And I definitely appreciate the info buddy!
If anything comes of this, I’ll figure out how to get a hold of Frank.
Jon Walker is my buddy too, we’ve been in contact now.
Expect a better YoYo by weeks end, then I’ll likely disappear from the making them end for a few weeks while I prep for the Miami Knife Expo.
I’ll send one up to Jon, as it seems like he can actually do a few tricks, and I trust him to not steal my goods!
we’ll see what he thinks of it.
I cant believe I have missed this thread until now!
Welcome to the forum, Brian.
Yoyo is a fun change of pace from Knives. 
Usually I have one of each in my pockets.
I look forward to testing your design!
Did you decide to make it unresponsive or responsive? Unresponsive is preferred by most yoyo players. Responsive is best for selling to a broader market. Check out Spencer Berry and his Walter yoyo. It is a metal yoyo that can sleep for minutes but is still tug responsive so it is easy to learn on.
For now at least, responsive.
I can’t do a bind…
But, I would think widening the gap would make it unresponsive.
Some shims could easily accomplish that!
Cleaning out the bearing with mineral spirits or kerosene to remove all grease will make almost any ball bearing axle yoyo unresponsive. I would try that first before modifying the yoyo’s gap width or response pads.
The shims had better be the highest precision shims ever made. 
Regular old shims have a tendency to make the spin of the yoyo “vibrate” (“vibe”) in a way that is not considered desirable. By no means are shims a no-no, but they’re less common these days as players get more and more picky about the level of “vibe”.
Love following threads like this one and the one(s) from Jon. Keep at it!!
What gap should I shoot for so a guy that can’t do a bind can make the YoYo return, but a guy that can do tricks can still do a couple?
I don’t know the answer to this, but I do know that learning to bind will not take you more than a couple days.
Normally the better option is to go with a slim size bearing
You can see the narrow size N
That way you can design it around that bearing but with a large normal size C bearing installed it can double the gap and make it unresponsive. It just needs a longer axle sometimes.
Whatever the Walter uses is probably the best you’re going to get… it’s considered responsive still but might take a mighty tug to get it to respond.
For the most part, it’s one of those issues that you probably don’t want to chase the unicorn for. The done thing tends to be making the bearing seat such that you can put in a half-width bearing for responsive play and swap in a full-width bearing for unresponsive. Most companies don’t tend to bother when it comes to metal yoyos, but it is still a done thing.
lukas has it right… most people learn to bind in fairly short order and then just keep the two things divided… certain yoyos for responsive fun (these days, tends to be people on the fixed-axle renaissance) and other yoyos for unresponsive fun. Once you learn to bind, you probably won’t switch back to responsive mode much… but you just may find yourself drawn to making a top-tier fully responsive yoyo as well. Haha!
[edit: ninja’d for the bearing thing by sparhawk!]
Really, If you buy a titanium yoyo, you should know how to bind.
I think the creator should make what he’s comfortable with and don’t see the point in pushing him toward what you feel is necessary.
He’s also making a titanium yoyo and not buying it ;D
Yeah, I was going to mention that I have no intention of buying a titanium YoYo, and every intention of making a few…
Brian the standard gap is .187"ish the Walter has the bearing recessed slightly into each side and has a gap closer to .13" and is made responsive with thicker lube in the bearing. I prefer nano oil.
The bearing cups need to be super precise to allow this to work. If they don’t fit close enough to the bearing it will shred strings. If it is too tight it will hinder bearing spin.
Oh, so it’s like the one I made already!
That heavy beast is about .130" gap.
Dude, did you seriously not even look at the last 4 pages
Or the title
Ok, so I have a Shutter in hand, and can NOT make it bind.
Even if I physically wrap a bind by hand, the mofo won’t bind and return.
Something in the physics here is eluding me…
Haha! So, the most common newcomer mistake is to put the “loop” of string on the wrong side. Spin direction matters-- if the loop is on one side, it will “feed” into the gap for a bind. If you put the loop on the other side, it will keep getting pushed back. Sure, you can “force” it sometimes, but for the most part it’s mission: difficult at best.
Here’s a great video about binding that shows what’s happening inside the gap during a front-style bind. The same thing happens with a side style bind, but you have to be mindful of spin direction. The loop cannot be on the side of “Man on the Flying Trapeze” for a sidestyle bind:
Feed the string into the gap with your left hand while lowering your right hand closure to the yoyo. Or double wrap the bind.
The feels…
Search up yoyo binding on youtube
It would explain it by word, but am afraid of causing more confusion
I may just not be smart enough.
Or coordinated enough…
I’ve watched a bunch of vids.
I can get it to start now, and even come up.
Sometimes.
Usually with a big ole loop in it that screws up my next throw.
