Quasar 1 | WORLD RECORD

[@G0RSHK0V]

I remember when your tops could spin for only 42 minutes, you've truly came a long way

[@LordMerji]

Only?....ONLY?! I thought they could only spin for like a minute. Thank you YT for recommending this random video.

[@hiper_tops]

My first top spun for 3 minutes haha, we’ve certainly come a long way

[@adrianlovic6486]

What U on, 42 min?

[@G0RSHK0V]

@@hiper_tops energy loss being exponential makes such an improvement far more impressive

[@trucid2]

He sure turned the tables on those tops.

[@berlayar14-ff7pu]

Today I learned there is something called tops. Keep doing your passion dude. Thank you KZbin algorithm.

[@hiper_tops]

Thank you :)

[@kiefc_]

you've really topped it off this time

[@WayFinder42]

truly topped themselves

[@hiper_tops]

@kiefc_ been here since 10 subs, real OG! Thank you

[@genghi5khan]

You've put a new spin on this engineering ;-)

[@JoelTopsom]

I'm glad you find joy in such a simple toy, kids these days want all the latest stuff. Your a credit to your parents.

[@RejoiceYardley]

cant believe it's come this far, and the fact you already have plans to better it boggles my mind

[@twixerclawford]

Truly magnificent, it's a thing of beauty. You've outdone yourself!

[@Lordazoid]

You can try a surface finish without laminar airflow. Also try to make the base outside of the spinning surface from composite materials. This will reduce eddy currents. For the handle maybe try fish scale instead of the vertical lines. Would be really interesting to see. In any case, let us know when its up for sales

[@hiper_tops]

More advanced surface finishes are something I’ve been looking into for quite a while. I’d like to experiment with microscopic riblets but it’s outside the range of my machining abilities at the moment. Regarding the eddy currents, I don’t think this should be a factor as I don’t use any magnets but I’ll look into this. And for the knurling, I don’t think there is much impact on air drag so it’s down to preference! I’ll continue to play with this aspect. If you really want a top like this, send me an email and I’ll continue the conversation :)

[@dittilio]

The earth's magnetic field would be intersected by your tops which are of a conductive material, the magnetic flux distortion is enough to generate eddy currents, these also interact with the conductive base material. However, this should be extremely weak. I'd estimate the contribution to total losses in the order of 0.01-0.00001% Practically negligible I think. But possibly measurable if you were inclined. It would be cool to see a ceramic top/base though.

[@Deontjie]

Or buy a motorbike and go for long rides in the countryside?

[@viciousKev]

If it was heavier like tugnsten

[@michaelcampbell1471]

Awesome craftsmanship and detail. I never knew this record segment existed until today. What an awesome intro to this world. Subscribed!

[@hiper_tops]

Thank you and welcome!

[@MrJEstacado]

I’d definitely have just decided I was still in the dream at some point

[@LukeLiveforphysics]

Congratulations!! If you're interested to quantify the drag due to air friction, and quantify tip friction losses, I have many large vacuum chambers at my lab. Some are on turbomolecular pumps to reach

[@hiper_tops]

Thank you very much for the offer! I invested in a small vacuum chamber of my own a while ago. It won’t be any where near as perfect as yours but for now it is satisfactory :)

[@PedrinhoCruzeirense]

Taking the air out of the vacuum chamber must be done in such a way to minimize friction caused by the air displacement, am I correct?

[@rachelHcoupe]

Well done! Fabulous achievement. It's beautiful - science and art combined! Looking forward to seeing where you go next!

[@AlbertGoh-n5l]

Amazing achievement! You have cracked the science for spinning tops! Beautiful video too!

[@andrewbevan3933]

Can’t wait for the full spin video. Which reminds me, I need to pick up some more popcorn for the occasion. 😊

[@JonMurray]

Absolutely incredible mate! Congratulations! What a journey!

[@dittilio]

They're so beautifully done, I'd love to see an installation of them where you have a 100kg one at the base, then 25, 5, 1 and 200g, each one spinning on top of the one beneath.

[@hiper_tops]

That would be a fun project haha, a bit of redesigning needed...

[@josephinebennington7247]

Suggestions for even longer spin times… 1. Dimples like a golf ball? 2. Make it of heavier material? 3. Heavier and with greater circumference?

[@hiper_tops]

1)The golfball dimples would be detrimental. Check out the comments under my video on Mk.22 for some interesting discussions on this. 2)The flywheel of this top is made from 90/10 tungsten copper (16.75g/cm^3). I would like to use tungsten (20g/cm^3) however I currently don’t have the machining capabilities (I’m hoping this will change soon). 3)The ideal mass depends on the radius and density of materials used. For 70mm 90/10 tungsten copper, 380-400g is ideal. I will play around with more geometries in the future. (Mk.21 was 800g but didn’t spin for as long)

[@josephinebennington7247]

@@hiper_tops Hi, thanks for your considered replies.

[@samcertified7178]

That is truly incredible! Well done.

[@stefankieling5362]

This is truly amazing! Congratulations! Hope to see you soon again in HK!

[@squibble111]

this is unimaginably cool. Congrats on the beating the world record !

[@iPlayGamesX]

squibble reference

[@user-qw9yf6zs9t]

squabble

[@SchwardsChannel]

It's enough time to see earth rotation

[@chrisedwards3866]

Also, if the knurling has an affect on air friction (I presume it does, even though it's probably small), there may be a way to keep the knurling but reduce the effect. As you probably always spin the top in one direction, can you make the knurling directional? Like make the cut pattern in the style of a ratchet wheel? That should allow for maximum grip, with shallower cuts and a lower angle, and thus reduce air resistance in that direction.

[@hiper_tops]

You are right, the impact is small but probably there. I actually tried a ratchet design on one of the quasar tops but it didn't have a noticeable difference. I will try this again when I have access to CNC machining.

[@SALSN]

Have you tried spinning that thing in a vacuum?

[@hiper_tops]

I spun Mk.22 in a vacuum and it went for 1hr 30min :) (Compared to 1hr 2min in air). It’s an important step in collecting data and modelling the air drag!

[@r0cketplumber]

@@hiper_tops Several things- perhaps you could use a watchmakers' ruby bearing for the tip to spin on, harder and lower friction- and maybe even a ruby tip for the smallest possible bearing area and radius. Also, if using a vacuum, you could pull vac, refill with helium, then pull vac again to get the effect of 7x lower pressure than the pump alaone can reach.

[@ZaasKenar]

@@r0cketplumber If I recall correctly - he tried the ruby tip in one of the previous models.

[@griper00]

He could add actual bearing between the tip and the top. I told him about it before but he was like nah. I guess the spinning top community frowns up on it XD

[@scottmerritt9877]

@@r0cketplumberPlease do elaborate on your suggestion to backfill with helium and pump down a second time.

[@Awesomes007]

Fantastic. I’m curious about friction and different materials. And, different surface shapes for reduced air friction.

[@hiper_tops]

The coefficient of friction between tip base contacts is an under appreciated factor. I use HSS on lubricated tungsten carbide. This is ų=0.05-0.1. I am yet to find something better than this with appropriately hard materials. (Though I keep looking!). Regarding the shape, a rounded polished flywheel like I use seems to be optimal. Though the exact radius of curvature of the flywheel is yet to be optimised

[@faladorn2421]

How much time do you think you can gain if you spin it in a vacuum on a magnetic device ? No surface / air friction it could last for hours and hours 🎉

[@hiper_tops]

Several hours for sure, I wonder what factor would cause it to slow the most. Eddy currents? A little air drag? I’m not sure!

[@NicolasValentinScotland]

I spin my kayak , same idea . Keep going strong

[@TheMetalFreshTiger]

Wow!! Great work and good job

[@kiwigeeknz]

Cool. Can you introduce an electric mechanism to spin it? Surely it would go much longer if you didn’t spin it by hand? Also I wonder if dimples like they have on a golf ball would make it better or worse?

[@hiper_tops]

I could spin it with a dremmel, actually there’s a short clip of me doing this to Mk.22 in the video ‘how to make the worlds longest-spinning top’. However above around 3-4k rpms it tends to become unstable. Also, at these speeds rpm decays rapidly due to air resistance. Unfortunately golf ball dimples would be detrimental. There are some good discussions on this in the comments under my video about Mk.22 :)

[@masterxyr]

wow congrats on the record! these tops are mesmerising to look at. I wonder if the same principles that were applied to the golf ball would have any impact on such a project. I mean the dimples and how it reduced friction, just like with dolphin skin.

[@hiper_tops]

There are interesting discussions about this in the comments under my video on Mk.22, do check it out as it is a bit counter intuitive!

[@masterxyr]

@@hiper_tops oh cheers, will do!

[@Ionee-q4f]

i love the undying dedication to making metal spin for a really really long time, they really are quite beautiful as well. I'm curious as to what kind of considerations you put into the nurling, is it a source of drag because of the ridges? or does not really effect the spin time as much? regardless really neat stuff you do, super fun to watch the times keep creeping up and up :)

[@hiper_tops]

I do consider the knurling a lot as with all aspects of the top! However thankfully it is not a noticeable contributor to drag in comparison to the flywheel. In the future I hope to implement specialised knurling for better grip and aerodynamics:)

[@ja1212az]

Amazing work man

[@neptunevibe]

Hello, great toy! May I make you few suggestions? Try to use ruby tips or diamond tips (ruby like the one they use in the watches). I think this may improve the time a little bit.

[@hiper_tops]

From practical experience, ruby balls have not helped. My theory is that they do not benefit from lubricants like sharp tips do due to the large apparent contact area causing more fluid drag. (Sorry if this is a bad explanation). However this is an important area I’m looking into. If you know where to find such diamond, let me know!

[@Xavier1...]

This might be a bad idea, but what about small devit like a golf ball ?

[@hiper_tops]

There are some interesting discussions about this in the comments for my Mk.22 vid - do check them out :)

[@shoemakerleve9]

Insane machining, great work.

[@AmmonChristiansen-nq1it]

Expensive and bizarrely intimidating desk toy for powerful office/business man...? I like it!

[@hiper_tops]

That seems to be the market I have stumbled into :)

[@jacklav1]

What’s the rule about how high the centre of mass should be above the point?

[@hiper_tops]

It has to be positive such that the top topples over at the end of the spin. This top brings this principle near to its limit :)

[@darnstewart]

This is the first time I've seen one of your videos so this might be a redundant question. Could you get more speed and time if you used some sort of bow to spin it up? Now I'm thinking maybe that's illegal in a world record attempt, but it wouldn't be for you just to see if it works. A tiny divot at the top for a pin to hold it steady, wrap a string around the stem and whip it of real quick.

[@hiper_tops]

You are right I could likely start it faster with a string, although this still wouldn’t be easy. Although I consider it cheating, Guinness does not. So I may design a top for this in the future!

[@darnstewart]

@@hiper_tops I went and looked at your first video and I see you did something like it with a sleeve over the stem and and a thread wound round the stem. I agree with you. I think for a world record it would be cheating but for my self I think it's ok.

[@cbfull]

Beautiful. Could this be made into a magnetic levitating top?

[@hiper_tops]

There would have to be some significant changes to make it fully levitate, but it would be very easy to eliminate almost all the apparent weight with magnets

[@lewistaylor1965]

Loads of questions....Does oil help?...Are you allowed to magnetically float it and would it help or hinder?....Will a bigger top go longer?...Are you allowed to use a string to start it?

[@hiper_tops]

Oil does help! ~5% improvement. Magnets aren't allowed as you could quite easily eliminate all tip friction (make the apparent weight =0). According to my model the mass, diameter and height of flywheel used in this design is optimal. However I may be in a local-optimum! I actually think a bit smaller may be better. Personally, I want to use fingers to start it but according to Guinness, string is allowed :)

[@lewistaylor1965]

@@hiper_tops Thanks for the reply...Really impressive piece of work...and fascinating...I can see how the interest in this draws you in...Brilliant! ...

[@Oldtanktapper]

A quick thought on the bearings surface for the top to spin on, possibly a sapphire crystal watch glass? They’re fairly readily available, very hard being sapphire, and are made in both flat and concave/convex profiles. Also, instead of knurling the tip where your fingers go, possibly try a type of paint that has a ‘grippy’ surface, maybe like bitumen waterproofing paint.

[@hiper_tops]

I think these are good suggestions. I would like to try sapphire or something similar for the base, however tungsten carbide is actually harder. I really like your idea with the grippy paint. It would be easier and safer to apply and would be very slightly more aerodynamic

[@dvig3261]

Have you experimented with a magnetic suspension system? This would eliminate point dead, altogether. I would love to see the results of your designs along those lines.

[@hiper_tops]

This is considered cheating however since there is some interest in this I will try and include it as an experiment in a future video :)

[@whatercup5918]

Well that's cool I am eager to see what's next

[@ol48spring]

I can’t get “flight of the navigator” out of my head now. 😅

[@mrdjangofreeman5560]

Music 1st prelude of JS Bach BW846 😊

[@d.k.1394]

What would it be like having it made on a cnc lathe??? With an amazing smooth finish?

[@hiper_tops]

It would be a bit better…I hope to have access to one soon!

[@AidanofVT]

Wait a minute... if you're allowed to put the center of mass *below* the contact tip of the top, and spin it on a special plinth, can't you make a top which just NEVER tips over, even at a standstill?

[@hiper_tops]

This is true and very easy to do! They are called n-cog tops (negative centre of gravity) in the community. However since they don’t topple, which is a key characteristic of spinning tops, they don’t count towards world records. If I made this top n-cog, it would only add about 3-5 minutes due to how slowly it already topples!

[@Yahsom]

Could your time be increased if the top was in a vacuum chamber, or would that violate the rules?

[@hiper_tops]

It violates the rules but would certainly prolong the spin significantly

[@Yahsom]

@@hiper_tops higher elevation, then

[@arachnidkalven]

Wondering if you have played with weight differences. I would think it would be better with higher mass. And have you considered gears for the initial spinning? Maybe that’s another category

[@hiper_tops]

I've made tops in this style ranging from around 200g (Mk.10) to 800g (Mk.21) and so far ~400g has been optimal. However the ideal weight depends on the diameter, for smaller diameters, a lighter weight is better and vice versa. The ideal diameter is something I am unsure about and I will experiment with further!

[@arachnidkalven]

@@hiper_tops cool very cool😎

[@dittilio]

What's the maximum launch speed you can achieve? I feel like there'd be diminishing returns on just spinning it faster.

[@hiper_tops]

This top was started at around 2300 rpm. At these speeds, the top loses energy as fast as I give it! I am hopeful that with practice I can strengthen my spinning muscles and get closer to 3000rpm but even this would only add a couple minutes as you suspected.

[@RogerRabbit-hd1hh]

Wonder how long can it spin in a vacuum chamber…

[@devenpatel3044]

you could add directional shapes to the underside so when the top spins it pulls in air slightly relieving pressure on the tip. you can also shape the underside so that there is a dead space around the tip, and the air vortex that forms by the shaped grooves also creates additional balance which could make the top last longer at higher revolutions.

[@hiper_tops]

I've thought about trying to reduce the weight of the top with such additions, however I believe they would be far more detrimental to air drag than what is gained though reduced tip friction.

[@ChristianNeff]

I wonder how long it would spin in a vacuum after being spun up by a fast cordless drill... weeks? Months???

[@hiper_tops]

Tip friction is pretty much linear with angular velocity so disregarding the effect of tip bluntening and base drilling, it would be ~start rpm/2000 hours :)

[@danielw.4876]

Is it considered cheating to make the center of mass below the balancing point, so that it would never topple?

[@hiper_tops]

At that point it is a different category, it is no longer a spinning top as it never topples. I could quite easily change this top to be n-cog like this, however it would only spin for another few minutes thanks to the incredibly slow speed it already topples at!

[@squa_81]

Do you intend to write a paper on all the theoretical research you've done on spinning tops? (Tip friction, air drag etc...)

[@hiper_tops]

I would like to eventually!

[@scottm2553]

Hey there, just had an idea. What are your thoughts on using a very light, yet strong material like titanium for the main body of the top and press a tungsten ring onto it to give you the high moment of inertia. With a big design change like this, I'm sure there will be kinks that need to be worked out but this may give a big leap in performance.

[@hiper_tops]

I like your thinking - I would add that the core doesn't have to be as strong as titanium! One day, I would like to make a Tungsten flywheel / Magnesium core spinning top. However I have safety concerns with working with magnesium and my current lathe can't handle tungsten. Hopefully I'll be able to make a top like this sooner rather than later.

[@relaxingnature2617]

Very impressive ..next time try 2 rings

[@jonathancastillo6433]

I wonder if temperature has a tangible enough effect on run time. I’m assuming chilling it will have better results, just based off of vibes. In reality, hearing it and letting it cool while spinning will cause it to shrink (negligibly) such that we can see an (extremely small) increase in angular velocity at some point. Thinking a little more, this has nothing to do with increasing runtime does it?

[@hiper_tops]

It's good to think outside of the box like this. Cooling the top itself wouldn't do much but cooling the environment would - since air is less viscous (but more dense) when cold, air drag could be reduced. I haven't been able to test this much as I don't have crygenic cooling equimpent. Still, a fridge test at some point would be interesting.

[@radkokosoTT]

Have you thought about using tungsten carbide tip?

[@hiper_tops]

I used to do this, however it drills into the base quite quickly (which is also carbide). So it is good, possible slightly better for one spin, and then the base needs regrinding!

[@xyrean]

Totally of topic but is this video HDR?

[@hiper_tops]

It was, accidentally left hdr mode on my iPhone, but I turned down the contrast a bit in post to compensate. Hope it isn’t too blinding!

[@everlast2658]

How would it fair if powers up to high rpm?

[@hiper_tops]

It would rapidly lose the rpms due to the high air resistance!

[@ConsoleCombatant]

There were some South Park unbelievers who called it a dreidel

[@dougg1976]

All the weight is right at the bottom , like a fly wheel , I wonder if we could reach 2 hour mark , maybe with a larger and slightly heavier but then more initial force would be required to achieve momentum .....

[@hiper_tops]

The larger the diameter and weight, the slower the starting speed. It’s a difficult balance to find!

[@rylanpeepee]

I wonder if adding golf ball dimples could help.

[@hiper_tops]

There are some good discussions on this in the comments of my vid for Mk.22, do check them out :)

[@bllu]

Use a glass bead to spin it on, I’ve found polished ruby with a small oil film reduces friction quite well.

[@hiper_tops]

This design is great but difficult to fine-tune when balancing. I would like to explore small ruby etc balls more in the future..

[@_BonsaiBen]

Beautiful surroundings, where is that in the world?

[@hiper_tops]

This was filmed by TaiTam reservoir in Hong Kong :)

[@dc-iq2bi]

i don't know if this will reduce drag or not but maybe experiment what will happen with a thin golf ball design just in the edge of the outward facing part of the top, like right in the center of it. also, im sure you have already thought of this but have you considered curving the edge of the top slightly downward. so tbat it looks like this /===\ so there is slightly more weight distribution to the bottom part of the top? maybe that can give marginally different results. yk just thinking outside the box and seeing what fits can be cool and maybe lead to the next breakthrough. love your content and keep innovating 🔥

[@hiper_tops]

Thank you for your ideas I always appreciate hearing what others are thinking! Regarding the golf ball dimples, these would not be beneficial. There are some good discussions about this in the comments on my video abt Mk.22. Regarding the bottom-heavy flywheel, I think this would be beneficial for tops with external tips. However since mine are internal, I have the freedom to shape the flywheel as I do, and I think it is a bit more aerodynamic.

[@anonymousperson2886]

Man, I wanna see how long goes if you start it using a power tool

[@hiper_tops]

I started this one ~2300 rpm. If I started it at double, ~4600rpm, it would only spin for about 10-15 minutes more! This is because the rpm decay is quite exponential. The top loses ~5% of its rpm each minute.

[@EdwardHinton-qs4ry]

What are they actually for? What use do they have in life?

[@hiper_tops]

For now these are kinetic art/physics toys which demonstrate near-perfect mechanical efficiency in a satisfying way. This has been my hobby since I was 13 and now I am turning it into a small business for the entrepreneurial experience :) In the future I would be interested in exploring the applications of this in the kinetic energy storage world and gyroscopes for navigation/movement in space

[@EdwardHinton-qs4ry]

@@hiper_tops Cool. Hopefully you can invent the first almost perpetual motion machine ;-)

[@farronmain6718]

i wanna know how long it will go if you realy spin it up like with a drill or dremill tool get it at like 2000 rpm and see how long it goes

[@aland8269]

probably not much longer since the opposing forces would increase with speed

[@hiper_tops]

@@aland8269 you are correct! I started this top at ~2300rpm by hand. If I started it at 4600rpm ie double, it would probably only spin for 10 minutes more! At high speeds air resistance is surprisingly strong, you can feel a wind coming off the top at the start

[@flossordie2256]

Do one where you start it with a power drill

[@hiper_tops]

That would be scary! Perhaps I’ll design one for this purpose…

[@Miha-hq4hd]

I wonder how much does the knurling add to air drag. if that could be improved with maybe more aerodynamic knurls

[@hiper_tops]

I don't think it contributes much at all since the velocity gradient there is so much smaller than at the flywheel. You may be able to see this a bit in my science focussed video which has clips of spinning tops interacting with smoke.

[@LukeMastny-sb3to]

Could we generate energy with these?

[@hiper_tops]

Not really generate, although if you attached it to a generator once spun up, it would create about 7 joules of electricity. Certainly enough for some lightbulbs. It is more of an energy storage device. Kinetic energy storage systems are essentially big spinning tops!

[@deathbyslime6725]

​@@hiper_topsI've been thinking for some time about a system like that, spinning battery for light bulbs.

[@Duppavich]

Lubrication or low friction material on the pin?

[@hiper_tops]

Yes I use an oil lubricant

[@TorkildKahrs]

If the design has reached its potential, would you consider a higher speed top next?

[@hiper_tops]

Yes... :)

[@emersonchaves567]

You beat Iacopo! Hope he responds with another world record

[@hiper_tops]

I look forward to seeing what he does!

[@iacoposimonelli7191]

I feel a bit like David against Goliath, because he is using tungsten for the flywheels, while I am using lead, and tungsten is much more dense than lead, which is a big advantage for him. Maybe I too will have to start using tungsten, even if I hate it.

[@chrisedwards3866]

I was thinking about this a few days after watching it, and I wonder about this for reducing the air friction: you know how there are materials and coatings that can make a surface hydrophobic, and a metal ball coated in that can fall through water faster than one without the coating (thus, less friction and resistance) - is there any material or coating that is air-phobic? Even if it's only marginally able to maintain a thin layer of lower-pressure air around the top, a few percent less air resistance would go a long way. But maybe hydrophobic materials can only exist because water is so polar, while air isn't. Also, it would be cool to see what happens if you put a hydrophobic coating on a top, and spun it underwater. That would probably qualify it for another world record. And spinning it in water (with some floating particles), without the coating, could be a way to visualize the air resistance as it spins - and would be cool to watch.

[@hiper_tops]

There are aerophobic surface treatments, however I believe these are designed for a different flow regime to what my tops experience. There is no equivalent to hydrophobic coatings as air molecules are mostly diatomic as opposed to polar molecules.

[@jmkusa]

This is top content!

[@Rubbernecker]

Gonna be hard to top that....

[@thorwaldjohanson2526]

What is the rule set for these tops? I could imagine a lot of fun engineering to increase the starting spin velocity, like internal springs etc.

[@aland8269]

What is a top? Hand hold-able object that can be spun with one hand on a surface.

[@hiper_tops]

Indeed if you are loose with the rules there are loads of ways to increase spin time! The rules I have been sticking to are: the top is started with the fingers, no moving parts or magnets, all starting energy is rotational kinetic ie no batteries, positive cog so it topples at the end and done in normal atmospheric conditions ie not vacuum or shroud.

[@stocky9218]

For tip friction could you use a polycrystalline diamond tip and floor surface for extremely low friction?

[@hiper_tops]

In theory this is a good idea, however in practice, polycrystalline acts very abrasively. Any tip becomes instantly blunt when spun on it. And if a softer material is used for the base then the top would rapidly drill into it! I would like to try monocrystaline diamond when I get the chance.

[@stocky9218]

@@hiper_tops Thanks for the reply, do you think it would be better if both surfaces are pcd?

[@paulsaulpaul]

Interesting. I've never thought of a top as more than a child's toy. Very fascinating how you've engineered this to such precision to achieve this. It's probably not financially feasible, but I'd love to see some research on using amorphous alloys for the base and tip. These alloys can have interesting properties like bounciness (as demonstrated by Steve Mould) and very low friction.

[@hiper_tops]

Thanks! I’ve seen the video you are talking about, but the energy return of the bounciness wouldn’t really help here. The most important factors when selecting a tip-base material combination is the overall hardness (as high as possible), relative hardness (base slightly harder than tip), and coefficient of friction (with lubricant, which needs to be as low as possible). Also there’s the challenge of getting the material and machining it to the right geometry (difficult to do with monocrystaline diamond). Hence so far I’ve been using HSS and tungsten carbide. It works well but I’m looking for more options! (I’ve already tried synthetic ruby and sapphire, ceramics, teflon, steel and carbide bearing balls, torlon, cbn)

[@paulsaulpaul]

@@hiper_tops Thanks for the detailed reply. These alloys apparently have very low friction too. But I know very little about them. I realized after I wrote that last night that machining them could be difficult/dangerous. Most (all?) of them contain Beryllium. It's very dangerous to breath any of that in. NileRed recently did a video where he made his own bouncy metal disks where he elaborated on the dangers of it. Just a thought I had. Probably not worth what little reduction in friction might be had.

[@Christophos2A]

What a beautiful thing

[@Ucceah]

what would happen if you spun it up to 10000rpm or more?

[@hiper_tops]

It would spin for perhaps 15 minutes more which isn't much considering the 1hr 12min spin started ~2300 rpm. This is because air drag increases quite exponentially! Even at 2000rpm I can feel a strong wind coming from the top. Another factor is stability, in my experience, above a certain speed, any tiny imbalance in the top can magnify until the top falls off the base!

[@hmproject2030]

Its really cool, respect

[@NitroniumGaming]

What's the requirement for centre of mass? I'm assuming that the lower it is, the slower it can spin, but if the COM is lower than the tip, then it will never tip. What's the rule on this?

[@hiper_tops]

As long as the cog is positive, it can be as close to the tip as you like (which is what I do!)

[@urdnal]

Have you tried any dry lube or would that be cheating?

[@hiper_tops]

I have but I've found oil to be the best so far. I will test more lubricants in the future!

[@MakeAlgoGreatAgain]

Keep going! If you can break 2 world records by making this top on your low tech manual lathe in your room (sorry the video does not lie), think of what you can do with an optimised CNC lathe? I am amazed how you got this far, just by using your eye and manual trial and error. Leonardo Da Vinci did just that in the Renaissance. Imagine if Leonardo had access to modern technology?

[@hiper_tops]

You are all too right about by crappy lathe haha, would love to upgrade it someday. I'm hoping to play with my university's cnc lathes but they make it quite difficult...

[@leelastname7628]

Do it in a vacuum chamber

[@BramCohen]

You should have a polycrystalline diamond tip made by the same people who make diamondback nozzles

[@hiper_tops]

I suspect such a hard tip would drill aggressively into the base, even if the base were also diamond! However this idea is on my mind for testing.

[@BramCohen]

@@hiper_tops Maybe but diamond is extremely slippery so maybe not

[@wizrom3046]

Try a magnetic non-contact point

[@hiper_tops]

I will do this in a future video as an experiment but it is considered cheating for the world record.

[@OO-mk1xf]

Magnet for less friction?

[@hiper_tops]

Possible but against the rules, will be fun to showcase in a future video

[@luplex7567]

Couldn’t you put a ruby as the tip?

[@hiper_tops]

I could but it wouldn’t spin for as long. I did that with Mk.21 which you can see on my channel. For such heavy tops, ball tips become worse than sharp tips. Also tungsten carbide is harder than ruby.

[@fg786]

Do you have a diamond tip running on a polished diamond plate?

[@hiper_tops]

I use HSS on Tungsten Carbide. Diamond tips are too abrasive and drill into any base including diamond. A monocrystaline diamond base has a lot of potential but we’ll have to wait until I’m a bit richer before we can test it haha

[@fwiffo]

@@hiper_tops I was about to suggest sapphire, but you're obviously way ahead of me if you're using tungsten carbide.

[@Shrouded_reaper]

I wonder how long you could get it to spin if you threw out all the "rules" for a conventional spinning top. Magnetically levitate it, throw it in a vaccuum chamber, get one machined on a very, very accurate lathe so that you can start it at super high RPM without it getting unbalanced, etc..

[@hiper_tops]

This would be a fun experiment. I believe people have done this and achieved over 10 hours, possibly much more!

[@exactspace]

You could model it and the physics in a computer program, and have it perform small mutations on the design, and see if there’s improvements in the spinning duration. Keep on repeating and evolve the design.

[@hiper_tops]

I hope to reach this point, and I have a preliminary formula but I am a bit lacking in expertise in this area for now..

[@christinacastro1340]

maybe graphite powder lubrication?

[@hiper_tops]

I tried this with limited success, it seems liquid does a better job of getting under the sharp tip, however I’m going to test more lubricants

[@EJtruck]

Well this changes the end of Inception

[@hiper_tops]

If I could make a top spin for as long as that movie, I would be very happy haha

[@dnswhh7382]

Would also be interesting to see its spinning time in a vacuum.

[@hiper_tops]

If started at the same speed, it would probably be around 1hr 45min. However this design isn’t optimised for a vacuum. I would like to design a top for this environment in the future :)

[@d.k.1394]

As a child my tops spun for 30 seconds tops

[@anamnesiser]

'Quasars' like Donald duck for adults 🤭 Great spinning top thou

[@Quasar0406]

it's me