nice work and a hoorah and thank you for your service!
Man, I remember that yoyo lol I modded that one around this time a year ago I think, that was pretty much the last yoyo I painted. Watch out, the spikes are sharp 
Word.
And DANG! That PC hour looks great!! Thank you!
Thanks everyone for the comments. As with everything I am still learning. I always strive to do things with the highest quality I can. I think the results are looking promising, but I want to see if I can improve the masking technique. The surfaces of the powder coat are silky smooth which I love. I have another 9 yoyos to powder coat this week, so expect another post or two. After I finish up these I should have a pretty good handle on the whole process. Then I can jump back into some machining. Also, I want to try laser cutting some yoyo stands and some leather keychains. Not sure if anyone would want a leather yoyo keychain or not, but I want to make one.
Josh
id love to buy a few of those keychains and stands, would you send me a pm with prices when they are ready and you have an idea?
Hey Josh,
Very nice to see your experiences and results, as always.
From what I read, Itās not recommended that you strip the ano off the bearing seat (I canāt really see well on the picture, so not sure if you did or not), because it can leave an uneven surface that can increase vibe and it can allow for galling issues to arise.
Could you show us pictures of the differences of stripping mechanically and chemically? Do you plan on doing ano jobs? Looks like your skills are ever improving :D.
The first yoyo I powder coated I stripped using the sand blaster. This works well, but depending on the media used (sand, glass bead, soda) it can range in how aggressive it is. The sand blaster that I have currently has a pretty aggressive media in it. It is being used to strip rust off steel parts. Ideally I would like to use glass to blast these parts. But before I invested in switching the sand I wanted to try the chemical approach. Another reason was that I could do these at home without having to drive to the machine shop.
I have heard several people say that chemical stripping will remove material unevenly. My response to this is so will mechanical stripping. If you sand blast the part and are not careful to use the correct media, air pressure, distance and evenly work the surface you will wear the surface unevenly. If you use sand paper you could do the same thing. Chemical stripping with agitation has the least learning curve in my opinion. Keep in mind that the annodized layer is 0.002 inches thick. Chemically stripping them is not removing a whole lot of material very fast. I was hoping that chemically stripping them would work a little better than it did. I donāt like that the corners and bearing seat didnāt strip as fast as the rest of the hub. This makes me think that the agitation is not moving this area. It could also mean that those areas are worn down more during play. Either way, it is not perfect.
Basically I think you want to be careful not to mess up the bearing seat, but if the annodized layer is still partially present you have removed less than 0.002" of material. I canāt imagine anyone even being able to measure that without a CMM much less notice a difference.
I would like to try glass bead blasting, soda blasting and not removing the annodized layer at all. Any of the money that I earn working on yoyos goes into a jar to buy a annodizing set up. After that I think I will start saving up for my own CNC lathe. 
I think that might be my winter project.
Josh
I got some new tools today! I got my own vibratory tumbler, a second bowl, glass beads and walnut shells. I have access to a larger one at the machine shop, but it is nice to be able to have one at home to do whatever I want with it. Actually, I have it at my work. I can come to work, put some parts in the tumbler and then work my normal day. Check on them at lunch, or at the end of the day. Once I move into my new house at the end of August I might take it home.
I will be doing some polishing experiments to see if I can polish aluminum. So look forward to that.
http://www.joshupdyke.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/tumbler.jpg
Josh
2 Likes
Could you make a square throw like a B!ST Tondo?
seems like it would be a complex process
Actually machining a square yoyo like that is easier on a cnc mill then doing a circular one. The reason is I would not need a fixture to hold the yoyo when I flipped it over. I could use the normal vice to hold it. I would be willing to give machining it a shot if someone paid for the raw material. I have to finish the powder coating first though. I might model something up if I find some time when I am bored or have trouble sleeping.
Josh
Excited to see how the rest of these powdered throws come out!
Would you have a problem with tapping a square throw so that it lines up? It seems like it would be hard to make it screw together right.
It is very doable - He could always email Ettore and he would probably tell him how he did the Tondo and the Bist8
http://www.bist.it/yoyos/tondo/
http://www.bist.it/yoyos/bist8/
Then again, Ettoreās Tiny tiny runs, were mostly done by hand dialing everything, no cnc. But some stuff like the bist8, and Tondo, I believe he uses a cnc mill.
Josh, Itās awesome to see you progressing!
So everyone talking about B!st and I am just going to jump on the band wagon. I posted a reply on your blog about it as well. I am wondering if you would be interested in turning one of my throws ito something like the B!st modded x3 steamroller - http://www.yoyoskills.com/?tag=bist - shown at top. Let me know. I would also definitely be willing to pay you if needed.
Thanks guys for the comments and I hope you guys donāt feel like I am not replying soon enough. I work full time during the week and the more time I am at the shop working on things to post, the less time I actually have to post replies and answer questions.
I am interested in the negative space yoyo and the square yoyos. I did get your message from posting on my blog, but didnāt have time to reply. Keep in mind that I am trying to buy a house and move on top of everything else going on. I canāt wait until that is over.
I like the idea these different yoyos a lot because they are something that can not be done on a lathe, or at least not easily. So they end up being even more suited to the cnc end mill. If you want to send me your yoyo for me to modify I will give it a shot. But keep in mind any number of things could go wrong and ruin it. Obliviously, I will be as careful as I can. But the first time you do something is always tricky.
Threading the hole on the square yoyo might be a little tough to make it end up with the squares lined up. I already thread them by hand using the mill to guide the tap. Perhaps if I try to start in the exact same place. The other option would be to try and use something like the side effects. Then you wouldnāt need to worry about treading the hole at all. I might look into what special tools I would need in order to machine the holes for the side effects.
As for asking other people how they do things. I kinda feel awkward about it. This has come up several times with powder coating, One Drop, and now with the Tondo and Bist8. All of these people have put money and time into figuring out their process and while they might be perfectly happy to share with me, I feel a little weird about randomly contacting them and asking for it. I share my experiences and what I have learned because I want to. I have found that this community is pretty cool about sharing things like this, so maybe I am just over thinking it.
I am gonna be in the shop on Saturday and try to finish up the powder coating. Then I can turn my focus back to some of the other projects. Look for an update this weekend.
Josh
1 Like
Since Iām such a brutally honest fellow Iāll say this.
When you do stuff for free it hurts down the line for someone else. I know we talked via pm and you basically left it as āyour learningā with the freebies. Thatās fine and dandy but did you ever think about doing your own stuff for the learning curve. Iāve coated a few of my yoyos several times each for practice.
As for tricks of the trade the basics are always available from me. I will say the good things Iāve learned through the countless hours of trial and hour will be staying withheld. Those are things that separate me from others.
Your stuff looks very good BTW.
I understand your point, but I donāt necessarily agree with you. Am I hurting someone or helping someone? Perhaps I am doing both and they cancel out. ;D
I have said that any money that I earn working on yoyos will go directly back into getting equipment and supplies to offer more services to the community. Hopefully, the community sees me as helping and not hurting.
But I do understand why you and others would not want to tell me your trade secrets. I wanted to express why I am hesitant when people suggest that I should ask this person or that person. I also make sure that I express my gratitude when someone does give me advice and offers help.
Also, thanks for the compliment on my work. I always try very hard to do high quality work. Your name has come up repeatedly when powder coating is involved, and it seems like you are the standard by which everyone will be judged for powder coating. That says a lot about your work.
Oh your helping those your doing it for no doubt and yourself. Beyond that no one else.
No one would ever tell you your hurting people when someone can get something for free. Any debate to that would be mute.
Once you feel confident you can nail powder coating down to a science is when your community will appreciate it most.
Secrets are really few and far between. Believe me when I tell you there are only a few things that I have discovered that make a difference. A few just happen to open an entire galaxy of options butā¦
I see you as offering services for free or very little that others charge money for. Youāre Walmart. Youāve just killed downtown. I see that as a good thing, but the store owners probably disagree.