I watched a recording of a live demo Matt Monaco did at a turning club. He made a spinning top with a captive ring only using the skew chisel. He suggested it was a good way to practice the skew and if you could do it you are well on your way to getting to grips with the skew.
On the face of it making a spinning top with a captive ring appeared quite straight forward but it was quite a challenge and I made many mistakes before I finally achieved a working top.
This was my first attempt. The ring was looking good but i put too much pressure on the ring just as it broke free and the ring shattered.
This was my second attempt. It worked but was a bit top heavy and the ring was too big. I knew I could do better so I made one final attempt.
This spinning top was my best spinner so far, it was a good shape but could have done with a little more care on the final cuts and maybe a bit of a sand.
Conclusion.
Making a captive ring spinning top with a skew it more challenging than it first appears. I really enjoyed doing it, I have a lot of lovely looking spinning tops some of which have captive rings, many don’t spin very well.
Everyone should try this challenge if only to practice the skew.