You’re confusing weight distribution with actual weight. The weight distribution of the same model of a single material with just changing the material is the same, be it 7075 or 6061. The density doesn’t change the distribution, as the extra weight from the denser material is evenly distributed.
It’s funny you ask that, because I was recently thinking about some of my prior research on materials used in inertial navigation platforms of guided missiles and satellites, and was checking up on recent material advances. Just because I usually go against the tide of popularity, I was wondering what could be done with light weight, yet incredibly high strength aerospace metals, one in particular: beryllium-aluminum. These alloys have a much higher modulus than aluminum while being lighter and stronger. In the other extreme, beryllium-copper offers high density (3X that of aluminum) and high strength. The problems with any beryllium-based material are 1. High cost, and high machining costs (cutting tools wear out quickly), and 2. Airborne beryllium-based dusts are extremely toxic to humans if inhaled, even fatally so. Not recommended for the weekend-warrior machinist, but, they do offer some interesting design capabilities that regular aluminum alloys could never replace…
db
Hold your horses here, i NEVER said that the more rim-weight, the better, did i? I said that 7075 makes it easier to design a yoyo in that way, to a more extreme extent.
Well then, in this case, density is related to durability? And after all, that’s what we’re discussing here?
Though being true (I’m a mechanical engineer-student), most of those things doesn’t really matter in a yoyo, as basicly all alu-alloys have more than enough of strength, be it yield, hardness and E-modulus. Given that they’re heat treated. As i guess they are.
And you probably know that as well. As long as the hub is strong enough to take the (relatively) small strain from the threads. I’d say hardness is to a certain degree important, as it makes it more resistant to dings.
Congrats on being a mechanical engineer student, I have a masters degree in Computer Science, but I don’t see how any of this can be relevant to the matter at hand.
No, they’re not related. 7075 has about 4% higher density, and about 2x the strength of 6061.
As Dirty Birdy just posted, there are other alloys much less dense than 7075 and much more strong.
You seem to be lost somehow? you just contradicted yourself:
On an unrelated note, what kind of 6061 and 7075 are used on OneDrop? Are they heat treated?
With current yoyo designs, the advantages of 7075 are completely pointless; the walls are more than thin enough. Therefore, the difference of alloys is neglect-able.
It looks like what we can conclude from this discussion is that the different alloys don’t make a big difference in play. From the responses of a trusted manufacturer… and one mad scientist is that the alloy used makes a subtle difference. The true difference maker is the designer who created the yo-yo.
And before Geezer jumps down my throat on that one, it means that I am sure YYR could make a brilliant playing yo-yo with 6061 aluminum just like I am positive One Drop can make a brilliant yo-yo using 7075. The alloy does not matter as long as the designer has a good head on their shoulders.
You are correct to a point, there is always going to be the desire to see just how far you can push the materials you are using. 6061 and 7075 are close enough in density that you might be able to get 7075 a few nanometers thinner than 6061 before crumpling but there is a point where the differences are imperceptible to the average user.
There are certain YoYo’s that I can tell the difference easily enough, but I just sprang for a 7075 Anglam. I just had to have it…
I’m going to be really frank and say that for the life of me, I can not tell the difference. Since I own both the 6061 and the 7075, I put the same string and bearing in both of them and did a blind folded test. (With the assistance of my lovely girlfriend). I was totally unable to feel even a subtle difference. Now I consider myself a fairly decent thrower, but could still not tell which of the two I was using. I might over time start to perceive the difference, but not yet. The 7075 Anglam had some subtle changes made to it to accommodate the different alloy weight differences which results in it having the exact same weight, diameter & width. The only difference is obviously the alloy.
I’m still pontificating just how that makes me feel, since I did pay a small premium for the 7075 version, but can discern absolutely no difference. So for now, I just chalk it up to a teachable moment…
Besides, I’m not ever going to complain over having another Anglam no matter what it’s made of. ;D
Maybe Mickey will really venture out and produce a Titanium version of the Anglam. 
2 Likes
theres a big difference in play if you tried the both versions of all of g2quared yo-yos it makes each one a whole different kind of beast. the al7s are all a joy to play with to there other aluminum cousins
As far as I know, the first 7075 yo-yo was one I made a lot of years ago, the Alph.
Why did I use 7075? Because I got a deal on the material, and it machines very shiny. That’s it.
There are some technical differences as shown in this thread already, but they’re fairly insignificant for our purposes. There is nothing particularly useful that 7075 can do in yo-yos that can’t be replicated with 6061. You can make a wall a tiny bit thinner, or add a tiny bit of rim weight… but not a lot, and not enough to really make it worth the effort. You can already get more rim weight than you would ever actually -want- with 6061. Rim weight increases sleep times, but it also lowers RPM which makes things feel ‘slow’, and too much of it gives you the possibility of harmonic vibrations (you can actually have extreme rim weight, but the tolerances have to increase).
Why is everybody making 7075 throws? Because players want them… simple as that. For whatever reason they caught on, and companies make what customers ask for. They also get to charge a little more for them since they’re ‘special’. It’s not that the 7075 is inherently better, it’s that one yoyo or another got rather popular and happened to use that alloy, it was used as a selling point on said yoyo, and people attributed the performance to that alloy… popular opinion does not make facts though.
dirty bird - I’ve discussed the use of a beryllium alloy over the years, mostly with a friend who works for a large aerospace/defense company… it’s just too damn expensive to do. There just aren’t that many shops that work with it, so it’s not exactly competitively priced work. I’ve also wanted to use a low level uranium ore for weight rings, just because… but I’ve never had the cash at the same time that I’ve come across pieces large enough.
Kyle
Hmmmmm…I wasn’t aware my YoYo collection could have such an emotional effect on anyone…
Doesn’t strike me as healthy.
Amen. Are you ever going to manufacture yoyo’s again?
which is why i have a 7075 chief
Looks like we can conclude …what? ???
Again; you never cease to amuse. Are you attempting to close the discussion because it is going your way? Yeah, the market is ALWAYS wrong.
Telling me that I can make the same feeling yoyo from another material is completely immaterial to this discussion. The point is that the SAME yoyo is better with the increased density of 7075 vs 6061. The GZR experiments put that argument to rest. Quit telling us about how OneDrop COULD make a great yoyo out of just about any material on the planet. That also, is immaterial to the alloy discussion. No one will care until that fabled yoyo actually is produced anyway.
BTW; YYR used to make their yo-yos from 6061 (original Stardust). They never used it again. Oh, that is because there is no difference …right? Shinya’s new signature throw from C3: 7075; why? …because there is no difference.
Please; just stop.
all heated discussions aside…
how do GZR onedrops play? youve just sparked my curiosty.
well on their ask.fm YYF said they like the new supernova (6061) better than the older 7075s
maybe its just specific to the supernova?
whats your experience with supernovas? agree with them?
Well they are going to say that because they want to sell the new ones, so it’s hard say whether they’re being totally honest. Saying “the old ones were better” won’t sell many throws…
Either way, I think this sums up the problem with this whole debate… the word “better”.
“Better” is such a subjective thing. If you have 2 throws, one that spins slightly longer and is more stable but with no personality, and one that doesn’t perform quite as well but is dead smooth and fantastic to throw, which is the better one? After all, the YYF CZM8 performs very well, but is critisized for it’s lack of personality and robot-like performance… does this make it a good or bad throw?
I had this point illustrated to myself with the Supernova. I love my little Supernova Lite and I use it as my walkaround throw. I also have a fondness for 7075 because of its shinyness, so I figured a 7075 Supernova would be a match made in heaven. So I bought one… and I didn’t like it. The 7075 in this case, and in my eyes, made it worse. However, there will probably be people on here that think that the 7075 Supernova was far better…
There is so much subjectivity in the yoyo world. One person says a yoyo has rubbish spin times, another says they’re amazing. One person says that a yoyo is as stable as Norways economy, someone else says that it tilts at a moments notice.
Performance wise, asking “what’s better, 6061 or 7075” is like asking “what’s better, a Chief or a BVM2”… you’re going to get votes for both sides off different people because all we have to go on are peoples opinions and feelings.
Until we have machines that can somehow measure and quantify velocity/spin times/stability into hard figures, then you’ll never solve this argument. Even then, you’ll never convince everyone…
Geezer I guess I am just going to have to come right out and say it, you are being a complete idiot about the whole situation. You have so many designers who are saying that the alloy used is immaterial, designers that know way more than you or I, and yet you will not give it up.
I could have said General Yo or CLYW instead of One Drop in my comment about making a great 7075. It is immaterial the company. A good designer is a good designer, period. THEY are the reasons for the great yoyos and ALWAYS will be. Did the Sleipnir magically form out of a solid chunk of 7075 or did Kengo dream it up? Did the Majesty just spring forth from the aluminum or was it all Ernie? I didn’t see some enchanted quarry where the Summit was springing from the ground, I do believe David, Shawn, and Chris had EVERYTHING to do with those. The designers are key, not the darn alloy they used.
So the Stardust is absolute crap because it is made from 6061? Nope. I bet they liked the resistance to dings better or something.
Also, One Drop CAN make a great yoyo out of anything. Proof: Rally. I’m sure the Format:C will be great as well.