From the Loftsmith community

Ripcord Spinning Top + Launcher

A spinning top you launch with a pull instead of a flick. Slot the toothed strip into the launcher, yank the loop handle, and the top whirls off on its pointed tip. Change how many blades it has, or the width of the body, to tune the spin.

7 parts · 74 g · 246 × 195 × 47 mm

Orange launcher with a loop handle and toothed strip beside a dark spinning top with a pointed tip
Loading the 3D view
Loading the 3D view
No adjustable sizes

Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.

Change it in the Studio

Parts

  • top-body · PETG · Top face down
  • top-inlay · PETG (orange) · Prints inside top-body
  • tip · PETG · Shaft end down
  • launcher-body · PETG · Floor down
  • launcher-cover · PETG · Flat face down
  • launcher-pin · PETG · Head down

    3 mm pin, so print it slowly with 3+ walls.

  • launcher-gear · PETG · Prongs down, pinion up

    Use a brim, and tree supports under the flange if your slicer asks for them.

  • ripcord · PETG · Flat, lengthwise (242 mm)

Print settings

Layer height
0.16 mm
Walls
3
Infill
20% (100% for top-body)
Supports
Only the gear, if needed
Notes
Slot 1 navy PETG, slot 2 orange PETG for the inlay (small prime tower).

Hardware

  • 623 bearing (3×10×4 mm) · Press into the seat in the gear's pinion face. The seat is 10.1 mm across.

Assembly

  1. Push the tip into the top and twist 60° to lock.
  2. Press the bearing into the gear's pinion face.
  3. Drop the gear into the housing from the top, so its flange hangs in the funnel seat.
  4. Slide the ripcord into the tunnel, teeth toward the gear.
  5. Press the cover onto its pegs, then push the pin down through the cover and the bearing.
  6. Hook the top onto the prongs and pull the cord hard in one smooth pull.

Good to know

  • The one failing check, 'Every part has a way in', is intended and not a defect. It flags the ripcord's teeth meshing with the gear's teeth, which is how a rack and pinion works. The real fit is that you slide the cord in with the gear already seated and the cover off.
  • The gear may need a brim or a little support: the build report shows only a tiny contact patch on the bed, plus a flared flange. Do a test print of the gear first.
  • The bearing seat leaves a 1.7 mm wall at the tooth roots, which is thin. The bearing fit is a 0.05 mm press, so test the gear first and tell me if it's too tight or loose.
  • The cover and pin are friction-fit only, so add a dab of glue if the pin walks out.
  • Launch motion is checked on screen and by numbers only, not on a real print.
I printed this Remix

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