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Instructions
Remove all the washers from the spinning top except the largest brass washer. Attach the brass washer to the spindle using an O ring. Keep your elbow parallel with your wrist as you flick the spinning top with your thumb and forefinger on the lifter plate using a slight downward pressure. The washer is attempting to pull the spinning top down so this may take a few tries before the top spins evenly. It's okay if the top is slightly wobbly.
Determine the amount of weight you will need to stabilize the spin. The more the top weighs the more evenly it will spin, but if it weighs too much the top will not levitate. Starting with the large brass washer already attached, spin the top on the lifter plate and slowly raise the plate above the base magnet by about an inch. Continue lifting the plate very slowly, if the weight will sustain the top, the top will lift itself off the plate and float; the plate is too far from the magnet if the the top slides off the plate. Continue to add weight and repeat the process until it floats.
Watch which side the top slides off the plate while working with your weights. If the top repeatedly slides off the right side of the plate you must raise the right side of the base magnet. The key is to have all sides of the magnetic field even but since you cannot see the field you must rely on the top to tell you. Use a wedge under the side of the base to raise it. Continue experimenting until the top spins for a length of time. Once you have the proper weights and magnet ratio you will not need to repeat the process every time to levitate the top.