Hey y’all I discovered a new skill toy recently called Tri-thology, it’s three counterweights connected to a seamless loop of string with swivels. I like it a lot, it’s very similar to yoyoing but more flowy and less technical. Still way more technical than astrojax though. They’re great for grimy environments like the beach.
I’m trying to make a set with LEDs to bring to raves. 3D printing the weights and zip tying swivels to them is quite simple, but I cannot figure out how to make a seamless loop of string. I have to make a knot or lump of melted plastic that doesn’t slide through the swivel.
The guy on Etsy that invented and sells them seems to use a little lump of epoxy or something, I can’t figure out how he made it so small and strong. He’s using braided cord but maybe there’s some other viable technique involving twisted string like yoyos use? I have thread and a Dremel but no ideas…
I wonder if it’s poly string and the ends are just melted together. You could use something like a digital soldering iron to dial in the temp just right to fuse the ends but not burn, and there wouldn’t be a “lump” of epoxy or glue, just the little section of string joint
I’ve tried melting the ends together with a little torch lighter but it’s really hard to control, the soldering iron is a good idea but I’m doubtful the connection would be strong enough.
Grab a nice piece of 100% nylon and fuse them over the stove. Have something on hand so you can safely roll it out to the diameter you’re after. Maybe an old set of hot mitts, old gloves or something. ZS Air is fantastic.
That looks pretty cool and I finally snapped out of it after about 6 minutes. Haha. I could get into that.
The video above is where I learned to make quoits. You can make a long soft loop using disassembled yoyo string, or even wool, but getting the tension neutral is pretty much impossible and the loop will want to twist up on itself.
This is how I’m currently making full loop yoyo strings, not ideal but it works ok if the gap is wide enough and might be good enough for your needs
I think Cizrek has been working on this exact problem for like 20 years now and still isn’t happy, so any solution should be well received across the whole flow toy scene. Cizrek runs a Discord server and the problem has been brought up, but if you want to talk to him directly I can post an invite.
Not 100%, but I reckon the V1s from way back only had 2 free moving weights and each end of the string was attached to the 3rd weight, then weight #3 changed to something like a hole-through CW so it could move a bit and let the string untwist. New version with the 3 swivels looks pretty cool
These are how I’m currently making Jax, I might be able to make something where the string join snagging is less of an issue
I’m not sure I understand what you mean here. I’m imaging getting nylon thread, looping it like 10 times so it turns to string thickness, then tying the ends of the thread together. This would create a tiny knot but the string would be all loosey goosey. Maybe I could then run the loose threads through some type of heated metal angle to fuse the threads…
I’ve also been thinking about taking my hollow braided cord, freezing one end of it to make a hard point, docking the two ends together, then gluing them, melting them, or fid stitching them. I’ve been unable to get the small cord to dock before but I just had the freezing idea.
Also maybe an extra long yoyo string could be doubled back on itself. Tie the two twisted strands of the top of the string around the loop at the bottom. That would make a pretty small knot.
I’m unable to do any actual rope splicing because the cord is so small.
I bought one of his “Phase 5” - wish it was UV Reactive - and watching the “tennis ball” version videos - I wonder if they would be easier to throw/catch than the Phase 5. I’m such a beginner and would love to find some good tutorials on play - but I’ve also considered making my own Tennis Ball Version since he’s not selling those anymore.
I knocked out these guys a week back so that I would be able to have an opinion on best string. After playing around for a while with different setups my favourite is just one weight, shifting between meteor hammer, poi, slippery eel and full loop offstring (without mounts)
Recently I’ve been thinking we should just accept the knots, the real problem is the swivels. We need a bearing swivel like this thing, but hopefully I can find a smaller version.
Braid took a couple of hours and it’s just long enough to be a proof of concept. If I charged labour on these no-one would want them. This is why Larry had his Jax hand crocheted in South America somewhere.
Overall not that hard, even as a first braiding project, but annoyingly fiddly to make anything very long and thin.
I was thinking about some very similar style swivels, but used what I had.
For thicker guage wire that would slide more freely over a knot I was going to test some different sized padlocks, but I’ve hit myself in the face alot this week getting back in the short string meteor hammer groove.
I tried doubling up loose thread three times and it actually works really well, not only is the knot unnoticeable but it makes the swivels slide very quickly and smoothly. It does make untangling it much more difficult, and this would become unusable the moment it goes in a pocket…
