I have a decent set of calipers (read: $40 set) with an “inner width” set of jaws, but they’re not long enough for most yoyos to measure the gap width.
Am I using them wrong? Or is there a different / better way of measuring gap width?
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measure the width of the yoyo put together, then subtract the width of the halves
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That…sounds so simple, I feel silly for not having thought of it.
Thank you!!
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well, it would seem so… but, when you think of it from the stacking of the bearing, the bearing seat, all these pieces parts fitting together… it can start to unravel very quickly, lol… sometimes the easiest answer isn’t always the easiest to find
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I hear that!
I think I’m going to have to practice this, too. I did a couple of test measurements on some “known” yoyos and was off by as much as 0.7mm.
Measuring the individual halves with the hollow cups is trickier than I’d expected. The half keeps tilting in the caliper jaws.
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if you’re having trouble getting the caliper to sit flush against the cup, add something thin but firm and level (think aluminum plate) for the caliper to sit uniform and flush against the entire yoyo half when you measure the yoyo half… then subtract that too… you’ll be adding an additional margin of error though…
but this is the american way, a little bit’s good, more is better!!
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Thanks for all of the help with this, man!
This is what happens when I play at being an engineer.
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happy to help my dude
Wouldn’t that be assuming the bearing seat meets in the middle? Does it? I’m not a yoyo designer and never used CAD, just something I thought of.
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I’ve noticed variance from manufacturers and vendors, but only by .2-.3
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correct, the bearing will seat firmly against the well of each yoyo half. otherwise, the bearing posts would be essentially ‘mashed’ together, potentially damaging each other. there is also minimal
contact surface there (and more on the surface of the bearing seat and the steel bearing)… also, if those two parts ( the bearing posts) were mashed together, the bearing could essentially ‘float in space’ until those to halves were crammed together just enough for it to be tight… this would give you some hella wobble had you done this, because, the bearing posts could/would’ve been misaligned.
a discussion about vibe… the vibe mentioned above, caused by a misalignment of the bearing posts, can be caused by a misalignment of 1/100th mm… that is extremely negligible, but can be felt…
don’t overtighten, or cram stuff…
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When I design throws in CAD I measure gap width from the top of the bearing seat lip (the little area that separates the bearing from the response pad)
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I’ve always used a feeler gauge set…
Stack 'em up, add 'em up 
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