On an evening, a few days ago, I was almost ready to head out to my airrifle training. Everything was set. My bags were waiting in the entrance. I was about ready to jump. But before I headed out, I wanted to take a quick leak, so I would not have to on the range. So I pulled my hoodie over my head, before sitting down and what do I hear? Yes, the harsh sound of my iYoYo Shooting Star hitting the tile floor of the bathroom, like a meteor. It slipped out of the front pocket of my hoodie, from over my head, maybe 2m or 6ft over the floor. My heart sunk to my stomack. I picked it up and immediately felt, that it was not okay. On one side the cup was loose.
When hitting the floor, it pulled the axle out of the non-bearing side, stripping a part of the thread. You can see as much in the pictures below.
After the training, when I came back and saw my broken Yoyo on my desk, I thought this was the end of my little star. It kissed the floor many times before and the poly-carbonate plastic always sucked it up. Not even a scratch. I thought it to be almost indistructable. But that white tile floor broke it, like a five star chef brakes an egg, on the side of an iron skillet.
But before I gave it a solem grave in my trashcan, I at least wanted to see, if I could bring it back. As I pulled it apart I saw the aluminuim shavings coming out, saw the damaged threads on the off-side. It was a mess.
But I also realized, after a few minutes of pondering, that the axle was still nicely and properly in its’ place, where I lightly glued it in, with a micro-dot of Locktite. A plan was born. But I also knew I had to clean up the treads on the off-side, if this operation should be a success.
I cleand everything with alcohol. I got the old thread cutters from my grandpa and traced the windings of the threads all the way down the hub, being carefull not to add more skew. And then I unscrewed the axle from the one side and moved it to the other, like a kindney in a transplant. Fixed it with Locktite, this time a bit more. I am not looking to remove it ever. And the magic was done.
After the glue was dry and reassembling everything, how it is supposed to, I tested it. It seemed to be fine. I was relieved.
I’ve been testing it for the last two days. Playing it about two hours a day, like the last two months I’ve had it. I saw, when I first screwed the halfs together, after the repair, without the bearing, that the bearing posts didn’t meet perfectly no more, if they ever did. They are off by about half a millimeter. So I was expecting serious vibes and feared it would be unplayable. But when throwing it, I can not say it looks any different. Looks to have about the same vibe. Only when I hold my fingernail to it, then I can feel a possible vibe.
The only thing I am suspecting to be different to before the accident, is a bigger tendency to list to one side. It’s just a feeling and I can still throw it straight. But that feeling will probably only go away with more sucessfully landed tricks.
My shooting star had a supernova and raised again as a white dwarf. Still ready to travel the galaxy on the end of my string.
… and this morning, when I played outdoors for the first time, it hit a rock on the ground and got its first actual scratch.
I guess, that’s how it goes. 