Spinning tops

I've been preparing some blanks for making spinning tops for a demonstration this weekend at Elton Hall near Peterborough.

Drilling those 7/8th inch holes through a 4 inch Ash billet with a brace and bit keeps you warm.

This is the finished turning

I quite often hear children asking their parents what I'm making?
"Must be a chair leg because that's what people make on those old lathes" . . . isn't it?

Some tops in Ash & Chestnut