Harlequin Yo-Yos.

[HMalant]

Well for my schools senior project I've been givin the amazing chance to set up a bit of an internship at my friends dad's machine shop. And for the project I'm going to be designing and producing a few runs of yo-yos.

So to keep progress i made up a bit of a forum to get the communities input on my designs and were i should make changes to make these the best playing yo-yos I'm capable of making.

Over the course of this year i hope to update with the progress of each yo-yo through development to finalizing.

Hopefully you can all help me make this project go by awesomely.

Heres a link to the forum were ill keep my progress, feel free to voice your opinion on each yoyo by joining up on my forum.

Heres the link. Its still fairly boring but i have the main sections up.
http://harlequinyo-yos.proboards.com/index.cgi

Thanks a huge amount,
-HMalant/Steve.

If this is considered advertising, I'm sure a mod will take it down

[fzzyrn]

very interesting opportunity. From what i can see, the yoyos themselves will be visually stunning due to the sheer amount of curves incorporated into the design. Cant wait to see some finished product.

[GothicNinja]

Wow they look wicked sharp , i know id buy one

[HMalant]

Well i figure those who dont want to go to my forum ill just post the pics here as well. Might get more input this way

The Mime:
The Mime is the twin to the seer. its a fairly no gimmick yo-yo with just an over all well balanced-ness. The only difference is the shape and the fact that it might be a bit lighter.



Shape: Butterfly-Ish
Diameter: Roughly 2.25
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 64-67.00
gap width:  
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flow able silli.

The Seer:
e Seer is just kinda your average well balanced throw.

Theres nothing really special about it, it's a simple no gimmicks design, which i hope will play fairly decently as such and will probably be my first run to set off.



Shape: Butterfly-Ish
Diameter: Roughly 2.25
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 65-67.00
gap width:  ?
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flow able silli.

The Trapesist:

As the name states this is one hell of a floaty yo-yo. Well, at least i plan for it to be.  The Trapezeist will be EXTREMELY light hopefully coming in anywhere from 61-64. The design has 4 holes milled into the profile about 2-3 millimeters after the bearing and response seat making it even lighter.



Shape: Butterfly-Ish
Diameter: Roughly 2.25
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 61-64.00
gap width:  
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flow able silli.

The Solitaire:
Ahh the solitaire.  This ones the most unique yo-yo I've drawn up so far. It's an H-Shape with hopefully a good balance between rim weight and center weight. Its a bit smaller then the others, If you haven't noticed all the diameters and widths are the same. I try to keep things fairly universal.



Shape: Butterfly-Ish
Diameter: Roughly 2
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 65-66.00
gap width:  ?
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flowable silli.

The Harlequin:
The front-line yo-yo and the brother of the jester.

The Harlequin is a semi-unique shape bearing some resemblance to that of the R1.



Shape: Butterfly-Ish
Diameter: Roughly 2.25
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 66-68.00
gap width:  
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flow able silli.

The Jester:
The Brother to the Harlequin. And also the inspiration for the company name.

The Jester is an odd ball with a unique shape.



Shape: H-Shape-ish
Diameter: Roughly 2.25
Width: 1.6
Weight (g) ROUGHLY 67-68.00 needs revision
gap width: ?
Bearing: .25 x .5 x.187 Or C class.
Gap type: Fixed
Stock response: Flow able silli.


So those are the yo-yos i hope to be making a few runs of (5-15ish) by the end of the year/summer.

As stated before your input will help make this project go by much easier.

Any design suggestions will be pondered and possibly implemented. So help me make these the best possible yo-yos i can make

Thanks,
-HMalant/Steve

I re-sized the pics but it doesnt look like it worked...hmmm.

[yoyokid0898]

you definetly seem to know what your doing 

good luck and i cant wait to try these out!

[IV]

I like the Addict-looking ones, they look smooth, phat, fly and hip-hop fresh.

[HMalant]

Glad you all like them so far

As per suggestion i've modified the mime. It now has slightly thicker walls with a more...unique profile.  It now looks like it be fairly equal to the seer in weight like it was supposed to.

Heres an updated pic of the design


Whatcha think? Thick enough?

Thanks,
-HMalant/Steve

[HMalant]

And i was doodiling on my program and drew up something i like even more then the solitaire.

It will either be a replacement or something entirely new. (more then likely a replacement design but you never know.)



So replacement, or scrap the design?

Thanks,
-HMalant/Steve

[sanbo]

Wow. I really appreciate you sharing this with the community. As soon as one of these are released, I know I'll pick one up. 

[Kyle.Maxwell]

I think your new design for the solitaire should replace it and I think that is the one you should start with. The irony of solitaire being single and it being your first is cheesy but iconic. The mime should be second. They look great and I wish you luck in your project. I love the name harlequin yo-yos. Are you only going to use flowable sili and C bearings in all of your designs? When I think of what a mime would look like in my hand, regardless of your drawing I imagine an undersized yo-yo with an A or D bearing. The trapezist should be an offstring design. The seer and harlequin should be d bearing with pads. I am going totally off of what I imagine solely by the names. I know it might sound silly but saince your deal looks like you are approaching yo-yo making from an artistic perspective I am presenting an artistic idea.

Kyle

[HMalant]

hmm i see what your saying, I agree with the solitaire being a debut yo-yo it is pretty flashy , So far for convenience of cost (to my knowledge ill be using flowable sili. More then likely though ill have it be shallow enough to take onedrops flowgroove rings if you prefer pads (not gonna lie the only yoyo ive used with a pad/sticker/im not sure response was an HSPIN Icon. And i cant stand replacing the pads constantly

And more then likely theyll all be C Size bearings as ive only played them, besides my icon.  The idea of the trapesist being an offstring yoyo sounds awesome but i have no idea of how id design it. seeing as i'm pretty sure offstring yo-yos are metal plastic hybrids and givin my opurtunity i cant work with that medium.

Your's has been the first major suggestions i've gotten and debating on chance i might go and rework some bearing seats, and i really appreciate the input.

Thanks alot!
-HMalant/Steve.

[bretterson]

My favorite design so far was the Solitaire and you made it even better! If that ever came out I would add it to my list of yoyos I want but can't afford haha.

[Durfee]

I'm not trying to come off as a jerk, but...

Most of the more unique shapes seem to be aimed at being different for the sake of being different, rather than actually being purposeful in design. And I think that's fine to an extent, but some of these just come off as way too over-the-top.

IMO of course.

[HMalant]

Understandable. While the shapes are over the top i plan on making them fairly solid players. I have an idea of what i want them to do and through the prototypes the shapes will be refined to play exactly as they were intended to. I agree with the over he topness but there are only so many designs to choose from why not make them look cool as well?

But rest assured these will (Hopefully) play as awesome as they look

Thanks,
-HMalant/Steve

[Cyclontzy]

I agree with durf, I'd air on the side of functional and ergonomic rather then interesting.

[bretterson]

Most of the shapes of yoyos coming out these days are all about performance and functionality. Honestly I find it refreshing that someone wants to make a yoyo more focused on looking great than playing great. By the looks of these designs it looks like they have good weight distribution and I don't mind sacrificing a bit of catch zone for a yoyo that looks a lot cooler.

[mrneumann5000]

They look sweet!

[HMalant]

Eh there a little more artistic but like i said i hope to polish them out to be as functional as artistic.



Rounded the slope going into the gap as suggested for grinds. And took a bit of weight out from the internal.

Opinions?

Thanks,
-HMalant/Steve

[bishballs]

I agree with durf, I'd air on the side of functional and ergonomic rather then interesting.

Naturally, but what if they are functional and intersesting? I'm pretty impressed by anyone who can look at a drawing and decide how well the yoyo will play. Its nice to see something set apart from most of the others yoyos out there. I'm still pretty new to yoyo, but most of the yoyos look the same to me. The only way to tell for sure is to pick it up and throw it. I say giver and good luck.

[Kyle.Maxwell]

Still looks good. either will work but i agree this will be friendlier for those wanting to grind.