December 18, 2020

Spin Forever with a Schulte Spinning Top

We know that every top spinner wants their spinning top to spin forever (or at least longer than their friendly competition!).

With a Bruce Charles Designs Schulte, it can do just that...spin forever...or almost forever!

But how...and why?! "We loved this explanation by Art of Play. "A spinning top is held upright by angular momentum. As Newton said, objects in motion, stay in motion. They don't change direction or slow down without the application of an outside force. In fact, a well balanced top that is spun perfectly upright would never slow down if it were not for the energy lost to friction against the spinning surface."

Minimizing friction is key for that forever spin! That's where our silicon nitride ceramic bearing comes into play. Our Schultes are engineered with excellence and meticulous attention to detail to achieve perfect form, weight and balance to help reduce spinning friction!

With friction reduced, the length of the spin depends on many factors - skill level, the weight of your top (Schultes range in weight from 0.7 ounces to 1.2 ounces depending on the metal), and spinning surface.

As Art of Play shared, one could nearly eliminate friction altogether with a magnetic spinning top. But since we aren't working with a magnetic spinning top, the surface for spinning plays a big part in reducing the friction and getting that forever-long spin time! Our 100mm or 150mm Glass Concave Lens Spin Surface Base have been useful tools to help others achieve that forever spin with their tops!

A few tricks for getting your Schulte to spin forever -

Make sure the surface you’re spinning on is level.
Place your Schulte spinning top on the surface before spinning. Hold your Schulte with your index finger and thumb.
For a beginner grip, hold lower down on the stem of the top. For those more advanced top spinners, hold higher up on the stem of the Schulte.
Rotate index finger and thumb in a snap motion (snap your fingers)

A perfectly upright and seemingly motionless spin that lasts takes practice to achieve. On an ideal surface with a powerful and balanced spin, both the brass and fusion tops have been known to achieve spin times of more than 10 minutes. So keep on practicing...we know you can get that Schulte spinning forever and maybe you can beat Lacopo Simonelli, who currently holds the record of spinning a non-mechanical top for over 50 minutes!