# Is wood still good in 2018? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Yo-Yo\ **Created:** [January 21, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499 "2018-01-21T13:14:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jrodriguez](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/jrodriguez/32/7914_2.png) [@jrodriguez](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/jrodriguez)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/41 "2018-01-25T19:05:52Z")
There isn’t to my knowledge a wood dense enough to create the kind of weight distribution you get from metal. If you haven’t, check out the CAD profiles of metal yoyos, codinghorror. The Deep State is rad. It makes possible a play style that you can’t get with wood fixed axle yoyos or with unresponsive bearing yoyos - because it’s made for semi-responsive play. Part of what’s rad about it too is that you can hit the bearing with thick lube and it’ll play fully responsive. The Deep State is one of my favorite yoyos ever, but even with thick lube it isn’t the same as playing with a wood fixed axle. And different wood fixed axles are different too. If I want to loop, I don’t grab a No Jive, but I do grab one of my No Jives if I want to be able to do a combination of stall and string tricks. Likewise, if I want to do longer fixed axle tricks with string wraps, I don’t grab an Apollo - but I do grab that Apollo for low RPM stall tricks. Part of what’s so incredible about being a yoyoer right now is that there are so many options to get different play experiences. We have uber long spinning competition throws, semi-responsive yoyos like the Deep State and Walter, TMBR and Jensen throws, and a host of unresponsive yoyos that are made to provide different kinds of experiences. I love the Cabal, and the Downbeat, and the Crossbones, and FHZs to death. They are so much fun to play with and each is different. I wouldn’t compete with any of them, even though I could - but that’s not the point. The point is that part of what’s cool about this pursuit of ours is that there’s all kinds of different play and experiences to be had. And it isn’t about hobbling yourself, though as Myk\_Myk said, limitations foster creativity - but everything comes with limitations, including the longest spinning competition yoyos, which are limited in a different way from fixed axle yoyos. For example, when Drew uses a plastic Duncan Butterfly, [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/yoyoexpert1/original/4X/9/f/f/9fffe05a6908c4e6445b9ab9dcbf1c3bd9e1368a.jpeg "Fixed Friday: Somersaults") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NzY6MdfhyM) he’s not doing it to be cool or gimmicky. It’s because it makes possible a particular kind of play experience and style - that’s what . Most folks would agree that asking, “Why would you ride a bike if you own a car?” kind of misses the point. Or, “Why would you go fishing when you it’s cheaper to buy a can of tuna at the grocery store?” ---
**Author:** ![AaronW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/aaronw/32/49251_2.png) [@AaronW](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/AaronW)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/42 "2018-01-25T20:19:21Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > I plan to go to my grave without any kind of Facebook account, so that’s not an option for me. What’s his Reddit username, is it actually cool to just bother people about this stuff in PMs? Reddit: JensenKimmitt Jensen is a nice guy, don’t think he’d be bothered at all. ---
**Author:** ![edhaponik](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/edhaponik/32/150896_2.png) [@edhaponik](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/edhaponik)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/43 "2018-01-25T20:29:27Z")
> [@codinghorror](#): > > But they could all easily be done on a Deep State… and it’d feel tons better. I guess I can kinda understand the “I wanna intentionally cripple myself to see how good I can be even with a terrible tool!” but… ugh. Easily, huh? Man, that’s good to know. They felt pretty good at the time, too… ah well. Live & learn. Anyway, I think if this is the way you see it, we may not “understand” the same thing at all (which - don’t get me wrong - is absolutely ok). Awhile back I posted this regarding why I continue to spend most of my time and energy throwing fixed axle. Not reposting this under the assumption that it should be how anyone else perceives it or to proselytize anyone into the church of wood. Everybody has their own reasons for throwing what they do. > [@'Why fixed axle?' you may well be thinking... We'll tell you why!](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/why-fixed-axle-you-may-well-be-thinking-well-tell-you-why/84454/29): > > Why throw fixed axle… man… ok… > > • necessity: When i started as a kid (the late 80’s) the most reliable yo-yo’s were fixed axles, while transaxles were a novelty and ball bearings were still a ways off. I’ll grant you the yo-yo’s i played were mostly inexpensive Duncans (Midnight Special!), but I thought they were fun, even if I was just doing Breakaways and Around the Worlds… for years. > > • nostalgia: I only played transaxles and bearings during the 90’s boom. When i got back into yo-yo’s in my 20’s, the idea of going back to my roots had some appeal. The more I got into fixed axle, and especially wood, the more I felt connected to where yo-yoing came from. Modern yo-yoing is as old as the internet, and that’s about how far most players’ knowledge base goes. In beginning to dig, you realize the depth of our shared history. You get a sense for what it was like to be a pro when the fastest way to share new tricks really was the YoYoTimes newsletter. Those guys had spent a generation learning their craft and materials, both of which might seem instantly irrelevant with the advent of bearings. But you watch Dale O, Dale M, Bill deB, Bob Rule, Larry Sayco, Dennis McBride, or Steve Brown (yeah, I put him in there - he started on fixed and was one of the true purist holdouts when transaxles took over). You watch those guys throw and there’s a quality and precision there that’s just inimitable. And you want to find it. > > • esoterics: To get even halfway decent at throwing fixed, you have to learn some secrets. In aikido, we call it “kuden”. It’s the stuff yo-yo’s (or masters thereof) teach you. How to get the most out of a spinner, how to break in an axle, twist a string, tune a gap, keep your Moons straight, how to throw reverse-spin and make it look normal. It’s maybe a little lame, but you start to feel like you’re part of something - like you’ve got some special understanding that only a few possess. And then you remember, it’s yo-yo’s which is sort of silly. But it still makes you smile. > > • facility: I teach middle school. Every year, I’ve taught, I’ve had a new crop of kids who get into yo-yo’s. A few make their way to binds and modern tricks, but most just want to have fun with the basics for a few months. It’s nice to be able to hand my yo-yo to them and they can see there’s nothing to it. It goes down, and up too. Spins just a few seconds. They can use it and relate to it, whether they’re “serious yo-yoers” or not. > > • challenge: At some point, I hit Kwyijibo on a Proyo, and at some contest I bragged about it to Jack Ringca. He told me about a time he and Spencer went back and forth trying to hit Cold Fusion on a Russell. At first I thought “that’s got to be impossible”. For the next few years though, throwing fixed became a matter of “what can i hit?” especially on my favorite yo-yo, the No Jive. Branding, Pop n Fresh, Cold Fusion, Superflow, Red Clover, Kamikaze, Spirit Bomb, Gyro Flop, Double Suicide… each challenge led to another, but it was a dead end. It relies on bearing yo-yo’s to throw down the gauntlet and then you rise to it on fixed. Some dead ends are worth driving down anyway though, and it DOES change the way you throw a bearing yoyo. > > • frontier: I hit my first Trapeze Stall on accident. Then I tried to do it again. Then I tried to do it from Man & His Bro, then Double or Nothing, then GT, 1.5, Split-Bottom, then pretty much every mount I could think of. Then Higby taught me Lunar Landing. Drew and I had some fixed axle sessions, along with guys like Nate, Randy, Colin Leland, Joey Fleshman, Uri, Spencer, Seth P… which revolved around ridiculous stall tricks. Silly or not, it became pretty obvious pretty quick that we were on to some stuff no one else had bothered to look at. Was it good? Was it crap? Eventually Drew and I were texting each other every few days trying to determine where it led. I felt pretty good about Stop N Pops and Zipper Stalls… then he hit a Kickflip. Since then, it’s felt like fixed has a unique direction which many VERY good players are clarifying every other session. We never thought we were “cutting edge” - we mainly thought it was stupid fun; a counterpoint to all the seriousness. It hasn’t lost that, which is a reason to play fixed in itself. > > • humility: I have played mainly fixed axle for a long time now. I’m pretty good at it. I feel ok saying that. I’m better at fixed than I am with bearings. I have hit some stuff that I legitimately thought was impossible, and which has caused me to reevaluate my sense for what these yo-yo’s are up for. People have given me money and prizes, flown me to cool places, designed neat yo-yo’s for me, put me on a trading card, put my name in nice internet posts saying I did a good job. I get texts (if not hugs) from many of the players I admire. And yet… AND YET… when I pull up too quick on Kamikaze, BLAM! When I don’t throw far enough out on a suicide, SMACK! When I get lazy on a GT Varial, KNOT! The yo-yo does not care who you are, who you know, what accolades you’ve received, whether or not you’re “pro”. If you’re throwing fixed axle, you need to forget everything but the trick, and even then it might bite you. It reminds you to see through the BS, so that when someone is too nice and says “dude you’re like… a legend” you can smile and be sincere in saying “thank you, but I’m not”. Because anyone who truly throws fixed is an ant surfing a tsunami on a toothpick - another voyager on an unimaginably vast, stormy ocean. If you throw fixed, you will mainly wipe out - you will FAIL at what you try to do MOST of the time. Which is wonderful, because you will come to learn that the State of Yo - that momentary magical synergy you stumble upon which allows you to hit something truly special does NOT come from you - but if you can forget yourself enough and get out of your own way, sometimes you can go to IT. > > Anyway, those are my reasons. AND of course, because there’s so much money in it. Back to OP, I don’t think the wood has changed - it’s as good as it ever was. So this thread is mostly just about peoples’ perceptions about throwing wood yo-yo’s. I’ve done that when it felt like literally two other guys were really into it, and now, when every day a few people are posting weird, sweet tricks to the Fixed Axle Collective. I don’t get too invested in how popular it is, but I think it’s so connected to yo-yoing’s ROOTS that it will always be a meaningful place to return to. ---
**Author:** ![AaronW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/aaronw/32/49251_2.png) [@AaronW](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/AaronW)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/44 "2018-01-25T20:53:02Z")
> [@""](#): > > • humility: I have played mainly fixed axle for a long time now. I’m pretty good at it. I feel ok saying that. I’m better at fixed than I am with bearings. I have hit some stuff that I legitimately thought was impossible, and which has caused me to reevaluate my sense for what these yo-yo’s are up for. People have given me money and prizes, flown me to cool places, designed neat yo-yo’s for me, put me on a trading card, put my name in nice internet posts saying I did a good job. I get texts (if not hugs) from many of the players I admire. And yet… AND YET… when I pull up too quick on Kamikaze, BLAM! When I don’t throw far enough out on a suicide, SMACK! When I get lazy on a GT Varial, KNOT! The yo-yo does not care who you are, who you know, what accolades you’ve received, whether or not you’re “pro”. If you’re throwing fixed axle, you need to forget everything but the trick, and even then it might bite you. It reminds you to see through the BS, so that when someone is too nice and says “dude you’re like… a legend” you can smile and be sincere in saying “thank you, but I’m not”. Because anyone who truly throws fixed is an ant surfing a tsunami on a toothpick - another voyager on an unimaginably vast, stormy ocean. If you throw fixed, you will mainly wipe out - you will FAIL at what you try to do MOST of the time. Which is wonderful, because you will come to learn that the State of Yo - that momentary magical synergy you stumble upon which allows you to hit something truly special does NOT come from you - but if you can forget yourself enough and get out of your own way, sometimes you can go to IT. That was always my favorite part of that post 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![anon5341354](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@anon5341354](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/anon5341354)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/45 "2018-01-25T22:12:12Z")
Ed mentioned ‘Fixed Axle Collective’. I tried googling it but found nothing. Could someone point me in the right direction? It would be good to connect with more fixed axle throwers. ---
**Author:** ![AaronW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/aaronw/32/49251_2.png) [@AaronW](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/AaronW)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/46 "2018-01-26T14:51:57Z")
> [@anon5341354](#): > > Ed mentioned ‘Fixed Axle Collective’. I tried googling it but found nothing. Could someone point me in the right direction? It would be good to connect with more fixed axle throwers. Fixed Axle Collective is a group on Facebook ---
**Author:** ![egisantos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/egisantos/32/1659_2.png) [@egisantos](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/egisantos)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/47 "2018-01-29T12:41:56Z")
Wooden yoyos are here ever since, I can see the wooden yoyos will still be here and better than good for a long period of time. On the other note, Fixed Axle Collective is a dedicated Facebook group for Fixed Axle style of yoyoing. I am just an spectator there as I have nothing good to share with my fixed axle play. Some people post in the group their homemade yoyos, which I think is really interesting. No contest, just pure fun. ---
**Author:** ![AaronW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/aaronw/32/49251_2.png) [@AaronW](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/AaronW)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 5:39pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/48 "2018-01-29T17:39:42Z")
> [@egisantos](#): > > No contest, just pure fun. And this is the best part about Fixed Axle play to me. With the exception of the Fixed Axle Champion of All the World contest, which is by far the best format for a contest, in my opinion ;D P.S. - Yes I like contests as much as the next person, but the laid back and just fun vibe of the Fixed Axle contests are just too good. ---
**Author:** ![French](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/french/32/70748_2.png) [@French](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/French)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/49 "2018-01-29T19:33:52Z")
> [@AaronW](#): > > That was always my favorite part of that post 🙂 I agree 100%. For me wooden fixed axle and unresponsive play are similar but different. Close enough to see the family resemblance, but unique enough to recognize the individual personalities and quirks. I enjoy both, but, lean toward fixed axle. Maybe it is because I’m older, maybe I just like the type of tricks, maybe it is because after smacking my knuckles innumerable times as Ed describes in his repost, my unresponsive playing becomes just a little smoother. For me, fixed axle is almost meditative, I can just relax and shoot the moon and lunar land, trapeze stall, do any of the repeaters that I can do…just have fun (with the occaisional knuckle smack). Unresponsive play is also fun, but, in a different way for me. I like to learn new tricks, but, I’m slow at learning, I need to spend a lot ot time ‘in the woodshed’ practicing. So, for my $0.02, wood is good in 2018, but, so is bimetal, plastic, trimetal, monometal…as long as the person playing yoyo is having fun playing. ---
**Author:** ![photogeek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/photogeek/32/41072_2.png) [@photogeek](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/photogeek)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 7:28am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/50 "2018-02-06T07:28:52Z")
Wood does not make a good unresponsive yoyo. In my opinion (which I don’t think is particularly uncommon), wood doesn’t make a good bearing yoyo generally. But it specifically doesn’t make a good unresponsive bearing yoyo. The RD-1, Roller Woody, and Sleep Machine are fun and all. But they are a relic from another time and even at that time, were more for “soul” than play. Wood doesn’t have the ability to distribute weight in the way that bimetal or plastic+metal does. Even just plain aluminum can be machined to a FAR thinner sidewall that you could ever get with wood. This is going to affect stability and spin times as compared to more modern designs. Wood, being natural, also is a far less consistent material to work with as compared to the uniformness of materials such as aluminum or injection molded plastic. Wood grain and density varies considerably. This is going to affect how smooth and free of vibe the yoyo is. In short, if you want a yoyo for modern unresponsive or bearing play, wood isn’t going to be your friend. Where wood shines is in the simple joy of taking something to its most basic level and then seeing what you can do with it. The pure enjoyment of going back in time to the roots of this hobby. It’s why people ride bikes (or horses) instead of drive. Why they use a paintbrush instead of illustrator. Why they write in a sketchbook instead of taping on a tablet. Why they grow food in the garden instead of buying it at the store. None of those things are any better or worse than the other. They are just different ways of accomplishing the same task. FWIW, I really enjoy wood. I think it’s fair to say that I enjoy responsive yoyos more than it is that I’m specific to wood yoyos or fixed axel. But I do have a soft sport for the enjoyment I get out of throwing a nice wood yoyo. Not everyone is going to feel that way and that’s fine. But I also think that a lot of us have trod the path from fixed to bearing to unresponsive to etc etc etc. And for many of us, we eventually find, if not the enjoyment, at least the appreciation for why some folks are so connected to this kind of back-to-basics throwing. ---
**Author:** ![edhaponik](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/edhaponik/32/150896_2.png) [@edhaponik](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/edhaponik)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 11:45am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/51 "2018-02-06T11:45:46Z")
Totally agree. I imagine modern 1a would have developed a lot faster if wood had the same consistency/tolerance/moldability as plastic (or if Escolar had been born earlier). How many companies have reached out to me saying “I’m making a new unresponsive wooden yo-yo - you’re gonna love it!” … I probably won’t. Because like 3 people have succeeded in making a legitimately consistent one - and not without LOW production #'s and significant unusable stock. Yo-yo’s like the Sleep Machine, RD-One, Jamboo were cool IN SPITE OF the material they used, not because of it… Ok, actually the Jamboo wasn’t cool at all. ;D Going back to what Mo said, there’s more than one way to be good at yo-yo, so there’s more than one way to MAKE a good yo-yo. For the stuff I like to do, wood works really, really well - better than plastic, and better than metal (I don’t throw my AlleyCat the same way I throw my No Jive, even if it seems that way). Plus it just feels great. I mean we could all play carbon fiber guitars which resist humidity changes and enable crazy low action and more technical facility, but sometimes you just wanna play acoustic and feel the sonic warmth of that wood resonate. ---
**Author:** ![AaronW](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/aaronw/32/49251_2.png) [@AaronW](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/AaronW)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/52 "2018-02-06T17:07:52Z")
I don’t know ed, think I may have to stop playing if I was forced to only play carbon fiber instruments :🙂 ;D ---
**Author:** ![Dust](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/dust/32/83340_2.png) [@Dust](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Dust)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/53 "2018-02-06T17:17:33Z")
A/RT just dropped a batch of wood unresponsives. WoodBoys i think they called them. Instant sell out but making more. Any thoughts on these? ---
**Author:** ![Myk\_Myk](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/myk_myk/32/63087_2.png) [@Myk\_Myk](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Myk_Myk)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:26pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/54 "2018-02-06T17:26:19Z")
^I let you know in a few days! ;D Funny thing is, I actually thought it was a fixed axle until you posted this! I was talking to him and he made me a deal on an Orphan, Peon, and the new Wood Boy. All he said was that it was large 70mm. I assumed it was fixed! ---
**Author:** ![Dust](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/dust/32/83340_2.png) [@Dust](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Dust)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 5:30pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/55 "2018-02-06T17:30:43Z")
> [@Myk\_Myk](#): > > ^I let you know in a few days! ;D > > Funny thing is, I actually thought it was a fixed axle until you posted this! I was talking to him and he made me a deal on an Orphan, Peon, and the new Wood Boy. All he said was that it was large 70mm. I assumed it was fixed! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. I thougt it was fixed too but then J posted a video of doing some sweet slacks that would have been impossible on fixed. Also he does a bind to bring it back, but its all so smooth that its easy to miss its a wood unresponsive. Thenin the comments he confirms it. ---
**Author:** ![edhaponik](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/edhaponik/32/150896_2.png) [@edhaponik](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/edhaponik)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:06pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/56 "2018-02-06T18:06:45Z")
I was counting Jensen among the 3 or so to have successfully made unresponsive woodies. :wink: All’s Im saying is there’s a reason everyone would love to see them, but you rarely do - certainly not at the level of consistency of plastic/metal. They are HARD to get right, result in a lot of expensive scraps, and one bang on the floor is all it takes to turn them into wobbling drunkards. Every material has its ideal uses. There will ALWAYS be a place for wooden yo-yo’s - not just based on nostalgia, but utility too! ---
**Author:** ![Dust](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/dust/32/83340_2.png) [@Dust](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/Dust)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/57 "2018-02-06T18:15:07Z")
I never thought of a wobble induced thud off the floor. Its durability never crossed my mind… ---
**Author:** ![kevinm](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/kevinm/32/697_2.png) [@kevinm](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/kevinm)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:29pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/58 "2018-02-06T18:29:02Z")
> [@edhaponik](#): > > I was counting Jensen among the 3 or so to have successfully made unresponsive woodies. :wink: > > All’s Im saying is there’s a reason everyone would love to see them, but you rarely do - certainly not at the level of consistency of plastic/metal. They are HARD to get right, result in a lot of expensive scraps, and one bang on the floor is all it takes to turn them into wobbling drunkards. > > Every material has its ideal uses. There will ALWAYS be a place for wooden yo-yo’s - not just based on nostalgia, but utility too! But Ed, all my yo-yos spin like wobbling drunkards… hey, wait a minute!!! ---
**Author:** ![photogeek](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/photogeek/32/41072_2.png) [@photogeek](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/photogeek)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/59 "2018-02-06T18:38:16Z")
Yeah, I don’t think it’s IMPOSSIBLE to make an unresponsive wood bearing throw. I just think it is very very difficult to make them in any volume at a price point that (most) people want to pay. ---
**Author:** ![codinghorror](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/forums.yoyoexpert.com/codinghorror/32/8052_2.png) [@codinghorror](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/u/codinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 12:56am UTC](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499/60 "2018-02-23T00:56:58Z")
I finally obtained a Tom Kuhn RD1 and I can say… wood is still good… as long as it has a metal ball bearing inside, and metal weight rings on the outside 😃 [Previous page](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499.md?page=2) [Next page](https://forums.yoyoexpert.com/t/is-wood-still-good-in-2018/85499.md?page=4)