DIY Levitating Top

K&J Magnetics shows how you can make a levitating top out of some neodymium magnets, some wood, and a pencil!

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[rioreason]

I just found your website two days ago, and today your channel pops up for me in a search result for “levitating magnet toy” - I love it! I think I’ll be ordering one of your mystery boxes soon (love that you have that option). My 6 year old son is really enjoying using magnets all over the house!

[philipportland]

Your Magnetic base is great.
You need to Lathe turn your Spindle out of solid PVC or similar, and then press fit the ring Magnet onto a shoulder. Rotational balance is the key.
Keep the centre of gravity of the Ring magnet/Spindle assembly as low a possible.
Cheers.

[LohitNarain]

Thank you for explaining how this works trying to make floating car for a school project

[michellehightower]

Have you tried an egg? If not, you could get some plastic eggs and suspend/glue the ring magnet in the center of the “opening “ within or around something. Tesla’s magnetic egg contraption comes to mind...

I’m excited to find your channel. I found your website and purchased some disc magnets over 10 years ago-great products and service-thanks for sharing!

[TonyPham-Creations]

Using a small manual metal lathe would be perfect for making that top! (out of an Aluminum Rod)

[noneofyourbuisiness]

Ok, really cool. So what happens if you rotate the base instead of the Top? What happens when you rotate both either the same direction or counter direction?

[foxpup]

I wonder if you could get somewhere with an aluminum pop rivet as the axle of the top. It seems about right in size and diameter for easy finger spinning. It would be particularly good for disk magnets with 1/8 inch holes.

[OutaDark]

An M4/M6 nylon bolt with nylon nuts for fastening everything together. Bolt head cut off and rounded with sandpaper. Top height may be critical.

[basicbodyhealth]

Try shorten and use a thinner shaft on the top, or increase the mass around the magnet.

[animatornj]

You definitely need a heavier object to spin on top of it. Pencil will run away always

[dabu]

You could try using a completely round and smooth pencil rather than a hexagonal one like I saw in the video

[MrFlybcrawl]

It is that you are using just a flat board with magnets in a circle only. This creates only a small window for the magnetic fields to be in perfect sink pushing against each other. to enlarger this you would need more magnets and add more layers of wood with magnets to make a bowl shape gradually going up. with those magnets at first tilting at a slight angle with each piece of wood. Till you eventually end up having the magnets being horizontal facing each other. You would need to figure out the spacing so that the field is centered with the magnets all holding the force in one spot. You could then put a small piece of metal and levitate it in the middle of the field just placing it with a pair of non ferris material or else just you fingers and seeing if the magnetic force will hold the object in place. As the bell of the bowl increases there will need to be big enough magnets or more of them so that it can push the ferris material towards the center. I could see a small table that metallic objects could move around on. They just wouldn't remain centered but still would levitate. If something wasn't magnetic it would fall through the center into a catch pan below it. I could imagine just using dirt, rocks, and black sand and see if one could take a small funnel and pouring it slowly through the funnel and see if it would make all the non ferris material go through to the catch pan underneath. While keeping the ferris material floating in mid air. Then could take a plastic spoon and collect the ferris material from mid air. It would be a great way of separation and being able to collect all of the magnetic material. It may take several spills to collect it all as the magnetic field can only collect so much before it can't collect any more and then lets anything through. Sometimes when other objects hit others it breaks some out of the magnetic fields grasp. I noticed this just trying to pick up black sand and other materials with a mechanical magnet. I just had to turn it on and release into my hand several times before I could separate all the magnetic material from the non magnetic material.

[jllaine]

What is the field (N/S) orientation on the ring magnet? You left that out of the video

[Rockstar]

I would use a 3d printer for the spinning top. Try that! Gl👍

[jdrissel]

I suspect getting rid of the metal ferrule and the eraser would be a step in the right direction. Then I think you might need to round the bottom end of the pencil, not sharpen it. The graphite from the lead will make it slippery enough. Last, try sharpening the top end of the pencil just a little so you can spin it faster. Last, make sure none of the magnets in the base have shifted. Superglue them or put dowel rods under them...

I saw a co-worker do this with a ceramic magnet from a big subwoofer under the base and a magnet from a headphone stuck on a bamboo skewer. He had the sharp end up because he could not get it to spin with the sharp side down even without the other magnet. I think the headphone magnet was samarium cobalt. This was in the 1980's and neodymium magnets were new and expensive. His top only rose up about 1/8", but it was up - we could pass a nylon wire tie under it without upsetting it...

[cristinamcnatt]

I need some pointers for the base. I don’t have the tools to cut the wood and drill the circle holes for the disc magnets. Tried thick cardboard instead. Magnets keep flipping out. I also can’t tell if you turned the base over to where the magnets are no longer exposed on top or the video just doesn’t show them because of the sticky notes. Any suggestions?

[kirk.illustration]

The top of your spinning top is too tall. The center of gravity is too high.

[richardhiller]

use a dowel sharpen with a drill and sandpaper (or on a lathe). The center has to be even and at center with the washer magnet.

[nsvaluto]

Can you do this with a disc with something on the disc

[wandererinadistantland]

Top will not stay spinning stable because of the irregularities of the pencil graphite. I would suggest a pen or another pointed metal object or cone covering the pencil tip.