Coloring plastic yoyos.

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

I love plastic yoyos. Granted nothing can match the presison of a metal yoyo but there is something about the classic feel of a plastic that makes me feel like I have really improved from where I was to were I am. I have yet to have more joy than to pick up a freehand 2 and fo things I thought only professionals did when I was using my throwmonkey (still one of my favorite yoyos) four years ago.

But I digress. I love taking yoyos that play mediocre and make them play amazing. Something about taking a ten dollar yoyo and making play like a 100 dollar yoyo. I have recently grown tired of the stock colors of company yoyos and I’m wondering what would be the best way to color a plastic yoyo. I’m a man that enjoys customizing things and making them my own. Time to apply that more to my yoyos then ever.

2

Well it depends on the yoyo. If it is the freehand two that you mentions, follow this video.

Note that this process would work on all yoyos, as not all yoyos are made of the same plastic. But it will work on the free hand.

3

Hey I wanted to dye my big ben.  Would this method work for that?

4

Yep, the Big Ben is polycarbonite.

5

What about say, a northstar?

6

Yes but I wouldn’t recommend it. the weight rings may fall out.

7

What about a Dark Magic? I’m not going to but someone else might.

8

All polycarbonate yoyos can be dyed with rit + acetone method. All Delrin/ celcon yoyo’s can be dyed with the boiling water + rit method (google it).

In general, dying yoyo’s with rims/press fit weight rings should not be dyed.

9

Speaking only of my own opinion:

I think this mod stuff is cool, but it’s not something I would want to do myself. I’m in no way against mods in any way. I just purchased a FHZ that has been modified and painted, and am sending off a yoyo to be made compatible with flowable silicone. One thing that I have noticed is that at least for this process, people are definitely pushing the safety issues. The big advantage I see with enough time, materials and creativity, it would be totally possible to create colorways in plastics as they can do with the current aluminum offerings.

My personal preference is to buy a yoyo already in a color I would prefer it to be in. For me, this is fine as I am often looking for the item as-is from the package.

10

NEVER dye a Protostar. The hub will crack right out.

11

Can you anodize the rings?

12

I don’t know. But if you wanted to do that, you’d have the following options:

Remove the rings to be anodized.

Then, while they are out, you could go dye the plastic.

13

How do you remove the rings?

14

How do I? I don’t.That’s someone else’s problem. I have no clue how those weight rings are in there, and while I want to know, it’s not so I can pop them back out, it’s just more “for my information” type stuff.

I have a blue Protostar, I’m happy with it. I’ll get a blue Northstar later, and it’s already in the color I want and looks fine the way it is.

15

to answer the question about bi-metals and rims:

Polycarbonate yoyos have unremovable rims. They shouldn’t be removed because they are molded to the body.

Celcon yoyos have press-fit rims, which means they can be removed and put back on.

16

Now all we need is a Delrin/aluminum DMII…

17

Unless you can take the aluminum rings off…it won’t work. Unless you want rusty rims.

18

That’s not entirely true. While aluminum may oxidize some, a couple minutes in a dye bath isn’t going to hurt it or affect it’s color much and even if it did you could easily polish it up.

1 Like
19

What mrcnja means is aluminum doesn’t technically rust. It doesn’t turn orange like steel does. I tarnishes and turns close to black. When it corrodes it turns white and powdery.

20

Hence Aluminum Oxide. Which some use with water as a polishing compound.