His latest design is the Tornado Top, based on one of nature’s most terrifying but fascinating elements. Printed in polished nickel steel, the Tornado Top is a silvery swirl that, when spinning, resembles its namesake in both look and movement. In fact, its design was based not only on the visual look of a tornado, but on the science behind its movement.
“This top generates quite a bit of momentum as it spins clockwise, forcing air down as it spins, making it a very stable top,” says Bissell. “I am amazed by how well it works. Sometimes I forget it’s spinning on the table until it starts to tip over reminding me it’s there.”
Bissell is selling the polished nickel steel top for $23.99, with options for polished gold, matte gold, polished or matte bronze, polished grey steel, stainless steel, or matte black steel. He is so pleased with the way this top turned out that he intends to create more to add to the growing collection in his shop.
“I decided to design a spinning top because I’ve always found art in motion to be fascinating, so making a spinning piece of art was an enjoyable experience,” Bissell tells 3DPrint.com. “A top becomes something very visually different when it spins, allowing me to create something that is effectively two pieces of art: one static and the other dynamic. I had so much fun and success with the Tornado Top I will surely be designing more.”