I had a very small window of time to try out a powder coat on a wooden yoyo, been very busy lately. Had a couple of “kit” woods that I got from a friend which are perfect for some trials with the powder.
Initial results are very good my friends. No damage from the heat and the powder sticks like, well, powder coat.
Wouldn’t mind getting a little feedback from some of you about what you think of this option. No need for extra equipment or anything crazy as I already have the product that allows powder to be applied in a liquid form. Just takes a little extra time in the application process.
Sounds odd to me. I throw wood because …well it feels and looks like wood! However, I find it interesting that it can be done and would be receptive to trying powdercoated wood. Well I think I would, if wood could…and played like it should :P.
A clear, sparkle powder coat could look good on wood. Although I do agree that just powder coating over an entire wood yo-yo would be a waste, it could be used sparingly to add some color to a wooden yo-yo.
Oh LAWDY! I gotta get me some o’ DAT! ;D I think it’s absolutely brilliant. I wouldn’t go for colored powdercoating on wood unless it was something pure white like holly, but clear would be PERFECT. A nice gloss finish and plenty of durability while retaining the color and appearance of the wood is exactly what I would want. I’m looking to make myself a bearingized wood yoyo here in the near future, so I will definitely have to give this a shot.
The one reservation I have is that, as has been said, I want to keep the feel of wood if I’m playing a fixie. Just feels right. For a bearing yoyo, though, I definitely would like a clear powdercoat.
One other thing you might look into, Bob, is finding a UV-blocking additive to put in the powdercoat. Some really pretty woods like purpleheart, chakte kok and padauk fade on exposure to UV and start to look a bit dull after awhile. I don’t know about anyone else, but I personally would pay good money to have a UV-blocking clear powdercoat put on a yoyo made of exotic hardwoods.
My powders have uv inhibitors in them. One thing though you will lose any feel of wood with the powder. The clear gloss over the wood would look like ten coats of polyurethane.
Additions in weight are very minute. I would steer clear of the gap if it’s thin though, would have to see how it would work first. Playability should be just fine as the powder doesn’t really interfere with anything other than grinds due to it’s smooth glossy finish.
The expansion of the aluminum isn’t a huge issue. If parts are poorly fitted from the beginning, it may may it worse. But if you have a good press fit (and doubly so if there is a little glue in there too) it shouldn’t cause any problems. After all, the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion between aluminum and polycarbonate (think Hitman) is much higher than the difference between aluminum and wood.
Wood takes extra time and care to be finished nicely. It is unpredictable, which makes it ill suited for being mass produced. Add both of those factors along with the extra time and cost involved in making weight rings and fitting the two pieces. That gives you a recipe for something that most manufacturers are not interested in, since in their eyes (and for the most part rightly so) it would be difficult to make it profitable.
