Appreciation thread...Wooden Duncan butterfly? (sparkle)

General Yo-Yo
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Hi there.

New around here… But i’ve seen the butterfly hype thread (an amazing collection of posts that got me started collecting butterflies) and been getting really into fixed axles… Wood in particular… There’s not really a solid wood yoyo for fixed axle that’s mass produced and widely available–no jives are cool, for example, and I have two, but they’re out of production and Jesus Christ, the prices…

So that led me to the wooden butterflies, which I was surprised to see were undervalued compared to no jives or Apollo’s or the modern responsive indie boutique wood fixies (boy that’s a mouth full).

I’ve never really seen a lot of love for the wooden butterflies!! This astounds me, since I find them a joy to play. They’re a a touch too responsive at times, I’ll admit…There are a couple basic fixed axle tricks that they struggle with, because of the high walls (stop and go)… Not great for shoot the moon… But there’s something special about the play! They’re challenging and they have a great feel and balance. Fits great in the pocket and a great EDC.

Anybody else feel this way? I think they’re a classic. Possibly even the best butterfly!! And while I’m on the soap box here, WE NEED AN AFFORDABLE MASS PRODUCED QUALITY WOODEN FIXIE.

#bringfixieback

Thank you for reading

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From a mass produced standpoint, outside of the Apollo and No-Jives/TK’s that you had already mentioned, which are excellent for certain, I think from a super affordable, easily accessible standpoint, that the BoHo and Legend Wings actually play really well, especially for the price.

Also, you’re just in time to experience Fixed Axle February coming up soon here, welcome to the party!

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I have yet to find or even try a wooden butterfly. It’s definitely on my to do list though

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Not sure what a BoHo is. I’ve seen the legend wings, but they’ve been out of stock since at least July… That’s when I started looking.

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Preach!

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What I REALLY want to find is some blank Legend Wings.

Or another good blank, butterfly shape wood yo-yo not made by the Factory.

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The White, Varnish, and Raw, are all in stock on the YYF website it looks like (don’t want to share competing store links, but they’re there if that helps). BoHo is in stock as well (it’s essentially like a Legend Wing)

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Maybe they were just waiting for Fixed Axle February to get closer, haha! :rofl:

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Ps: @Terrarian have you joined the Fixed-Axle Discord? It’s a cool place where we nerd out about fixies.

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I have not…

Where do? :grin::saluting_face:

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Yes, to everything.

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Niceeee

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I wonder how wood oil/conditioner would affect my no jives response if I oiled the axle with it…

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Probably unpredictably.

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@SlowThrow The good thing about a no jive is that the axle is replaceable, so you can swap it out if you mess it up. That said, I sometimes use chapstick on no jive axles. But I don’t think oil would give the same results.

Edit: well actually, is the conditioner beeswax with mineral oil, or something similar? Because that’s actually what I use ant it works well for axles.

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AHh!

I have never tried wood oil. I’ve done water!! and Chapstick…

Tell me if I’m crazy–

I actually lube most of my fixies–applied to the string, though, not the axle (don’t do it to a transaxle…ugh). I was a chapstick skeptic. After belabored struggle to get my No Jive set up (even changing the axle in the process) and observing how inconsistent my YYE cotton string was with different throws, I gave Chapstick a go…Immediately made response manageable and consistent.

I resisted the idea for so long that a yoyo would need this kind of “Fixing” to work as intended, but I couldn’t deny the difference…I got the spin times I wanted, and the responsiveness, and even the tactile texture of play improved. Now I always put a spot of chapstick on every cotton fixie string. It also adds a lovely texture to shoot the moon. It’s got a creamy slinky feeling to it.

This sounds like it might work better for wood than metal, but I actually find that metal butterfly axles also benefit from a little bit of chapstick. Especially the 70’s butterflies, which sometimes have inconsistent gap width.

My Wood Butterflies, however, do not need “snap insurance.” Another reason I love em. Here’s a shot of my two wood Butterflies!

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Blue one is my EDC when I don’t mind 1-2 seconds lower spin times or higher string consumption (the only down sides to a wood butterfly). Somebody walked the dog with it back in the day. It’s got a bit of vibe on a sloppy throw, but somehow, magically… it’s usually dead smooth…I think it’s a 1-piece design (the inside isn’t painted), which is my best guess at why.

The Green one is even MORE smooth. It’s mint. Somehow, I paid 15 dollars for greenie and 20 dollars for bluey. Many of these go for 50 dollars, more if they are mint and more if they are in a package.

The feel and play of it is so addicting and it’s just the perfect shape and weight distribution. It’s the wood equivalent of a Deeper State (and I consider them, in some sense, companion yoyos–perhaps because my Deeper State is also blue).

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Yes. Someone once suggested applying bees wax to the axle or lip balm. Never did lip balm but bees wax had mixed results. A very, very small amount is all you need. Too much and it gets responsive.

The way I applied it was with a thicker packaging type string run across a block of wax. Then wrap the string once around the axle with a tail on both ends. Hold the yoyo between your knees and pull the waxed string back and forth a few times. Use a clean string in a similar manner to polish/clean it up.

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I use Burt’s lip balm on my wood axles but haven’t tried it on my metal axles. That’s where I apply lube (to the string). Next application for my metal, I’ll try the Burt’s. Interesting.

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Fool disclosure :roll_eyes: I am not any kind of wood worker, but I do know that moisture raises the grain in wood and even effects the string, so it seems like it would be really hard to dial in consistent response by using an oily additive on an axle.
Tom Kuhn spent a whole bunch of time experimenting with axle materials and always came back to wood because it works well.
2 days ago ed posted a great video in the fixed Friday thread about tuning NoJives, that’s what I would refer to. The gap and the friction stickers and the string seem like enough variables to play with, let alone the relative humidity, planet alignments, moon phase, blood alcohol levels…

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I was a skeptic as well, but the results are undeniable.

I have really good luck with Portland Bee Balm, which can be picked up from ZipLine strings. I haven’t found a fixie that isn’t improved by applying just a little to the string’s axle loop. I use it on cotton/wood axles and poly/metal axles with great success.

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