So I’ve been throwing the Bumblebee with a pair of flow Groove pads, the 3mm bearing, and thick string and I gotta say…it is really not that bad. It still doesn’t feel super fun, I guess it’s just the heft of it combined with the way the steel rings make it act, but it is behaving very nicely. I still plan to flow the pads in, but this could be a way for many people to at least want to be in the same room with their Bumblebee. Here’s a pic with the FG pads. You can certainly tell that they’re thicker than the average pad.
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I made some shims today from the sheets I got the other day. Just drilled a few holes and cleaned them up with a stone in the Dremel which makes the perfect size hole, and I have a pair of snips that were able to cut the metal no problem. After that I tapped them on a flat surface with a hammer to flatten any ridges left from cutting and drilling.
It seems that for me a single .01 and a single .25 give me exactly what I’m looking for on the Deeper State. It seems that the .01 and .02 options from the previous link would be ideal. Since they’re $14.95 for a pack of 10 which isn’t horrible if you’re going to use most of them and that’ll leave spares. If you got only the .01 pack and doubled on one side, you could still do 3 yo-yos and have one shim left. I imagine that since it’s stainless steel it should stack ok but that remains untested. I would prefer to have the solid .02 on the opposite side as opposed to stacking. So that gets a tad more expensive. Something to mull over because I’d actually like to try that option as well. Possibly I’ll do that in the future.
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Also, the .01+.025 combination was for some very nice play with a more Kitty XXL size string. If you’re happy with say MYY poly then a pair of .01’s will give some very snappy but still friendly and super fun play. Or one could try a pair of .02’s if you like an even fatter string. There really are quite a few options here. The washer option is just WAY TOO MUCH WORK. And it’s nearly impossible to keep them level. And I can tell you from just now putting on a level set that I made from the sheet stock…it sure plays a lot smoother!!! And the sheet was way easier to work and at just over $15 for both sheets you could make quite a lot of shims. Especially if you conceived some way to press them out. And is the price of the steel shims really that bad when you consider that ALL of the headache is removed and steel is way more durable than copper or brass? And each of these methods gives you the flexibility to tune it to the string of your choice instead of having to pick the string the yo-yo likes.
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Sorry to hijack the thread but I did it. I fixed the bumblebee. The problem is we think we want it to be a roller bearing beast but what it’s actually been all along well. Fixed…
It honestly plays really well this way as a fixed axle. Also then you just need regular poly string
I also have way too many yoyo parts so the fact I could just pull out the right size post from my crate o stuff was surprising…
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The one issue I have with this mod to the bumblebee is now I don’t have a blank readily available for my el mijo for fixed axle Friday lol. I’ll need to find where to source another. Maybe I’ll message ZGRT directly. Idk future selfs problem. I got my fixie for tomorrow.
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What is that response?
the response stickers are what came with the bumblebee i assume to make it simi response because without this thing with stock bearing and string is a slimline unresponsive. toss on the stickers and the d bearing blank and boom this thing with some standard yye poly works like an amazing 0A machine. would i buy this full price no. does a 0A throw need to be bi metal also no… but its neat.
I feel like turbo disks or some other response sticker would feel better on this than the plastic feeling things provided but maybe im just being picky at this point. idk more tinkering to be had but it plays good enough like this without having to mod anything aggressively. I do applaud those that are shaving down posts and seats and such. i would if i didn’t think of this while digging through my box o stuff. i will yield the thread back to @Slestak75 who is doing the real work and not just tossing a bearing blank on a yoyo and calling it done lol.
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All this means is that the Bumblebee is now your fixed axle Friday go to…
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I got it to play decent with the stickers so I can imagine that the blank was that one factor that kept it from feeling “right”. I do not have one of those but have mulled it over quite a bit. Are they still available anywhere? Maybe if I’d had one of those, I would’ve stopped right there too. And been telling a whole different story on here. 
@jeduardo Parts are sold out
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I wonder if some core co pads would work…
I also want to play with another idea but may not have time tonight. We will see
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Also these
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You can also super glue or epoxy a shot bearing or any bearing really
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Yeah I don’t have any spare slim a bearings laying around or that would have been my other thought.
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Something else on the blank. It increases that “low gear” effect because it is the size of a narrow “c” bearing. So you’re literally going from wrapping the string around a 10mm shaft to a half inch shaft. That alone will have a drastic effect on the way the yo-yo feels. On top of making it fixed axle.
I do have a question on the metal blanks. And I did order one, gotta try for myself now. So my question is, are there the same concerns with melting poly/nylon strings? Is that all fixed axle or just wood axle?
I’ve never melted poly or nylon on a metal or plastic fixed axle. I’ve started to get some melting with wood if I play poly on it and have a decently long session.
The only plastic like yoyo that’s fixed I’ve experienced that on is my survivalist and I assume it’s because it also uses the recessed hole response spinworthy likes to use in wood which creates allot of heat. Doesn’t stop me from using poly in it anyway.
I wouldn’t worry about melting poly on a metal yoyo.
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Yeah it is slower than many 0A throws. It’s also a tad heavy so playing around with looping made my forearm muscles sore. Maybe if I used it as a looping trainer I could really beef up my stamina lol.
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I emailed ZGRT and they updated there site and added the fixed 3mm d bearings to there listings with updated quantities. Going to snag a few myself.
I also have considered going to Tom Kuhn and nabbing some turbo disks for the response but I know myself I won’t stop there and next thing I know a woodie, pocket rocket and sb2 will be in my cart. I do need a new wood no jive sleeve though…
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I wondered this myself. They look about right.