How Important to you is the amount of time you can get from a finger flick?
I’m working on getting cleaning and lubing bearings down to a science and I’m finding I can get upwards of 20 second finger flicks from a method I’ve gotten down, my method has allowed me to get a bearing clean thoroughly and them apply the proper amount of lube, work it in in a very short amount of time and achieve long spin times with a finger flick. I can’t test on string spin times just yet with accurate numbers I can tell they are longer then normal, but I don’t have a second set of hands to run the timer, so video and accurate before cleaning and lubing times and videos will come later.
So in your post tell me how important a finger flick is
Important
Not important
Or extremely important.
My terrapin X wing after some use can easily do 30 seconds on a reasonable flick, also some of the bearings I have dry lubed can do spins so long that I can put the yoyo back together and it will still be spinning. If you want bearings that spin forever dry lube now does that translate to longer spins in play, maybe but nothing as drastic as you would see off of a flick.
To summarize bearing spin does not always translate to teh best spintimes evar. But low spin on a bearing can bring more responsiveness.
To me it is not important at all. I tend to like my bearings lubed just to the point of almost being responsive (I like them VERY quiet) I play only 10 Ball and KK’s so based on that for the most part about ten seconds is fine. Just as long as they spin smooth and do not feel gritty… If they feel gritty I clean them.
Thanks for focusing on the question I tend to agree with you, but I’m trying to get a feel for what people like or if Mann know how they like their bearing to play. I’m working on some techniques for fast spins and smooth quiet longer spins and good solid responsive bearings that at ideal in all areas. But I’m mostly after the answer to be question and you were the first post so far to do it! So thank you for you answer and input. 8)
The only standard I can reference to is my standard, which means “what I do”, which may not compare to what other people do.
I’ve gotten as much as 56 seconds on a flick of a Dry Play treated bearing.
My objective: 20 seconds of spin on one of my flicks. If I can get that, I know things are definately OK. But, anything under 5 and I find the bearing responsive or not worth keeping around anymore. 5-8… unreliable, could go either way. 8 seconds and up is usually pretty good.
Flick strength is unreliable and varies. Develop your own standard and go from there.
I brought this up in another thread and think a sticky for such testing would be great if it was scientifically performed. A list of all bearings and how long they spin with such(x) amount of force would really be benificail. I would have never known my terp x w cut bearing was faulty if someone hadnt commented on its flick spin time. Need to send it back now.
But now that there are all kinds of similar shaped bearings that range in many prices this info would really be worth having in a database for sure.
Until or unless someone invent the “FlickMaster 3000” to provided a standard reference for a calibrated force behind a flick, it might be hard to get data everyone will choose to accept.
Something to keep in mind while judging flick time is the mass of the spinning parts.
U or V groove type bearings have heavier outer races then flat ones and ceramic balls weigh less then steel. In actual use the outer race does not spin at all.
I tend to watch for the last turn and see how slowly it comes to a full stop.
An easily-reproducible setup that’s still not perfect but is good enough for rock-and-roll would be to use one particular yoyo, one particular brand of string, and your most consistent bind (for me, frontstyle bind with attention paid to the size of the loop and how fast the yoyo is spinning on bind). Hold the finger loop and just let go of the yoyo.
You would have to pick a yoyo you don’t use, though, if the tests are going to be long-term test across multiple bearings. Because if it’s a player, the pads are going to wear in. I mean, that’ll happen eventually, but you can minimize the impact over time by using a throw that’s not a player.
If it’s just an A/B of before and after, you can use any yoyo and string you want!
When I first started to do bearings I got many from different manufactures to find the best.
I made this to check out the spin time from 8,000 RPM to 2,000, where all play happens, not just sleep time.
Is that my Axiom there on the right? It plays awesome! Just a question, the ceramic bearings have been working fine so far, but when tested recently it only spins for 13 seconds compared to about 25-30 in the past, is it time to clean it?
how a bearing spins on its side with no load on it means precisely nothing.
How a bearing spins in a yoyo, under load… that’s a lot closer.
The simplest setup simply requires you to mount the yoyo via its bearing so that it is under its own weight in the proper orientation, then accelerate the yo-yo to a given rpm consistent with normal play. This eliminates as many variables as possible, and simply gives you pure data on the bearing.
Well, be it on its side, upright, on a yoyo etc… Why don’t you elaborate on how to conduct a correct “scientific” experiment? Not trying to be rude but “Come On Mann!” Trying to help get a database of bearing performances here not shoot down the idea.
Using a unresponsive yoyo to test spin time with each bearing will be kinda hard to replicate the exact tightness/string tension/how the yo is wound for each test in my noob mind. Correct me if am wrong but being that a few winds with a gap need to be made before the string starts grabbing would make this a tad harder to replicate exactly for each wind.
Any thoughts… On this as I see using one throw and the same string tension to be a GREAT way to test the bearings since obviously the bearings own makeup (outer race weight/ball weight/etc…) can also affect the flick-o-matic test.
Not quite nothing, it can give you a general idea, if it spins for at least 10 sec then put it in your yoyo, if not, then try giving it a thorough clean, if you still cant get at least 10 sec you risk it playing responsive.
