Okay, now make an A-grade DR3I, so we can all be happy.
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No problem, Sir. But yâall wonât be happy with the price then. 
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I think you underestimate how much I want a DR3I, sir.
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Itâs more of a physics thing than a machining thing, but understanding how the assembled yoyo is held together is really important.
The role of the axle is to apply a force between the halves to hold the bearing between the two bearing posts/seats. Beyond keeping it from falling apart, it has very little impact on how the yoyo spins. Almost all of the smoothness comes from a combination of the bearing quality, the fit of the bearing onto the post, the accuracy of the post (circular runout) and the concentricity of the weight on the rims with the post/bearing.
On cars/trucks, you may sometimes see little lead weights clamped onto the wheel. These are added when the dynamic balance of a wheel is off - which means that the weight around the ârimâ of the wheel/tire wasnât perfectly balanced around the axle when itâs in motion. Note that the balance here is rotational, and doesnât have to do with one wheel weighing more than another.
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Anodizing can ruin a yoyo. MarkD hit it square on the head:
This is it exactly. When you anodize, youâre actually making the surface layer of the throw thicker. If you donât machine your bearing post with enough allowance for that expansion (or too much), you can get super tight or too loose seats, both of which add vibe.
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Oh, ok, so itâs the bearing seat then that has to be perfect.
I also remember reading that darker ano colors are more problematic when it comes to the bearing seat.
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Would these problems be minimized if they just left the bearing seat raw? Im guessing marking it off from the ano process would be the issue?
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I think the DR3I is a perfect example of what I am referring to.
It sounds like a yoyo that performs incredibly, but has been shelved due to difficulties in manufacturing it to tolerable levels of vibe.
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Glass smooth is nice but way overblown IMO. Iâd much rather buy a cheaper throw with a little bit of fingernail vibe since Iâm not just gonna be standing there holding my fingernail on the side of the throw. Iâm a little less tolerant of string vibe but Iâve only ever encountered maybe two or three throws that had enough of that to really bother me.
I do think the current obsession over it is detrimental, mainly because it limits yoyo design to âsafeâ designs. Iâm not even talking about gimmicky throws like square throws. There are excellent designs like the YYF D10 that donât make to a full release because the process doesnât produce enough a-grades to make it financially viable. And if youâre a smaller brand you may not have the capital to survive that kind of hit. For example, G2 was almost sunk by the Wolf if Iâm not mistaken because of the b-grade rates.
I think thereâs space in the market for glass smooth svelte brands like G2 and others like YYF that have a bit of vibe but play great at a great price. But I think people need to have more realistic expectations on whatâs theyâre buying and to focus more on how the throw plays vs how it feels when youâre just standing there spinning it so you can press your fingernail against it. Maybe then weâll see more experimentation with design and more awesome designs like the D10 not get relegated to limited releases.
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" the machining and fitting these parts with respect to our tight tolerances results in a very complicated and expensive process, we are currently not able to provide more DR3Is to all those who were interested." (source: DR3I | ILYY.de)
It was possible, but just too expensive apparently. Honestly when buying expensive stuff like this, you would expect a demand for QC. I donât think the obsession with vibe among the community should be to blame for this, just that the yoyo design was just ambitiously costly. On paper it sounds like a $700 yoyo, but im just taking a shot in the dark.
Not at all remotely true. Design is a huge factor in smoothness.
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Youâve got it wrong again. This is a topic better handled on Reddit.
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I think that would eliminate a variable but youâre still gonna potentially have vibe since even bearings have some variability in the size of their parts, like the inner race (the part that makes contact with the bearing post).
For example, One Drop yoyos for me have only ever been glass smooth with their original OD flat bearing because thatâs what theyâre machined specifically for. However, I usually swap them out (usually for Boss Rage Bearings) and I get a tiny bit of vibe. OD sizes their posts on the looser end so you donât have to feel like youâre gonna break your pliers removing the flat bearing or like you have to hammer a replacement bearing inâwhich I appreciateâbut that does mean that you might get some slight vibe when you swap the bearing. And that really goes for any brand.
Edit: actually theyâve been smoother since I switched to Boss Rage from Buddha bearings.
This is kind of dismissive, why canât you add your insight here? I for one would be interested.
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raw bearing seats are just about the worst idea there is.
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The truth is that design has a huge impact on smoothness. So does manufacturing quality. But the design determines how much error there can be and a yo-yo still be smooth - including cases where no amount of accuracy can make that design smooth (the usual result of this is what we call âpulse vibeâ - itâs just a matter of physics).
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Could you elaborate? I would imagine itâd be no different than if you just had a raw yoyo and there are a bunch of those going around.
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In my experience basically every yoyo I get has had the slightest amount of fingernail vibe upon arrival. This includes G2 and OD throws, which seem to be the guys currently making the smallest amount of vibe a new standard.
As for your above post, im sure that if a reputable yoyo maker said something along the lines of âyoyo has slight vibe, but the design makes up for itâ people would buy it. But in all honestly, it is just another aspect of yoyo design these days. You call vibey designs âsafeâ, but depending on machining limitations (a variable I donât know, see recent posts), id call vibey designs poor or lacking. If some sort of design is so impossible to get smooth, then that is kind of an issue. I donât care about fingernail vibe (a couple of dents and the yoyo is gonna vibe anyhow), but from the factory we should expect modern standards.
Im thinking that because you guys set the standard for smooth that you would consider those vibe-prone designs to be poor designs? Just because it can be made doesnt mean it should, so to speak.
I wouldnât call them âpoorâ in a vacuum. Itâs just a matter of physics. What would be a poor decision, would be going in to production with a design like that given the level of expectation by the community around smoothness.
This expectation is so high that most manufacturers choose to error on the side of tight bearing posts in order to ship smooth yoyos. The community has spoken with their dollars that they are fine with tight posts and using bearing removal tools, as long as the yoyo is smooth out of the box. I maintain, that tight posts will eventually lead to vibe, but thatâs a different topic.
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