Thanks for the comment. Hand turning here means I operate my minilathe manually, not computer aided like those CNC lathes. But it doesn’t mean I produce my yoyos totally free hand, there are dials on the lathe that tell the depth and length of each of my cuts during the turning process, which enable me to repeat the same process for each yoyo halves. Thanks again.
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^Those look really good
You live in Malaysia right? where did you get the lathe? Most lathe sold around here are huge and it’s hard do find a mini one that doesn’t cost upwards $800.
Been reading this thread from since it started and was wondering what specific lathe you use? I have wanted a lathe for a while and thought that making a yoyo from scratch would be cool.
Sorry for the late reply. I got my minilathe locally and it is still available in local market. It’s called Osaki Minilathe. You will be able to find it in the internet. I bought it at about $1000USD in late 2013, now it costs around $1500USD in my country. You don’t have to get this one to make a yoyo, any minilathe similar to this one will do.
Here’s mine:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-arcw-77BYA0/VGwImnkAx9I/AAAAAAAABxo/ruZkvf4jQgU/w680-h510-no/PB190178.JPG
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This is my fourth attempt in hand turning looping yoyo. It has similar design of the RecRev REVERB but with a fixed axle. I have tried this REVERB design in my first looping yoyo but that was a smaller size yoyo and I wanted to try it in a full size one. It has fixed axle because I am getting lazy in machining the bearing hub 
Comparing to my previous capless looping yoyo (HT#0.34), I think the HT#0.35 feels more solid in hand, heavier (obviously) and looks simpler (and looks better). What do you think?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OiSswS2bRnXVW8W0eVez2EiirOIAVp2oCFbbql1JeGo=w780-h520-no
I made a few wooden fixie awhile back that looks almost exactly the same, it’s amazing how we think alike.
Btw does it play good with no response pads?
Wow, nice to hear that. I think the response is adequate even without response pads, I wrap string to get the right response for me. I am thinking of making a transaxle for this yoyo.
If you change to a bearing, I want it
I’ll buy your looping yoyos how much will you sell?
To make a narrower HTYY is always in my to do list. All of my previous HTYYs have width at least 40 mm. I wanted to made a HTYY with smaller width that is similar to a FHZ. But it has never been materialized as I have not given it higher priority than my other previous projects. Last week I took out some of my previous HTYYs and saw the HT SwapBody (you can refer to my reply#58, page 4 in this thread for details of the HT SwapBody). I thought maybe I could make use of the HT SwapBody to make a narrow yoyo. So, after a few days of work, here’s the outcome.
Having used the HT SwapBody, it saves a lot of work and time in making this yoyo. My only issue is to get a reasonable weight. A lot of minor refining works on this project just to get the desired weight which is around 65 g. Finally I managed to get 64.7 g, not bad. And surprisingly it feels good in my hand and it plays good too. The weight distribution seems pretty good. It has some vibe which I think it’s due to the HT SwapBody. I will most probably make a refined version of HT SwapBody in the future.
Here’s the yoyo halves and the HT SwapBody:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SOL2bmh6fbGJFYYcUlsV-IvJ4wUfHLKBtId7cs07TCo=w657-h438-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/UP158fBWdXGhgNMnKo1E-jfFJvM3HW_MNBWhmni8dQk=w909-h606-no
Here’s the assembled HTYY#0.36:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lHLlFHsvYLkqKnML39VxNOas9qBvAMYI7x-d3Q8wlbo=w909-h606-no
Thanks for reading.
ck
looks like a yyj xlr8 :o
your stuff is amazing as always!
I have a question for you, how much is the interferance between your aluminum rims and delrin body? So like if the inner rim of the yoyo is 2.5 inches in diameter, what should the outside diameter be for the inner aluminum rim?
Lol. It is just a coincidence. I must admit that I have intention to make an inverted YYJ XLR8 (as mentioned in my reply#58 in this thread) and I have made a few designs based on this idea but never work it out with my minilathe.
Thanks for the question. But I must apologize that I don’t quite understand your question. Are you referring to the HTYY#0.36 or my other yoyos in this thread? If you are referring to the HTYY#0.36, I suppose what you mean by aluminum rim in your question is the aluminum axle hub, correct? The diameter of the axle hub should be big enough to house a friction ring (in my case I use a brake pad of OD 19 mm), the idea is to ensure adequate friction between both contacted surfaces of the axle hub and delrin halve when tightening the yoyo. The diameter of the aluminum axle hub of my HT SwapBody is 24 mm. I hope I have answered your question.
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Sorry I guessed that I should have been more clear. I guess I was talking about the yoyo on page 6 reply #85. I was talking about the aluminum rings. How tight is the fit? I would like approximate dimensions but if it is not possible, don’t sweat it. By the way you also answered one of my questions I had so thanks! Also how much would custom yoyos cost? Pm me the cost.
sounds like a good idea!
keep at it! 
I have been playing with my older HTYYs lately and surprisingly found that I like the HTYY#0.15 more than any of my newer hand turned throws. It looks good, feels good in my hand, plays smooth and the weight is just right. I have shared the HTYY#0.15 in my reply#22 in this thread, link as followed:
I thought I should make a new yoyo based on the specification of HTYY#0.15, with some improvement of course. First thing came in my mind is a more rounded rim. I always prefer round shape yoyo than angular ones. Then a hub design that allows horizontal finger spin.
Here’s a photo of the yoyo without added weight ring:
The HTYY#0.15 has black delrin weight rings. Since the inner aluminum hubs (for finger spin) have shifted much weight to the center, I thought aluminum weight rings should be able to boost rim weight and they should look better too. Eventually I managed to make a pair of aluminum weight rings that maintain the overall weight of the yoyo at around 64g.
Here are some photos of HTYY#0.37, the improved version of HTYY#0.15:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zevNq11S5GNLL15lujsQiUm2mnMAlAITglp9CUg2Zh0=w658-h438-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ssu4Kif-dbrv5KWbeJKsLMvqO72BIr7ogXQ_VJB3r1Q=w923-h606-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eHX1r-BMTE-ucXc2O1Ud3DmGNAX5U4WMP1qSg-bI5t8=w599-h400-no
Compare to the HTYY#0.15, this new HTYY is just 0.1mm narrower, all other specifications are the same. Despite of the mentioned similarities, it feels slightly smaller in my hand, feels heavier, faster and more solid. Horizontal finger spin with this yoyo, I can’t comment much as I am not good at that, I found it hard to hit the hub and it jumps off it easily. I think the hub is not big and deep enough. Oh ya, almost forgot to mention that this yoyo has satin finish, making it slightly better in term of finger grind. The conclusion, I like the look of this new HTYY but prefer the play of the older one.
Thanks for reading my post. Your comment is most welcome.
ck
The centerhub looks like a lot of weight
I’d personally try going with a smaller hub if possible
I LOVE the look of those rims. There should be more yo-yos shaped like this. Everything out there is all catch zone or simply flattens out on the rims; round 'em out I say.
I think the hub looks plenty big enough for fingerspins. I don’t think you want it any bigger. Offhand I would guess that with some balancing practice you could keep your finger in there without making it deeper. Gently keep your finger moving in the opposite direction the yo-yo is leaning (in circles, like a spin top).
Nice work!
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I planned to make, at present, the most “organically shaped” HTYY of mine. And I planned to make it more special by adding an extra element to this yoyo, a feature that enable me to switch its side picture easily. There are many yoyos especially those YYJ’s that have side pictures, this HTYY offers another way of putting side pictures onto yoyos.
I name this yoyo “PhotoFrame”.
The PhotoFrame has the most rounded rim compares to all my previous HTYYs. If you have seen my delrin looping yoyos that I posted in this thread, I tried to make their rims rounder. Since then, I tried to improve my skill in making organic shaped yoyo, and this is my latest attempt in making one. Here’s the PhotoFrame, fresh from the lathe.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ArB_zaRpQ6uFac_PWiyUwTHeUzVcqfVD14yZZeb7bLk=w900-h600-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/p3yZZiSDDwR9v5Jp-kqFqz4cqlr11xJcc7L9Algpas4=w900-h600-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rxcS6iaiHSqzZ0OIKhZJ_NwE0qxzjWaxcaeJ2jGgfVk=w900-h600-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kmAxnzDqRz-d1dFf6UR1Ymy4E4wardGFVjrx0gvzOgQ=w900-h600-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rxcS6iaiHSqzZ0OIKhZJ_NwE0qxzjWaxcaeJ2jGgfVk=w900-h600-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CFBatYBXvkGWDhMr3IGI2hLfY8A5tGFoMVL4aDebpvg=w900-h600-no
As the name suggests, the yoyo is also a photo frame. Here are what you need:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/SBHPashiaxLS3E-iN3R_iRI0tR1syHiPDXQp-RNB9kk=w900-h600-no
Besides the yoyo, you need a pair of rings and some side pics. The rings are used to secure the side pics in the hub. Here are some side pics that I made:
The side pic doesn’t necessarily need to be painted, but one can actually cut any pictures from any printed medias. To put or change the side pic, one needs to put the side pic in the hub, like so:
And followed by installing the ring onto the side pic to secure it in place. One can actually cut a transparent plastic and put it on top of the side pic before installing the ring, just like, for example YYJ Lyn Fury.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xsG0wGe199Du0EkeGeE3xOgfDblwD15SrMK27wfLPIw=w900-h600-no
I have made a groove on the inside surface of the ring, so that it can be removed from the hub by using a screw driver, like so:
So far I have not seen any yoyos that secure side picture the same way as the Photo Frame, do tell me if you happen to know one. Thanks for reading my post and your comment is most welcome.
ck
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