Tools and materials I propose:
Every year Greek woodturners and makers unite. We make spinning tops and toys for a good cause. I made my this year's top out of a strange piece of wood I found in the garbage, and some brass scraps. The event is called Top Battle and you can find more info about it here: https://tinyurl.com/yhyekudm
I begun by cutting my log to size with my cordless chainsaw.
Next I mounted the blank between centres on the lathe and turned it true with a roughing gouge.
Once the blank was pretty round, I increased the speed of the lathe so I could work a little bit faster.
I shaped my top using mostly the roughing gouge, a bowl gouge and a spindle gouge.
Using the skew chisel, I created dovetailed tenon so I could mount the top on my chuck jaws.
I made the tip of my top out of some scrap pieces of brass I had in the shop. To work with the brass pieces on the lathe I used my machinist’s chuck. I used my files to shape the tip. The lathe was set at low speed. I then drilled a hole on one piece and shaped another piece as a dowel. Finally I glued the tip and the dowel with epoxy. I also glued the whole brass tip in the top using 5 minute epoxy as well.
I made a small adapter out of beech for my tailstock. This way I could hold the top between centres and get less vibration.
I used a bowl gouge to finish the shaping of my metal tip. This was not ideal but I took it slow and it worked. I finished the job with sandpaper.
I then finished the overall shaping of my top. With my skew chisel I created three grooves. Then I used my wire burning tool to burn three black lines. This kind of gave a traditional look to my top.
I found the wood in the street so I thought it would be a good idea to apply a coat of wood preservative. This should kill any bugs that might have lived in the wood.
I then sanded with 220, 320 and 400grit. I wet sanded with mineral oil and 500grit.
I polished the top with abrasive paste. I applied one coat with the coarse grit and one with finer paste.
In these kind of projects I really like using beeswax. The friction from the lathe melts the wax. Then I wipe off the excess and this leaves a really shiny surface that looks awesome.
Finally I cut the top off the lathe and polished the end grain of the handle. I used the heat gun to melt the wax and apply it.
And my top was ready. I am really happy with the way it came out! I wish all the best to the participants of the Top Battle 2019.
But that was it. See you soon with a new project video!
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