Making 50 wooden spinning tops for a good cause

Again this year Greek woodturners make tops for a good cause. We make tops and send them to the non profit organization SYZOI. I made 50 tops out of beech wood.

The event is called "Top battle 2018" and it comes to life from:

The Greek woodturners team

And ArtStreet52

https://tinyurl.com/yb4dk8fg

Now as far as the making of process is concerned, I made all my tops out of beech wood.

I first jointed and planed my stock on my planer jointer machine. 

I then ripped cut my stock on the table saw. Using a stop block on my cross cut sled, I cut the blanks of my tops. 

I then mounted the blanks between centers on the lathe and turned them true with a bowl gouge. I also used a skew chisel to create a dovetailed tenon that would fit my chuck.

I then mounted each blank on my chuck and begun shaping the top with a spindle gouge. I also used a parting tool and a skew chisel. I sanded each top at 100grit.

I then set my lathe at minimum speed and painted each top on the lathe with two stripes.

I then added a roundheaded nail in the bottom of each top. This protects the wood from damages and helps the top spin better.

I then used the bandsaw to cut the tops away from the rest of the blank. On the belt sander I sanded off any saw marks.

My are ready to be sent to my friends in Thessaloniki who will then send them to SYZOI.

I hope my tops will bring some joy to other people! :)