Any tips for sparking?

General Yo-Yo
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So I have a beater Ti yoyo I carry every day. I bought it specifically so I can spark it everywhere and ding it without a care.

But the thing is, I’m realizing that sparking is harder than I thought it was. I have to throw it super hard, and then I have to make sure it bangs on the concrete pretty hard to get one little chip that will spark. I don’t know why it won’t spark continuously like some videos I’ve seen on youtube.

So this guy has a mustang which is grade 2 titanium, the same as the one I use for sparking (YYF Metavity)

This guy gets sparks for days like it would look on an angle grinder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSDTgl2dcwM&t=1m24s

I have no clue how he gets his ti to spark like this. Maybe it’s just dark around him so the sparks show better or something, but I wonder if I’m missing a technique or something.

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A rough surface helps

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I was going to say the same thing. Not all surfaces will spark well. You really have to find rough concrete or asphalt. Brick lay works really well too.

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The unfortunate thing is that I’ve been trying all kinds of surfaces. I’ve tried rough asphalt on roads, boardwalks with their laid bricks, smooth concrete on certain alleyways, etc. Ofc rough asphalt sparks “better” but I still have to make sure the yoyo bangs on the concrete with a decent amount of force to spark in the first place, and it’s usually 1 or 2 large individual sparks.

I admit I haven’t sparked after the sun has set though, and I was wondering if that was the issue.

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This is how I do it…

First…. Get the Titanium yo-yo and bounce it directly off your forehead about 8 times.

If that is not extremely painful and you don’t wake up with tears in your eyes, then chances are the Ti grade is not hard enough.

On a more serious note, Ti sparks best on a rough concrete surface. Smooth concrete or painted concrete or concrete coated in any way, will either not spark at all or hardly spark.

Certain asphalt mixes with more abrasive gravel close to the surface will work somewhat… But if the asphalt has been ‘topped’ chances are slim to see productive results.

PS…. I am probably the one person that cares the very least about sparking Ti yo-yos on the pavement. But for a logical reason. When I was about 17(now 72) I started Occupational Welding school. I was already customizing cars and motorcycles in my Dads garage.I started at both a Bodyshop and a Harley Custom shop. Welding/grinding/grinding/welding/infinity.

For 20+ years I was a Bodyman and Car painter(grinding/welding/welding/grinding/uh/and/painting daily.

For the last 32 years, I have been a Structural welder and Fabricator for a heavy equipment Bodyshop.(welding/grinding/infinity…

Compounded by working second shift, even though we have indoor lighting, in the absence of natural light, sparks from grinding and welding are even more enhanced.

I have seen more sparks in one month, than most of you will see in your entire lives, if you lived to be 200.

That being said, I actually dedicated one of my 5 Yoyofactory Titanium Dreams for Sparking mode only.

As dumb as I thought it was, I actually found it pretty fun. With that thought, I would not encourage anybody to screw up a good Ti just to spark it.

But if you have or can get a beater Ti yo-yo, then look for some rough concrete(after the sun goes down and go for it.

And just because I’ve seen 10 lifetimes worth of sparks, that has pretty much zero value if you haven’t yet lived your sparking adventure.

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Maybe try…

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my man literally described his whole job history and bragged twice about how many sparks he has seen just to give a one line answer. The sheer amount of time this reply is completely off topic is actually impressive.

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Let’s count the number of I’s he uses per post

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OK, genius… Class is about to begin.

First of all, I’m not your man. I don’t know you. You know more about me than I know about you. And when you finally step up to say something you just want to complain or whine about something that tells us nothing about you on or off topic.

Secondly, giving an overview of how many decades I’ve seen, countless amount of sparks, I can’t see how that has anything to do with bragging as you say?

That would be like if a person said I walk along the beach and I walked along the beach every day for 30 years, looking at the sand and I’ve seen a whole lot of sand. And then you would jump in and say man we don’t care how long you walk along the beach and why are you bragging about all the sand you seen?

I’m really not sure how you correlate my exposure to sparks in sheer volume, to be described as bragging? That doesn’t even make sense.

You say, the sheer amount of time this reply…

Since I’m doing talk to text, it probably took me about 45 seconds to make that reply if that.

Now if you meant sheer amount of time meaning how long it took me to type it, you guessed? Or does that mean the share amount of time of the reply is because you read very slowly?

Last, but not least, I don’t remember anybody suggesting to you that you read anything I put on the board. You’ve been around for a couple years now you don’t say much but you’ve been around for a couple years. So you know probably as well as anybody some people like my posts and some people don’t. The ones that do are responsible for the about 18,500 likes that I received in the last 13 years. The ones that don’t complain here in there and obviously don’t give me any likes. And don’t bother reading my posts. Or, they force themselves to read them because they are getting warmed up to talk trash. Or the old TLDR(too long didn’t read). Do you seriously think I give a rats’ behind if you don’t read my posts? If you do, you need oxygen.

You obviously forced yourself to read my reply so you would have something to whine about. No doubt my response will be removed from the board because some crybaby will flag it for moderation but I’m not guessing who. Any guesses?

You know, it never fails there’s always some kid that wants to go to the zoo and kick the old bear. Some people just can’t help themselves.

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Sorry for the off-topic response but Doc id love to talk cars with you sometime. I’m currently working on a 57 truck and a 70 cutlass SX with pops. He does most of the welding and bodywork I can’t lie but I’m learning a heck of a lot watching and doing smaller stuff. Welding while obviously a very good skilled labor, is also an art form to me

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Can i get easy to follow sparking tips please?

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Watch this short video and notice something very important>

Look at how rough the concrete is. Actually it doesn’t even have to be ‘that rough’. But the rougher surface does help. Also notice he didn’t even throw the yo-yo very hard. So… if you found a good surface and you waited till the sun set and you threw your Ti yo-yo down with some power, it would be pretty ‘en-lighten-ing’:nerd_face:

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