I cannot know which anodization technique and how many and which phases may have been carried out by YYF, but regardless of this, the pores are closed with simple water (demineralized to avoid the presence of salts that can bind) which transforms the alumina (oxide of aluminum Al2O3) in pseudo-boehmite (Al2O3 • nH2O) and with this hydration there is an increase in the volume of the oxide which gradually closes its porosities, eventually becoming solidly sealed.
This is what happens, regardless of the previous phases.
I can also report the sources but I’m sorry, they are all in Italian … this is an example:
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@persson thanks for the detailed info. I just got a DTYY that is raw/blasted which I didn’t realize would be so rough. I guess I was expecting it to feel like a clear ano. Could I make it feel smooth by boiling in demineralized water?
Oh, and…if I decided to anodize it locally, does anyone have any info on a good way to mask off the areas that need to be masked?
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I hope I have understood the question (my linguistic problems) well, if the sandblasted yoyo staying in boiling water won’t do anything to it, the pores caused by the anodic oxidation process are enormously smaller than the blows caused by the spheres of sandblasting and in any case the surface of your yoyo if raw, made up of the aluminum alloy, not its chemically induced oxide in current voltage (which is a few microns thick but much much harder)
cement-rubber is usually used for masking, a product that here where I live (in Italy) is not found but I think it is very similar to various shoe glues (the most common example is perhaps Bostik, which work just as well.)
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Exactly! That is what’s happening here: two physical objects are rubbing together and that will wear them both down over time due to the friction (albeit at different rates). If the anodization were done incorrectly as you’re suggesting, this would simply increase the rate of wear. I’m completely baffled why you think friction plays no role in the finish failing.
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still insist!
For you, the hardness of the materials is negligible?!?!?!
I own an El Primero with a corundum glass (crystallized aluminum oxide, commonly called sapphire), hardness 9 on the Mohs scale, more than once I accidentally swiped it on concrete walls … it’s exactly like 17 years ago, when I bought it, I can press the tip of an iron or steel nail on it, it slips on it like oil … there is only one thing that can scratch it, the diamond (10 of Mohs scale).
This is physical, not gossip.
I would send you my Sleipnir 2009, to see what you do to him with your thumb grinds (and yes I have done few myself!), Not only would you run out of nails, but also the skin, the flesh and the bones, leaving it as it is!
p.s. why don’t you try to drill a piece of steel after its tempering heat treatment with a HSS drill bit??? , a professional bit!.. let’s see it can do your much loved friction! 
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Of course I insist, because I’m at least partially correct. You can’t even grant me that which is absurd. You’re just being your usual stubborn self for no good reason.
No, its not negligible… that is my entire point, its critical. You are the one ignoring the hardness of the materials involved here because you believe that a fingernail cannot possible scratch anno. I disagree. People chip teeth biting their nails; fingernails are hard, jagged, and can dent a sharp edge made of aluminum. You’re not giving fingernails enough credit. 
Question: How do you think his finger is getting blue residue on it? Magic?
Answer: Friction – two physical objects rubbing against each other, wearing away at each others’ surfaces.
Just because one material is harder than another does not mean they don’t wear each other down. The strongest drill bit will eventually become dull. This is basic stuff in material science and material engineering. And c’mon, we’re not talking about saphire and concrete here. So please, spare me from your obviously biased analogies; we’re talking about a fingernail and an oxidation layer on top of soft aluminum.
Incorrect. Fingernails continue to grow back indefinitely, anno does not. You will run out of anno before you run out of fingernails over time.
Let’s try another example of how friction easily damages and erodes surfaces over time. “Leading edge erosion” is a big problem for wind turbine blades. Small particulates suspended in the wind damages the blade over time and it doesn’t take much time to do significant damage.
Another example of friction would be string cutting through PVC pipe.
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Love the back and forth here … but did you try and just call yoyofactory store in Chandler during business hours (opens 10am MST) and ask/send them the details? 
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Where’s the fun in that?!?!? 
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To add on to this, if a material with a lower hardness cannot damage a material with a higher hardness, then we wouldn’t be dinging our yoyos already. In fact, walking the dog on concrete will leave your yoyo in pristine condition! No marks or dings at all, because concrete has a mohs hardness rating of 5-7 and aluminium oxide has a mohs hardness rating of 9. But, that is not reality (we do wish that was reality don’t we?)
@craZivn I suggest reaching out to yoyofactory about this, it’s not usual. I’m pretty sure they’ll provide you with a replacement that won’t have this problem as this issue is pretty rare (but very difficult to test for).
Here are a few threads about similar issues with other yoyos:
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Exactly. Lot’s of silly posts by persson just for a simple answer, friction. It’s a miraculous thing and often overlooked. Here’s another example to add to your example Can Paper Cut Wood? - YouTube
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@craZivn I hope I have given you some advice that can be of help in solving your problem, in case you do not decide to inform YYF of the fact and see any solutions with them (replacement, possible refund of a percentage of the amount, etc.) which in any case advise.
As for the rest what to say … difficult to reason with those who cannot understand simple concepts, even if they have explained them with evidence, such as:
- that the air (like water) transposes molecules much harder than the material of the wind blades it consumes (in addition to chemicals that can react with the object).
- or a rope made of nylon to cut plastic, which in addition to hardness also has an enormous resistance to heat, compared to the latter. try it with a cotton one and let’s see what you cut!!!
- that the aluminum oxide layer of an anodizing action has a maximum thickness of about 5-15 microns and therefore, violently bumping into a material even more than many centimeters thick, what yields is the underlying aluminum alloy and if a laceration and an important asposrtation occurs this depends on the enormous differences in thickness and quantity of materials (even the sapphire crystal of my watch would disintegrate if an anvil weighing a few tons were to fall on it!)
etc. etc. but still all things have no relevance to nails and thumb grinds in yoyos.
ah! as for the paper disc used as a saw, I also said that a material can abrade the same material (paper vs paper, paper vs cardboard, etc.) as for wood, interesting, how hard is that fir plywood? … try to cut strips of walnut, oak or ebony! and let’s see if you can play the game!!!
P.s. however I’ll start looking for paper chains for my chainsaws … they should cost much less than those in tempered metal or in widia! 
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Wow, interesting posts here! Thanks all for the input, particularly @persson. I’ll get in touch with YYF as @evildipper suggested although I’m not aware of any warranty for their throws, but if I end up keeping this one I’ll definitely pick up some long m4 bolts to hang the halves and try the boiling trick! Nothing to lose and I love science projects.
One question, is demineralized water the same as distilled water?
Thanks again to all!
Ivan
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yes, same thing … or rather it is slightly different as demineralized water is water without limestone and gas like distilled water but it differs because it can contain microorganisms and therefore does not reach its degree of purity.
In our case it’s the same thing … 
keep us updated! 
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Will do, thank you!
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When I was in Singapore a friend was wanting a new watch that had a smoked sapphire crystal, it was the entire top of the watch, Movado iirc. It was a thin rectangular crystal with beveled edges. We questioned the durability of the crystal with the bevels being guys and hard on equipment. The person smiled and handed us both a hardened steel round file. Handed us both a watch and said if we could damage or even scratch the crystal we could have the watch. I honestly thought I’m getting a free scratched up watch and literally attacked that bevel with the file. After 2 or 3 hard drags on that edge we saw debris! Winner! Nope. Wiped it away and the crystal was fine, it was steel shavings. 
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exactly … the first time I hit it on a reinforced concrete wall, by mistake as I suddenly grabbed the door of my car, my heart stopped … I looked at it and saw dust on the glass. … I was about to die (I had bought the watch less than two months) … I blew away and saw that the glass was immaculate … it was dust from the concrete of the wall! 
p.s. Movado were masters with both the sapphire glass and the ceramic cases … both of absolute quality and impressive hardness.
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My first anodized aluminum yoyo is an SB2, tortoise shell, as far as I know, the first anodized aluminum bearing yoyo?
I played it a lot. Eventually, the cotton sting did wear a silver band around the upper inner wall of the yoyo. Both halves. Perfectly matched.
07 888 had a notorious fading problem. Poor seal. The finishes were spectacular. Faded jeans like appearance showing age and use. I wish we could repeat this.
Now, weeks of use, then a sudden failure of finish? Different ball game. What made the change? was it bad all along and just lucky not to have failed previously? Did the player eat a bunch of vitamin and mineral rich food and get harder fingernails?
I don’t know.
Over 20 years, this does happen, I have seen it on many yo-yos from many brands. the smoother the yoyo and better the yoyo the harder the throw, the faster the spin, the more focused the grind force on the anodize.
To anyone concerned by this I have recommendations. Do not choose splash or multicolor yoyos. Do not choose dark anodize colors. Light colors or preferably silver anodized parts would be less likely to show damage made by a thumb nail being ground into it unto 10,000rpm.
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It’s definitely a defective ano job in this case I think. As you can see in the pics the finish is rubbing off onto the top of my fingernail, the leading edge of my nail is actually recessed behind the tip of the thumb so it’s not like anything is being ground into the yoyo.
Also it’s not just the fingernail, the anodizing is rubbing off onto the skin at the tip of my thumb so unless I’m developing scales then something is definitely wonky with the finish! LOL
I sent off a message through YYF’s contact form on the website, if I can exchange this one then I’d prefer to do that but if not I’ll try the boiling trick and order another to get my thumb-grind experience back.
I’m bummed that this thing lasted less than a month, but I understand that there’s no warranty expressed and flukes happen.
Ivan
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I also responded to your email that day but have not heard from you since?
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You’re right, sorry about that! For some reason Google saw fit to mark it as spam so it never showed up in my inbox. Had to snoop through my spam folder to find it.
I also happened to find some other legitimate emails that I wish I’d seen when they came in, lesson learned: Check my Gmail spam folder routinely!
Ivan
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