There are two types, 416 which is 1/4" and 516 which are 5/16" both in several wood types. The best responsive ones IMO are the Maple 516s. The stock ones were typically walnut 416s.
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The TMBR axle kit is made up of an assortment on walnut, oak, cherry, and birch.
Each of these wood species interacts with the string differently, resulting in unique play characteristics.
The best way to describe each wood is by its grain properties, which are the biggest differences between them.
WALNUT is tough, slightly open grain wood. It is typically very smooth and long spinning, with very little tendency to burn out. Walnut is the stock axle material (for the most part).
OAK is very tough, with an open grain texture. It is long spinning, and the open grain gives a level of feedback on the string.
CHERRY is medium hardness, with a fine close grain. It spins smooth with a bit more response.
BIRCH is medium soft with a very close grain. It tends to be the most responsive species. It spins super smooth, but is subject to burn out over time.
Tom Kuhn did a study at one point in the early eighties with scientist from NASA to figure out the best material for an axle. At the time they tested a bunch of materials from Teflons, synthetics and various metals for the original Silver Bullet to get the best spinning coefficient material , all of their testing lead them back to maple, as so the story goes. Eventually the SB2 got a bearing but then there was the problem of response, hence their response sticker the Turbo Disc. Maple was king for a long time, I think the switch to walnut was to help deal with the scorching issues from throwing hard to get increased spin times back in the late 00s as doing 1A tricks was what most players tried to do on Fixed Axles during the initial renaissance. I like walnut but when they get slick from wear the response gets rather loose, if you are not throwing a lot of heat maple just has such a pleasant grip after an initial break in period, but if you burn them out they can be inconsistent and cut cotton strings. I also like the Cherry, seems to be a nice middle ground. Since 0A is more about fineness and throwing softly I personally prefer the grip of maple, but once they are broken in they can handle some 1A if you don’t over do it and last for awhile.
I don’t know if you have ever played a Hildy Brothers but their axles were also 5/16" Maples and No Jives are 1/4" maples or Hard Maplewood. Hildys play slower than No Jives, but that bigger axle diameter makes them feel a tad smoother, but that also sacrificed some spin time and make them more sluggish compared to a No JIve, however for 0A that’s not a bad thing as that can also add more control. The Currier was their most popular model and they also did a collaboration with Recess.
I tried maple and didn’ like it so much. I use Tasmanian oak for all my axles and its perfect. I’ve tried many different woods, plastics and metals too.
I found that the axle diameter, gap width and type of response used were most inportant for reliable responding yoyos, not so much the type of wood used.
No its not unfortunately. On paper, its about the same hardness as red oak, but if has a softer feeling quality to it. Its an extremely boring and fairly ugly wood, but for axles, it works very nicely indeed and doesn’t scorch easily.
If I were you, I’d get my hands on some yellow birch dowel. It looks like you can source that easily in the US and it should work superbly for axles. It has a similar hardness to sugar maple, is very finely texured with a slightly soft feel on the surface.
Don’t confuse it with white birch though. That is is significantly softer and won’t last as well.
What do you all think of these inlay colors with the bocote yoyo? I can’t decide. They’re not glued in yet, so there’s time to try something different.
I’m always a fan of keeping it straight natural, including caps and inlays, so Maple might look super nice. If using colored wood, do the whole thing that way (like SpectraPly). Are you covering something with the inlays, or just adding a bit-o-flair?
so much you could do with that. colors, like shown, just for a unique look. or, as @Marioyo stated, something “fancier” for more flair. you could also use them like a side effect where you could add weight to the center for a different feel. (could you get a brass disk to stay in there?)
The inlays cover the axle holes, which go all the way through on these. That’s a result of using the hole saw to cut the pucks.
I can make yoyo without the axle hole going all the way through, but it just makes it a slightly different process.
I also like a little flair, at least on this model
