize airflow. My guess is there’s a lot of drag in the knurling. Next: do it in a vacuum chamber. Might also want to get a mechanical method to spin it up to a set rpm to allow for more consistency in measurement. You’re clearly reaching the edge of what’s possible so either way great job.
All good suggestions I would like to try!
As a quick test, you could use a glass base (you can buy a small concave lens or mirror) I think you see that steel on glass is quite slick and does not require any special materials.
True! HSS on lubricated glass has a very low coefficient of friction - perhaps slightly lower than the carbide base I used. However, my tops are rather heavy and spin for a long time. As a result, they have a habit of 'drilling' into bases. If I used glass, over the course of just one spin, the top would create a microscopic dimple. This increases the contact area and results in vibrating etc. Thats why I used tungsten carbide. It is so hard, the top can't drill into it. If I make a lighter top, or a top with a ball tip, I will perhaps try glass!
@@hiper_tops I thought that might be a problem too. I guess it's time for diamond. 😉
@@gwalkeriq One day hahaha
What about a ruby tip like Swiss watches use to reduce friction
@@nicschne I think the carbide actually comes in slightly harder than ruby/sapphire.
This man spins
You got me. Subscribed.
Incredible production quality, how is this channel so small
My upload schedule is non-existent due to how long each top takes to make XD The TH-cam algorithm doesn't like this. Thank you for the comment!
Amazing. If u didn't post a comment on some video I would've had no idea about this, which was just what I was looking for.
What video was that haha
Nifty AF !
Great video. I would definitely look to employ a mechanical spin if you can to remove the unnecessary variables of a 2mins finger spin and indeed increase launch speed.
I love the attention to detail. A few thoughts..
1. This is similar to Mechanical Watches in terms of the contact between the top and the base. If you can obtain or create a synthetic sapphire (similar to the 'rubies' in a watch for the base, and use a tiny amount of watchmaking oil, this will reduce friction, which I'm sure the weight of the flywheel part causes.
2. The knurling isn't really required surely, and it bound to be a big part of the drag? Can't you polish the tip and start it using finger cots (another watchmaking tool) or latex gloves, or degrease your fingers and the top before starting?
3. Is there any way you can give the flywheel dimples like a golf ball to reduce vortices?
4. Can you etch or otherwise treat the side of the flywheel to have a sin wave type line with a wavelength equal to the circumference, so that the spinning shows better on camera?
Thanks for the video. It was very satisfying to watch!
All good suggestions. Have a look at Mk.21 - it has sapphire and ruby tip options! These do indeed work very well. Since the radius is small where the knurling is, the relative air speed is also small and hence so is the drag. It is quite negligible compared to the flywheel. However I may try a shorter, non-knurled stem next time (I may have to use rosin or something to help with grip). I'm looking into drag reduction surfaces but it wouldn't be golf ball dimples! And yes I'll find a way to make the spin more visible next time :)
@@hiper_tops I will have a look for the Mk. 21!
Not a surprise to me that you have already considered all this. Keep striving for perfection!
Hi James. We've been watching again and are curious to know how you measure the rate of decay i.e. how are you able to measure rpm and hence able to plot the data entries on the graph.
I use a tachometer to measure the rpm! This requires me to put some reflective tape on the spinning top. Then, the device shines a laser on this tape and counts the reflections. This is a tedious process, as I take measurements manually every minute for almost an hour!
It would be interesting to see what performance increase you would get by only removing the roughness on the top of the spinner point while still being able to spin it up to the 2000watt or whatever that number was you mentioned
Epic!
This is amazing !!!!! Ever thought about Guinness world record ??
I have haha but annoyingly Guinness's record allows for internal batteries etc. The current record is 27 hours I think. In my opinion there should be another category for my kind of tops - in which case the record would probably go to Iacopo Simonelli
@@hiper_tops ❤️
I never knew I had a need to buy something like this before 😅
briliant
That is beautiful. Have you tried spinning it up in a vacuum chamber and then quickly pumping out the air to verify your conjecture about drag? Is there a surface pattern that would act the same way that shark skin does with water?
Fantastic work, chapeau! If the top were bigger, like maybe twice the diameter, would it spin for longer, or shorter?
Beautiful ...... now perform the spin in a vacuum! I imagine you could start the "spin cycle" within a pot, close it, evacuate the closed pot, and measure the decay.
I loved it when my professors (in statics and dynamics as I recall - that was well over 40 years ago) would say "neglecting air", or "neglecting gravity".
Beautiful model and presentation. Did you consider Tungsten for the ring?
Cool vid. Thank you
Surely the score grip marks on the spire will result in drag and reduce the spin time?
I get that it's needed for grip so it can spin up though.
And, have yo considered using a finger clicking technique when it gets up to speed with the tip of the spire between your thumb and middle finger just before they connect?
Spinning tops are mesmerising, and yours is a work of art! I know they are not for sale but will they be, one day? I wonder if you could contact a manufacturer to get involved in this.
Would some golf-ball (from dolphins?) dimples help reduce air drag, I wonder. Of course, a machining nightmare...
I might try selling something in the future but it may take a while as I am still in school :)
The dimples might help at the start of the spin when the rpm is very high, but at lower rpm the benefits of the turbulent boundary layer would be outweighed by the drag produced as a result. If I ever access to a 4+ axis CNC machine, I would love to do experiments like this! BTW I think billetspin tried dimples when making their 25 minute spinning top in case you are interested.
@@hiper_tops thanks for the detailed answer, really appreciated it and learned a little more! Could gold instead of brass provide even better results? Cheers!
Fun - have you met the synthetic ruby bearings used in watches?
Simply amazing. Have you ever looked into the physics of an air-bearing, and if so, do you think the governing principles could applied to increase spin time? It seems to me that, given that the larger the surface area, the greater the opportunity present for drag to sap energy. Hence, my curiosity about air bearings.
On another subject, have you checked the base for magnetism at all? If any eddy currents are generated within the mass of the top during spin, it would likely sap energy from the system in the form of heat.
Keep up the great work! Looking forward to your next video! Cheers!
I'm no expert on air-bearings but they are very interesting! I wonder how small of an area could be used to float a 300g top. If it is small enough, I might think more about how to use it with a top. The issue is at some point the spinning top stops being a top in my eyes - the point tip of a top is an iconic feature. Also it would have to be able to fall over and I'm not sure how that would work with an air-bearing.
I haven't directly measured for magnetism but since there aren't any ferromagnetic materials in my tops, I don't think it should be an issue!
@@hiper_tops Thank you for replying! Yes, I see what you mean about the shape. I'm pretty sure a fairly small surface area would work, but you might have to compromise your use of a point in order to use it. I was thinking about the mechanics/physics of the concept, at the expense of the aesthetics, which does kind of negate the point of such a project (ha, I made a pun!).
They're super cool the way you make them, anyway. I think I just took the idea of minimizing drag to the extreme without considering the implications. As for the possibility of eddy currents, as long as there are no magnetized parts , it shouldn't be an issue, as you say. Thanks again for replying!
@@alden1132 No problem! Thanks for your interest
Is the air flow attaching itself to the smooth surface of the fly wheel? Golf balls use dimpled surfaces to make the air not attach to the ball by disrupting the flow at the surface. A totally smooth golf ball will only travel about 2/3 the distance of a dimpled ball. Is it possible to form an air bearing in the shaft?
Simply brilliant. Thought only because you mentioned it, is there any chance you’ll attempt to conduct a test from within a vacuum chamber? While I don’t understand everything that would go into that, I do understand that it would likely be complicated to keep a vacuum while maintaining the ability to manipulate the top. It image what this would do if there is basically no air resistance!
I would likely start the top, then pull the vacuum and start recording from say 2000 rpm onwards :)
If trying to reduce air friction.....what about making one with a smooth tip and using a rubber glove to spin it? I wonder if adding a carbon coat would reduce friction. Chris at a Glimpse Inside carbon coated his wood table saw and the reduction in friction seemed remarkable.
Would adding dimples to the surface reduce drag? Like a golf ball?
The dimples would reduce drag at the start of the spin when the top is spinning rapidly and the edge is moving fast like a golf ball.
However, the top slows down exponentially - quickly losing rpm. At lower spin speeds (the majority of the spin), the dimples would increase drag. So overall, they would not be beneficial. Let me know if you want a bit more explanation :)
I wonder how long it would spin with a ripcord? Beautiful piece!
And in a vacuum chamber.
What a nice looking beyblade
Just like Ironman said: I want one!!
So cool! Have you considered dimpling the solid edge, like a golf ball?
the dimpling of a golf ball energizes the boundary layer around the ball allowing it to remain attached as air flows around the back of the ball. it serves only to reduce pressure drag, and increases viscous drag. here, there is no pressure drag and only the viscous drag needs to be minimized. it's the same reason we don't dimple airplane wings.
@@yokowan thank you
bro is cracked at engineering
too cracked fr
Brilliant! Your design and workmanship are above top-notch! Have you considered golf ball dimples or other texturing to mitigate drag?
I'm researching this at the moment :) fyi wouldn't be dimples!