Review #2 of 6 - 78 gram Death Moth by Davidson Lathe Craft

[kretzschmar]

Ed Davidson has been a wood crafter longer than I have been alive. Some of you have possibly not heard of him, as I don’t see much talk of his work on the forums. I am hear to say he is deserving of some hype, well actually, a whole lot of hype. If this inspires you to look into him, Google Davidson Lathe Craft.

He seems to turn one or two throws every couple days, and posts them for sale on his site. I have known of him and seen his throws for years now, but I just didn’t care much at all about fixed axle play. Well, fixed Axle February and some good friends changed that, and got me back on the horse. That led to me needing to acquire some fixed axle yoyos.

Now, I won’t lie, I am a fan of pure organic shape when it comes to yoyos, with very little deviations. Ed wasn’t making throws in that specific shape at the time being, but I found his work gorgeous. I’m a player and not a collector though, so gorgeous does me no good if it’s not something I would play on the norm. (Side note: I tried one of his non organic shapes, looks like a Saber Raider shape, and it slayed, so don’t let my organic bias deter you.)

On a whim, I reached out and asked if he would be willing to do some custom shapes. I was surprised at his immediate willingness to hear me out and accommodate. I can’t speak if this is something he is open to doing for everyone, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Interactions with him were more than kind, he is a stand up individual and well known and highly thought of by many in the yoyo community.

The first thing I asked was if he would be willing to take the dimensions of a vintage Duncan Wheel, and make three, with differing woods. The differing woods would provide different weights and different play.

Once I received them, I was hooked, and asked if he could make three more yoyos, each of differing shapes than the wooden Wheels. These shapes were more in tune with the shapes we see in modern 0A design. All three have differing shapes, dimensions and weights, and all are made of differing woods. The common thread is that they all have Death Moths engraved on them, and hence I refer to them as the Death Moth 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

Each of the wheels and 3 Death Moths deserve a review. As such I will post 6 more times over the coming days, with my thoughts on each, and their specific specs. I encourage you to ask questions in this thread, or share any work of his that you may have. Here are some pictures of what will be reviewed.

[Shwa]

Very cool work. Can I ask what he charges? I too have heard about him but haven’t jumped in. Looking forward to hour thoughts.

[kretzschmar]

I look forward to posting the six reviews, probably one a day or so. I won’t be biased, I paid for all of them.

Each yoyo here cost between $35 and $45 dollars. I considered this an absolute steal once they arrived and the quality and craftsmanship could be seen in person. It definitely seems to be labor of love for him.

[Shwa]

Thanks! Time to make the push.

[Adrielecc (Adriel)]

I received some customs from Ed and they are definitely worth every penny.

[Shwa]

This is from a year ago…

Turning a one-piece (no glue) yo-yo

[WantsLyfe93]

Super sick! Salute to the all the craftsmen that dedicate their time and effort to create so much joy for us all! Thanks for sharing and I will be looking forward to making my purchase in the near future. I have this community to thank as well for my new found love for fixed axle play. A true gift , enjoy my friends!

[AudreySickburn (Andy (They/Them))]

I ordered two customs from Ed a week ago and they were delivered today! I can’t put down that Satellite! It’s so fun and really easy to stall for novice me. The wheels/freehand fixie also plays great.

[Yodaddyo (Seth McNeeley)]

Awesome! I second Richie’s sentiments. Ed makes fantastic throws and sells them at a price that makes the buyer a straight up thief I think most makers could easily charge almost double what Ed is charging. Can’t recommend him enough.

[kretzschmar]

Review: Wooden Wheel #1 aka Sick Deth Wheel

Diameter: 57mm
Width: 37mm
Weight: 53 grams
Material: New England Maple

Engraving: I believe it was Ed’s idea to make a rim engraving, made sense to me as it’s inspired by the Wheel. He knows I like the Sick Deth branding (which is a tip of the hat to Save Deth,.but instead using my nick name and Seth’s name, with the first letters swapped.)

Response and play:
I am new to the world of wooden fixed axle yoyos. Some fixed axles are take apart two pieces models, allowing the option of having starburst or various other response systems around the axle area.

Some are one piece and rely on the gap size and shape and string thickness/tension. I believe the only exception I know of would be the SW Button which has wooden holes drilled through to create a response system, I am sure there are more though.

Ed’s work is all made from a solid piece of wood, so the gap size and shape create more or less responsiveness. These three Wheels were made using the gap size Ed had been using on his prior work, which is about the width of a nickel (maybe just a hair larger.) The Death Moths have a two cent gap (the width of two pennies stacked together) which is obviously wider than the Nickel.

So the response on the Wheels vs the Death Moths are noticeable. The Wheels play better with a thinner cotton string, compared to the Death Moths with a thicker cotton string. I found both to benefit greatly with a liberal amount of Carmex rubbed on the bottom of the string (so as to coat the axle.) Without the Carmex, double looping the axle was necessary. I used carmex as double looping the string is not my preference.

Regarding the axle, the axle size on these 3 Wheels is slightly larger than the axle size on the Death Moths. A smaller axle size leads to longer spin time, hence the Death Moths spin a little longer in my opinion.

Once I had the response dialed in on the Sick Deth Wheel, I found it stalled very well. Of the three Wheels, this one (the lightest of the three) spinned the longest. Keep in mind, if you are coming from the world of ball bearings, you will find that a 10 second sleeper in the fixed axle world is pretty darn good lol, so it takes an adjustment to expectations.

Luckily, the new world of 0A tricks does not rely on a yoyos ability to spin for long periods of time. Instead, response seems to be key (for stalls and regens out of stalls.) Again, I have found all of the Wheels and Death Moths to be able to obtain that sweet spot of response, with the right amount of Carmex, and the proper string width and tension. If you purchase one, realize you will need to invest some time to find that sweet spot, do not expect it to be dialed in for your specific need case.

The only thing to note regarding the Wheel with the nickel size response, is that if you like to shoot the moon, a much shorter string is needed to get the yoyo to shoot up in a 90 degree angle. Otherwise it shoots in a 150 degree angle behind you.

As for kickflips, with this wheel being the lightest, it is a real peach for kickflips. The easiest of the three to do it on. The Wheel won’t allow for sloppy play in 0A, the Death Moths will with their higher walls. The Wheel has definitely helped me clean up my stalls, because if you do not stay on plane, it will be more likely to slip off the trapeze stall.

These wooden Wheels are the first three he made, I believe he has went to the 2 cent gap going forward and has played around with various widths and diameters, but keeping the organic shape. These are all handmade one of a kind yoyos, so keep in mind that if you order a Wheel, it will probably have slightly differing specs, weight, gap and axle size.

It will be a unique experience, and this review cannot be used as a blanket statement. You will see this when I review the next Wheel, as it weighs about 10 grams more.

[kretzschmar]

Review: Death Moth #3

Diameter: 59.7 mm
Width: 33 mm
Weight: 78 grams
Material: Australian Blue Gum Eucalyptus

Intro: I have been playing with this all day, so I decided it best to review this next. I will start with saying I am a complete novice when it comes to wooden yoyos, and there are many individuals smarter than me on the subject. I say that to say, these are reviews from a beginner, and I hope that they will inspire others to pursue wooden fixed axles, as I hope the joy I am experiencing can be felt through these writings.

I hope the various trials and tribulations I have experienced of getting used to throwing wood (after years of ball bearings play), and introspections on what I have learned, will help you as you start your journey.

Engraving: My wife bought a preserved Death Moth about 2 months ago. It’s beauty really amazed me. This lead to me asking Ed if he would be willing to design some Death Moth art and do a trio of yoyos. He loved the Death Moths designs, as do I, and this is the third of the trio.

Response and play: The shape takes inspiration from an Ardeus throw I showed Ed, but with Ed’s own magic touch and take on the shape. It also uses a 2 cent gap. This is the largest of the six throws Ed has made for me. It is also the heaviest.

Now, before you gawk at the idea of a 78 gram 0A yoyo, I ask you to keep an open mind. In the world of 0A yoyos, the sweet spot (from my perspective) seems to be between 43-59 grams from market trends. This comes in about 20 grams heavier. Ed offered to make another as I was shooting for a lighter weight, but I gladly accepted this, because it doesn’t hurt to keep an open mind.

This is a cheat code yoyo for 0A. I have been struggling to do Making Da Zines and other various stall and roll tricks, until Ed made this masterpiece. It’s just makes it easy, I hardly even have to focus and I can just do tricks on repeat and just enjoy the beauty of the yoyo in motion.

Is it heavier? Well yeah, but after throwing it for a few minutes and seeing it’s capabilities, I completely forgot about the weight. Regarding response, I know I said in my last review that I choose to use thick string and Carmex to dial in response, as I am not a fan of double looping. This yoyo is the exception to the rule. It plays perfectly double looped.

I enjoyed this yoyo so much that I reached out to him today, asking if he would be interested in making another, from a lighter wood, just so that I’d be able to compare. I am positive I’ll be delighted, and sharing my thoughts on it in the future.

I know very little about the various woods that Ed uses, especially the exotic ones such as this. This wood is denser, hence the higher weight, and in general, it just has a special feel in the hand. A presence that cannot be put into words.