So i have to ask if im the only person who thinks modern bearing seats are too tight? Ive had my yoyofriends koi, slim dunk and another yoyo damage itself from taking them apart and screwing back on. Grinding the bearing seat, these were once mint yoyos so its a little annoying. Especially when metal shavings get in the bearing and screws it up. If the throws need a flat bearing, why ship them with a concave or center trac? It makes no sense. My dark magic 2 and YO3 hertz do not have this problem. So its not a modern/retro issue. I think a good throw should be able to be taken apart. I dont want any dont take them apart myths. Axle knots happen my friends. Just a random, slightly annoying and fun topic to chat about THANKS
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One Drops will make you happy then. Machined well.
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I was about to say the same thing lol. This is why I love One Drops. The bearings sit tight and can be easily removed at the same time. Like magic.
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I had a 54 years ago, i agree they make great throws. I’ll have to check them out again when i see something i like.
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Weird coincidence of a forum post. Just yesterday for the first time I ended up sanding down a bearing post on two yoyos. I have a Kappa that was already vibey from dings, and the bearing post was so tight it took gorilla strength to unscrew even after freezing it. Getting the bearing out after that was also an exercise in frustration, and I could tell that just unscrewing it a single time had already put a ton of stress on the axle threading. After about 10 minutes of sanding down the bearing post by hand with 2000 grit sandpaper, the bearing now slides on and off easily and the halves screw together with no issues. I took the risk since it was already a bit vibey and I felt like just unscrewing another couple times would strip it, but it was worth it and showed that just taking the ano down a bit vastly improved the yoyo.
My understanding is that tight bearing posts are used to lower rate of B grades due to smoothness during QC. But a big random factor to this is that the anodizer can mess up the extremely tight tolerance. So in this instance I hold no contempt for the manufacturer, but I will say it’s very lame that yoyos with bearing posts this tight will be sold as A grades just because they’re smooth. If I feel like just normal use will destroy the yoyo unless I take sandpaper to it, that doesn’t really seem acceptable to me. My Akita which retailed for 150 dollars had the bearing post look like this after removing the bearing three times total. Removing the bearing seems like extremely normal maintenance to me, and something that you should be able to perform without damaging your yoyo.
Again I don’t blame Spiral or CLYW in any way since I’m assuming the anodization process is where this happened. And it seems to be very rare to have a case of it this extreme, I’ve had a lot of yoyos and these are the only two I’ve ever even had to consider doing this on. Every other tight bearing post I’ve had on a yoyo has just easily popped out using a bearing tool, and I’ve never had bearings just rip the ano off the post like this. I have to say I’d heavily prefer to have a light fingernail vibe out of the box from a looser bearing post than needing to take sandpaper to a brand new 150 dollar yoyo out of fear of having it rendered unusable through normal maintenance.
The best bearing posts I’ve ever had on a yoyo have been on my Japan Technology yoyos, the yoyos are still super smooth while having bearings you can just lift out with your fingers. I’m guessing that just like One Drop, it’s because they have a lot more control over the entire manufacturing process. Even if the yoyos weren’t totally smooth though, I’d still prefer looser bearing posts like that. It’s not like a bit of fingernail vibe actually matters, especially when the cost of achieving smoothness is also putting yoyos at risk of being rendered unusable through normal maintenance.
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Bearing posts are way too tight these days. But it’s a cheap, and pretty much guaranteed, way to make a vibe free yoyo.
I personally hate the death grip bearing seats. I own a few yoyos that have them, but when I buy from a company that I know has them I don’t take the yoyo apart until the day comes that I have to.
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A valuable lesson I learned from the talented machinist over at one drop years ago was that the bearing post can easily be a non-interference fit and be vibe-free. Its no “extremely” tight tolerance, i would imagine around +0.002/-0” slip fit (assuming) would still hold concentricity on the bearing.
If you have “machinists” letting through over sized bearing posts, and it doesn’t get caught by QC until finishing (and of course who wants to take the scrap hit at that point $$$), thats when you see assemblers not caring that they need an arbor press to press fit a tiny bearing, but hey! It screws together and its smooth! Ship it boss! (/sarcasm)
This is just a single example, many issues can also be introduced with finishing, like anodize corner buildup, that could also oversize a fit.
These things can seem complex, meanwhile people over at one drop seem to have it completely locked down. Coincidence? I don’t believe so. Very talented team there, great example of the excellence yoyo companies should strive for.
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One Drop is definitely a standout in this regard, and has been since their first releases. I didn’t even know a bearing removal tool was a thing until this year. Like others here, I am under the impression that a tight fit with looser tolerances is a cheaper/easier way to ensure a smooth yoyo than the inverse, but I could be wrong. It’s incredibly frustrating to pay more than 50 bucks for a throw and realize there’s no way to maintain the bearing without scarring the ano.
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I’ve ruined yoyos trying to swap a bearing out. I literally did one bearing swap on a yo-yo and it completely ruined it. Vibe so bad it affected spintime .
I’d rather take the risk with a loose bearing seat to be honest even if it means more vibe.
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Price is definitely the biggest thing that gets me in regard to this issue. I wouldn’t mind if a 20-50 dollar monometal had problems like this, but when 100+ dollar bimetals are having this issue it’s a pretty big deal to me. If I’m paying that much, I want something I can play worry free for a long time, and not something that just gets shelved for fear of breaking it. Getting a B grade discount on them would also make it easier to swallow since you’re buying them with the explicit knowledge you’ll have to either sand them down or avoid taking them apart.
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My first ever unresponsive yo-yo was a shutter. I had been thinking about a yo-yo to buy for months and finally decided on it. I got the yo-yo and within three days the bearing needed to be cleaned. I couldn’t get the bearing off, and while trying to yank it off with pliers I actually somehow managed to bend the shield. I pulled so hard that the outer race of the bearing shot off and the bearing was literally in tiny pieces, but the inner race was still stuck to the post.
I hate tight bearing seats.
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I personally don’t like it too! It’s just a bit sad when natural wear and tear makes me feel like the Yoyo won’t last forever… Or when it just damages the Yoyo the first time you remove the bearing
Maybe someone should come up with a lower minimum weight Side Effect-like system to mitigate that! :o
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In my little collection of throws, the Shutter was by far the WORST as far as ridiculously-tight bearing seat.
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Your yoyos are all fine. The problem is that bearings are shrinking.
Ivan
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I had the same issue with a YYF popstar I got, incredibly tight and I basically destroyed the bearing but the inner race is still stuck on the bearing post, frustrating. Good thing YYE took care of me!
Also, the bearings used would also make quite a huge difference in how tight the bearing fits onto the yoyo. With the stock bearing, the YoYoFriends Hummingbird’s bearing seat wasn’t too tight and fit relatively easily, but when I used a different bearing that I got from another yoyo, it was extremely tight and I had a lot of trouble putting bearing in and getting it out.
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Just FYI, One Drop does not manufacture the 10-ball flat bearings (or any bearings) they use.
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Oops didn’t know that. Edited it out.
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When I got my Terrarian, I realized how clever the side effect system is. The washers/side effects are a good protection, and the yo-yo could last 100 years if you had the side effects for replacement.
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My experience with One Drop is limited to these three yo-yos
Benchmark H (black flat cap se)
Code 1 (clear ultra lights se)
Aitch (clear mini spikes se)
With the side effects that came with them, I had no problem changing out the flat bearing to a concave.
When I bought the blue spikes to make my Code 1 a solid blue. I had a tough time getting the bearing on.
I love One Drop, just sharing my experience.
Hey, ex-automotive mechanic here. I was just wondering if it would help to have a very slight taper to the inner bearing seat to help prevent mushrooming when trying to re-install the bearing on one of these over tight yoyos. My protostar got all chewed up and I had to file around the top edge of the seat near the axle. The bearing now fits loose but there is no extra vibe as far as I can tell. I would imagine if they were tapered, the bearing would still be perfectly centered but have less resistance when removing and be easier to install with less damage. Or am I wrong?