made a little video about launching ball stem UFOs
by special request, and with a G-Funk remix to appease resident grubber Chris Dean, here is a little video I made about spinning UDW ball stem UFO’s
DT’s Tops – Post #4
LUM W over BLACK TIMASCUS
DOB: 11/10/2014
Weight – 50g
Diameter – 1″
Height – 1.1″
Background – looking back, I had no idea how lucky I was to snag this top. Its currently the top i’ve had in my possession for the longest amount of time – bought November of 2014 direct from Mitch and never let go since! at the time, it was the most expensive top i purchased and one of the most expensive direct tops sold on ptt. I didn’t know too much about tops at the time, but I knew enough that I wanted a Tungsten top and Black Timascus sounded cool!
Materiels/Design – What I didn’t know at the time was that it was the first Tungsten top Mitch had made and the first (and only time) he would heat it with a black timascus core. For those new to hobby, Tungsten is not a metal that behaves. It really doesn’t behave when you try to heat it. Having a timascus/blk timascus/mokuti core would require some heating in order to bring out the design/colors of the twisted titanium/zirc. Good luck finding any top with this combination of materials. On top of all of that, Mitch used his signature Black Timascus as the core with and gave the Tungsten a satin finish on the sides….just a magnificent work of art all around.
Launch – ok, this top is one of the most difficult tops to launch. the weight of the Tungsten will make you want to really rip it, but the gunner grip on the slick black timascus will challenge that desire to ‘rip it’! It takes a ton of practice to learn (and i’ve had to re-learn) how to properly launch this top for maximum spin times.
Centering – incredibly stable, centers itself quickly and finds its balance every time. Once it finds its center, doesn’t move from that spot. Even on a bad launch, it will center itself within a minute and stand exactly upright.
Performance – considering the combination of materials and how the Tungsten is heated, the expectation for staying smooth drops to a hope and prayer. but, this guy is DT smooth the whole way through. no wobble, no flutter, no vibe….just spins and spins until it slows down and falls over. From time to time, its stopped standing up too. Even now, as I spin this while writing this up, it came to complete stop upright. If you search way back in ptt, you will find a video I posted of this top going 16+ min and coming to a standing stop. The most amazing thing about this top is how many times its been flung across the desk, dropped once or twice and generally abused….but its never stopped performing!
Overall – 
DT’s tops, post #3
CDC #124 Mokume over SC over Cu
DOB – Aug, 2015
Weight – 25g
Diameter – 1″
Height – .95
Background – this was my first custom from CDC. I think I was on his list for 9 months or so at this point and I was itching for a way to jump ahead. Chris makes some amazing tops, he just doesn’t make enough of them fast enough! His tops are scarcer than UDW’s and for a while it was nearly impossible to get one.
Materials/Design – Chris just started to make these ridiculous three metal sc/ss/ti tops at the time. Up until this top, he hadn’t put a forced patina on them. He had done his signature mokume patina on other tops, but not on anything with sc. We were both excited to see how it would turn out with the darkened sc matching up to the darkened mokume. needless to say, it turned out pretty nice, setting off a little trend of patina’d mokume/sc 3 metal CDCs 
😃
Launch – this top is what would be considered a ‘low rider’. the clearance is low and it takes practice and patience to be able to launch it without hitting the glass or lens its spinning on ( I don’t consider it a good launch if I hit the surface with the top).
Centering – once you do nail down the launch, this guy is smooth as glass, as Chris would say. It glides across the surface and stabilizes within the first minute of the spin.
Performance – nothing but DT Smooth over here! this top is completely still for 8+ minutes on average. The last 20 seconds you see it start to fight with a little twitch and then it falls over. The contrasting materials and the different tones in patina make a really nice pattern while its spinning completely still.
Overall – one of my all time grail tops!
DT’s tops – post #2
Dawson #375 – Damascus over Zirc
DOB – 2/21/15
Weight – 17g
Diameter – .95
Height – 1″
Background – this was my 2nd custom top from Joshua and one that I was eagerly anticipating. Like my first top, I had seen a similar design weeks earlier that I absolutely loved. This was also my first Damascus top!
Materials/Design – I had seen a flurry of Damascus tops in the months prior and I was amazed at the cool patterns. Each time I saw a new one, I was getting more and more anxious for my list spot to come up! At the time, my top collection was mostly copper and bronze, so I was also looking to get some black/grey colors in the mix. Joshua put a matte finish on this one, which was a departure from other Damascus tops he had done (and that I had seen). Body and stem were carbon copies of another top, flared out edges and that super silky bubbly stem! Couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out.
Launch – this top just ruined my expectations for any other top I received afterwards. Because of the high clearance, it’s virtually impossible to get a bad launch. It’s one of those tops that just rolls off your fingers when you launch it.
Centering – It stabilizes almost instantly on a good launch and starts gliding across the lens. If you can’t tell by all the scratches on the body, I gave this top some HEAVY use when I got it. And it still performs like new.
Performance – another DT Smooth masterpiece from the master. This top is completely smooth the whole way until about the last 30 seconds or so. Just a wonderful top to spin and watch. It’s not a longest spinner, but at 8 minutes, it’s definitely long enough.
Overall – this top is a 10/10! Just perfect.
DT’s Tops #1
Dawson #374, zirc over timascus core
Ive been obsessing about tops for almost 2 years now and so many people that I’ve met who have been around longer than that. With the community growing so quickly, I wanted to supply some personal and community history in the hopes that people can gain a better appreciation (or perspective) for where things are at now. There used to be a time when zirconium tops were rare, 2 metal tops were the newest and coolest, while black timascus or superconductors were fairy tale grails.
This marks the first in what will be multiple in depth posts about one specific top. I want to take time to detail every aspect of what makes a top important to me. Every top is different, and every individual has different likes, so this is my take on how I value a top.
Dawson #374, zirc over timascus core
DOB – 02/18/15
Diameter – .75
Height – 1″
Weight – 10.5g
History: this was my first custom Dawson. It was inspired by another top he has made a couple months earlier that was also zirc over timascus. It blew my mind when I saw it. It was the first top photo I had saved to my phone and was determined to get one just like it.
Materials/Design : at the time, timascus cores were rare. Takes more material and therefore more expensive. You saw some timascus bodies here and there, most under an inch, but not many timascus stems. And, most zirc was usually done as a stem, not the body. So, was super excited about this one! I think Joshua nailed the curves on this. It looks so silky smooth while its spinning.
Launch: this top has a high clearance, as the material has an upward angle away from the bearing. It makes it very easy to launch without hitting the lens or glass.
Centering: with a focused launch, will center quickly. Will spin around a bit in circles with a sloppy launch, but centers eventually.
Performance: completely DT smooth until the last 10-20 percent of the spin, depending on the surface. Will pick up a tiny stem vibration first then wobbles and falls immediately. Averages 5.5 minutes, but I’ve gotten almost 7 minutes on a 100mm lens.
Overall: one of my absolute favorite tops. I warn you though, I kinda say that about all of my tops!
How to check for DTSmooth
one way to test for a dt smooth top – take a low light photo during a spin and look at the knurls….this is a dawson brass over zirc from jan 2015
Dan Tochterman Ed Reed, I honestly can’t say that there is a definitive answer. I don’t even remember where or who originated the term, but some of the definitions of what dtsmooth have taken on a life of their own. I think my favorite one was ‘dead true’ smooth. I am definitely flattered with it all, but the true credit goes to the makers. At one point I tried to kill the term, but it somehow managed to stick and I’ve been embracing it since. I’ll try to clear some of it up below…
Before this was a big group, many of us would sell different tops to the same circle of collectors. If I bought a top that I didn’t think was smooth enough, I would turn around and sell it with a disclaimer (slight vibration or slight flutter). The collectors that bought those tops would then make fun of me, claiming that they didn’t see any or much of a vibration. So thats basically the origin of it all….
I do blame this on the first top that got me hooked, a very early Joshua Dawson that a good friend let me borrow. When I spun the top, it looked completely still almost the whole way. I was just mesmerized by this and my expectations were formed. Maybe the last minute or so, it would fatigue with a slight vibe before falling over.
For me, the tell is always the knurl or top of the stem. A top that is completely still, you can usually see the knurl create clear lines as the top is spinning. That said, it doesn’t have to be smooth end to end, so to speak. I think the last 15 to 20% of a spin is always going to be prone to some fatigue – the top losing velocity as it tries to stay upright. I’m ok with this. I’ve even gone as high as 30% of the spin, depending on the top, materials, how it launches, etc… For example, I have a UFO that has a noticeable vibe the last two minutes of the spin. But the first 5 minutes, its soooooo still. It is also one of the easiest/best launchers I’ve spun. You literally have to try to launch it off center. I have no problem calling that one dtsmooth either.
I just tagged you in a couple videos I made a while ago demonstrating a couple of dt smooth spins. I hope this answered your questions, but let me know if you have any others.