Idiot new guy checking in to say hi.

[cybrhick]

Hey guys. Just found this forum. I never even realized there were yoyo forums. I have played around with yoyos since I was a kid, but never really got "into it" seriously.

I am a CNC machinist who makes motorcycle parts, and I typically hang out on a couple motorcycle forums includeing my own. My migration to this site is partially due to my youngest son.

My 14 year old son wanted a YoYo for Christmas, and since he has never really had one, and money was a bit tight, we got him a couple cheap Duncan Butterfly YoYos. Well, he was pretty pleased and content with that, but since Christmas, he found a website that has step-by-step how-to videos that teach YoYo tricks. He has been learning quite a bit, and has snapping 3 strings since Christmas. He's getting pretty good pretty quick, but has realized he is very limited with the cheap Duncan YoYo. I didn't even realize until a couple days ago that they were makeing yoyos with ball bearing axles. (yeah, I said I was the idiot new guy didn't I?) We quickly found that these run about $30 on up to over $100. As I said, money is pretty tight, so that is just out of the question. So out of strings, and a bit sad, my son ordered a pack of 100 YoYo strings today to feed his new addiction as best as he could. And I got to feeling a bit bad for him as he's found something he is really enjoying, but without a better YoYo he has kind of reached a plateau.



So today, I  stopped making motorcycle parts for a day, and set up shop to make my first 2 custom one-off T6-Billet Aluminum ball bearing axle YoYos. Spent all day researching performance YoYos, designing, programming, and manufacturing 2 YoYos, that I have named "The Impaler". I have to say, I am quite happy with the results of my work, and Tony seems to be pretty happy too. So I figured I'd share a few pics of the finished product. I suck at taking pics, so forgive the focus.


And for what it's worth, I guess I didn't do enough research, because all the info I am reading about YoYos here is in metric, and I did everything standard. So the ones I made are 2.25 inches in diameter with a 1/8" gap. The bearing is 3/8" OD, and the total weight of the YoYo is 2.12 ounces. The axle is stainless 10-24 theaded rod, and both halves are threaded with aircraft grade locking 10-24 helicoil inserts to prevent stripping or gauling.

[david1yoyo]

wow that 1ooks nice

[cybrhick]

BTW, the name "Impaler" came from the fact that when I first assembled the first one, it had not been polished yet, and the spikes on each side were literally needle sharp. Handed it to my wife to see what she thought of it, and she grabbed it with a finger and a thumb RIGHT ON THE SPIKES. She dropped it and I immediately saw that it had drawn blood on both her finger and her thumb. "Yeah, it still needs some polishing". LOL

[Bradley]

Will you be my friend?  

Looks nice - how does it play?  Does it have a proper bearing seat and response area?

If you're looking to hone your craft, there are some great guys (designers, machinists, modders, and yoyo company owners) on the boards here who I'm sure will be able to answer any questions you might have.

[EccentricSage]

Great looking yoyo.  Want to see what you can do with this?
http://www.yoyonation.com/talk/index.php/topic,69155.msg765766.html#msg765766

[cybrhick]

Will you be my friend? 

Looks nice - how does it play?  Does it have a proper bearing seat and response area?

Bear in mind that although I am not new to manufactureing and design, I am TOTALLY new to all the terminology of YoYos. So here is my best answer to what I think you are asking. (still talking in inches here too.)

Each side has a .385 diameter recess that is .04 deep around the threaded hole for the axle.  In this recess rides a .04 wide spacer/bushing for each side which has an OD the same size as the inner race of the bearing, and an ID the same size as the bearing. (.1875) The 10-24 threaded rod axle is truncated .004 to slip through the bearing. When the YoYo is assembled, there is no surface contact to the sides of the outer bearing race. The YoYo plays VERY smooth, but we are still breaking in the bearing, and I must admit that because of cost, we cheaped out and used a woodworking router bit bearing which was very inexpensive. Now these are good quality bearings rated for 15,000rpms, but they are also packed with thick grease, and we are still trying to figure the best way to get it loosened up a bit.

[Connor1]

That's awesome.

[yoyospirit]

Mineral spirits.  And that is a very well machined yoyo.  I say that would go for about 90$ with proper silicone recess.

[cybrhick]

Mineral spirits.  And that is a very well machined yoyo.  I say that would go for about 90$ with proper silicone recess.

Silicone recess? Lost me there.


BTW, I'd have to make a few tools to be able to reploduce this efficiently. I cheated on the recesses in each side, and ended up 3D machining those pockets along with their spikes. Same result, but quite a bit slower to manufacture, and a bit more polishing to do.

I'll try the mineral spirits in the morning. Thanks.

[evnouski]

the yoyo looks awesome! and if you need to clean the bearing just soaking it in rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid would make it spin way faster. YoyoExpert has a lot of tricks on there site, and i would also recommend the yomega mania dvd.

[Connor1]

the yoyo looks awesome! and if you need to clean the bearing just soaking it in rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid would make it spin way faster. YoyoExpert has a lot of tricks on there site, and i would also recommend the yomega mania dvd.

Why would you use rubbing alcohol?

[evnouski]

the yoyo looks awesome! and if you need to clean the bearing just soaking it in rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid would make it spin way faster. YoyoExpert has a lot of tricks on there site, and i would also recommend the yomega mania dvd.

Why would you use rubbing alcohol?

its just what i used before i convinced my parents that i wasn't trying to start a fire somewhere (i was 10).

[yoyospirit]

Mineral spirits are the best.  Blow dry it out with compressed air.  And put in a drop of trumpet valve oil.  Silicone Recess is when you cut a groove in the face of the yoyo and you fill it with silicone.  Check out the detailed pics of the yoyojam Lyn Fury.  If you take out the rubber oring, it's a silicone groove.

[Zuha]

Great job. Looks a bit thin in width. Specs?

[Nathan]

Yay, somebody else who speaks in standard!

[JakeKoffer]

That looks awesome. Sell that and get your son a Dv888 with a couple of extra stuff. But If your son wants to keep it as a "father and son memory" I accept that. STILL IT LOOOOOOKS SOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME. Lets see if i can think some names for it. Umm...Dringe? xD uhh oh oh I know The Altoooooos ANyone remember Proud Family? Alto is a good name. Or call it Promo! Still it looks so awesome, I never knew someoen could make a yoyo like that like without a factory. But Impaler is a good name. QUestion! Where do you get your material to make the halves of the yoyo? ALso how do you make you put the thing the axle sits on the yoyo? I feel like making a yoyo now. Maybe a wood one? My dad wont let me near the saw though...chivel anyone? Bah....Ima make a new shape. Ima make it based on this

\            /        
  \         /
   \       /
    |     |
    |----|                        
   /       \
  /         \
 /           \   This is a butterfly shape now this is how i imagine my shape to be


               / \
              /   \
             /     \
             |----|
             |     |
             \     /
              \   /
               \ /
Only differince is there will be much more space so the string can go in. Ima call it the Vulcan shape or the Dead Butterfly mwahah. Ima draw a picture and scan it maybe tomorow. STILL LOVIN YOUR YOYO

[DaProphet]

the yoyo looks nice
also James I think the shape that you want is a sort of imperial shape

[cybrhick]

Great job. Looks a bit thin in width. Specs?

Each half is .625 wide with a .125 wide bearing gap. Overall width is 1.375

[DiscipleforChrist]

Wow, that is a very eye-catching yoyo. It looks incredible!!

[gidikh]

sounds like you're a pretty awesome dad.