Loud Tone Generating Spinning Top

Load this top into its' handle, wind it using a strong string, such as an old YoYo string or twine, and pull hard.  A strong, quick pull results in a fast spin that lasts for a while as it makes a loud humming, whistling tone.

Rotation speed affects the tone and duration that the top will spin. The tone changes with spin speed and eventually fades out as the top continues spinning.  The harder you pull, the louder the tone and the longer it lasts.  My maximum spin duration is 118 seconds. Can you beat it?

The top spinner handle separates from the top spinner head to permit the top spinner head to be replaced easily.  As the spinning top handle rotates inside the top spinner handle head, wear will occur.  Rather than fiddling with bushings, I preferred to just replace the head when needed. The top section of the spinning top also has threads to permit replacement without the need to reprint an entirely new top.

This was inspired by a noisy spinning top project video done by Maker's Muse some years ago.  I prefer a smaller handle than Maker's Muse used and wanted to see how difficult it was to make a tone generating spinning top of my own design.  It wasn't easy.  I tried making the body taller, changing the opening size, changing the number of openings, changing the diameter, and even adding sound chamber baffles.   After over 29 iterations, I settled on this design.  

The screw threads are snug when printed on a printer with a 0.3mm tolerance.  Using 0.2mm for the threads mating to a 0.28mm results in a snug but not tight fit. 

Slicer Settings (Cura)

Spinning Top Body: 

• Material - PLA
• Orientation - sitting on the flat section pointing at the sky
• Layer height - 0.28
• Wall line count - 4 (to increase mass in the outermost areas) 
• Top layers - 4
• Bottom layers - 4
• Infill density - 15%
• Infill pattern - lines
• Support - None
• Build plate adhesion - None

Spinning Top Screw in Section: 

• Material - PLA
• Orientation - sitting on the flat top section with the threads topmost
• Layer height - 0.2
• Wall line count - 3 (for strength and wear resistance)
• Top layers - 3
• Bottom layers - 4
• Infill density - 5% (we don't want mass in the center top section)
• Infill pattern - lines
• Support - Required
• Support Placement - Touching Buildplate
• Build plate adhesion - None

Top Spinner Handle: 

• Material - PLA
• Orientation - sitting on the screw threads opening 
• Layer height - 0.28
• Wall line count - 3 
• Top layers - 4
• Bottom layers - 4
• Infill density - 15% 
• Infill pattern - Cubic
• Support - None

Top Spinner Handle Head: 

• Material - PLA
• Orientation - handle stands vertically resting on the flat of the screw threads  
• Layer height - 0.2
• Wall line count - 3 
• Top layers - 4
• Bottom layers - 4
• Infill density - 50% 
• Infill pattern - Cubic
• Support - Required
• Support Placement - Touching Buildplate