Stronger axle

This is the second time I’ve broken an axle on a 4a yoyo. The yoyo is the Zeekio Saturn V, which is pretty heavy, so it isn’t really surprising. What is the strongest possible material for an axle? Would titanium be good? I’m not really sure what the original metal is.

Wouldn’t a titanium axle strip the inner threads of the yoyo?

Message Zeekio and let them know. I had that problem, gone through 3 Apollos, the axle broke in one, stripping the bearing seat, the other two the bearing seat stripped. When I messaged them they took the issue seriously, sent me a new yoyo, and said they would look into fixes. THey also said they had never heard of this happening before, so people need to let them know.

Are you saying that instead of the axle breaking, the threads would strip? I don’t think that the titanium itself would do it, but maybe the force that went toward breaking the axle would be transferred to stripping the threads.

I’m actually sponsored by Zeekio. I want to know the best axle material not only for myself, but hopefully so that Zeekio will start shipping with it so that nobody else has the same problem I did.

Anytime you use a material that has a higher tensile strength than the material it is in you run the risk of stripping. Steal, titanium whatever is in the aluminum will win out 100% of the time in terms of strength.

Diameter of the axle!

Besides using thicker axle, it might also a good idea to alter the design a bit to give the yoyo more flex upon hitting the ground. I’d just make a rough guess probably the halves are too rigid thus instead of softening the landing, it simply transfers all the shock to the axle.

You are right about it being pretty rigid. That’s what I was thinking.

What is the broken axle’s material? If you don’t know, can you tell us what color it is, more of a silver color(stainless steel), or is it more of a black color?

I just killed another one. Brand new, laminate floor. The problem isn’t the axle breaking, its that the material it threads into is far too soft, it just strips right out. So actually a softer axle material might be better. A broken axle is easier to replace than threading.

That reminds me about rc helicopters, the blades and the landing skids are not made completely strong, they were meant to break (first) upon crashing to protect the other more expensive parts.

It’s a silver color, so probably stainless steel. What if the axle was titanium and the threads were too?

That’s true. However, the first time the axle broke, half of it was rather deep in, so I couldn’t get it out. It’s still there and will stay there until I find someone with a drill press.