Well for solid model, as you guys have, you can write:
“_massprop”
By doing that you obtain volume, mass, center gravity, inertial etc. And, optionally, you can also save result on text file. 
okay, so i need a bit of help. i typed in massprop, then the little helper thing said “select objects”, so i box selected the yoyo. i pressed enter. it just canceled the selection and tool, rather than telling me the volume and stuff. i checked the command line, and the most recent entry said “no objects or regions selected”. what do i have to do instead of pressing return or enter?
Hm. Thats weird, usually the massprop command works just dandy for me.
Usually I use the MASSPROP command - it lists the volume (and other characteristics) of the selected 3D solids. Try selecting your model then using the command.
Or if your familiar, I’m not, I just found this on google, you can also use the following LISP routine:
(defun c:vol ()
(alert
(strcat “Volume is "
(rtos (/ (vlax-get-property
(vlax-ename->vla-object (car (entsel)))
'volume
)
1000000000.0 ;mm->m3
)
2
2 ;decimal places
)
" m3”
)
)
(princ)
)
okay, i got the command itself to work, but now it says “volume too small to calculate first and second moments” i tried scaling it up by 100 and stuff. the diameter is now like 2000 or something. still get the same thing.
Thats weird man, I dont know what to tell you. Wish I could help but thats about the extent of my knowledge on the matter.
thanks.
and everyone else, still give your opinions please 
Honestly if you use SolidWorks as your design program, it eliminates all of the guess work and will get everything right where it needs to be so you have a good shot of getting everything right on the first prototype or two. I design yo-yos for Spin Dynamics, and I do everything in SolidWorks. You’re able to select any type and grade of material, and the program will calculate the mass for you based on your sketching and selected material. I found that the program is less than a gram off in its calculation, that difference was probably my small error in some aspect. The weight it displays is the weight you can expect on your finished product
the problem is funds. right now were going to try to find somewhere to do it within our price range. if i bought solidworks, then we would probably not have any money to start out. the reason that I’m doing this in autocad it that for me (a student) its free. is their a way to get solidworks for free or at least really cheap? and thanks so much by the way. it means so much that i actually wrote out by t he way instead of BTW.
$500 is a REALLY REALLY GOOD DEAL for someone else to take your 3D models (which will need alot of work) and turn them into an actual working CAD design. Anyone who knows what they’re doing will charge you at least that much, and if you find someone who will do it cheaper, the product will almost certainly be sub par. I’m not trying to be a hater, thats just been my experience working with Yomerica Spindustries and Rec Rev, and now being one of the bosses here at Rebel
You’ve got a good start with those 3D models and you have a great eye for neat shapes so I hope you get to production, but remember there’s a reason that not everybody owns a company, great yo-yos are hard to make, and it’s expensive when your first starting out
Good luck,
Jamie “The Pants” Kennedy
Rebel Yo-Yos
thanks for the advice. i think that ill email the guy who was going to manufacture for us and ask him what it would cost if i got the file type to what he wanted. he said that it would be cheaper if i did that rather than having them need to do any work on the computer, but he didn’t specify a price.
Those will have about 2 min spin times.
The cheapest way to get access to solidworks is with a student email address. A lot of places allow you to purchase a 1 year license with a valid college email address. Otherwise, SolidWorks is just really expensive, and probably not practical for you yet
bumpify
and update: we now have our first design completed and in auto cad, and I’m now trying to see if i can get a favor from someone who works at a collage (and therefor doesn’t have to pa for the machines or their operation) so i might get one relatively soon, and if not well likely just have to spend a lot of money.
Like I said, I can ask Alvin, but prototypes are not cheap.
1 Like
let me know future info on the prototypes. I’m very interested!
bumparooni
also, i may just have pro types for sale at high prices if this works out.
We know they cost a few hundred each for protos, but nobody will pay much for a proto of an unknown company(for now at least)
If you ever make protos, I’d love to be a tester ;D and btw i’m lovin the 8th and 9th designs
okay, so were finally making actual working designs with the correct balance, weight etc.
im doping it in auto cad, but for some reason the command that everyone recommends for calculating volume isn’t working, so even if we can start prototyping, we will still not know what the weight distribution is.