The Ultimate Counterweight Thread

That’s really creative to use a resistor like this. Cool

2 Likes

I made this little tool from 1/16th tig welding rod. It’s a snug fit and a pain in the arse but i just push it through. It’s actually my string pick tool but i use it for beads too.

6 Likes

I’ve been using an r2fg reactor as my main counterweight for about a year now, and after trying a few other counterweights i gotta say its definitely an outlier, feels great to hold but is heavy and hurts way more then any 3d printed weight or other materials I’ve tried when you miss your rebounds. I strangely really enjoy it though, it might just be because its what i learned on and i picked up a bias but its an odd counterweight for sure. poor lighting in the photo but yeh.

4 Likes

As I am new to the use of counterweights, I was wondering if the string length should be longer than my normal set up of 2-3" above my belly button.

I set up one throw and it looks kind of short.

5A string length should pretty much universally be shorter than your 1A string length, obviously you don’t have to, but shorter string helps a lot with control. My normal 1A string length is around 100cm and I use around 90cm for 5A.

For more context on length, I play 1A with my string a couple fingers above my belly button, and I 5A with the string a couple fingers below my belly button.

3 Likes

Most people, including myself, run a shorter string for 5a. I do about an inch shorter then my 1a length, which is my belly button.

3 Likes

Thank you for your replies.

I went and measured a few of mine and I am roughly at 42"/106 cm which is 2.5"/6cm above my belly button. if it matters I am 6’/183cm tall.

I will set up a string with a counterweight starting about 1"/25cm shorter and see how it goes.

thanks

2 Likes


made from a brushless motor coil

11 Likes

what bearing did you use

it was a stick one that was already in the coil

What does adding a bearing to the counterweight provide? Just curious

You can hold the counterweight to release tension

1 Like

The future is here oml! That makes total sense

That’s not a benefit of a bearing. Any bead counterweight will let you adjust tension like that.

Bearing just changes weight distribution of the counterweight. CWs with the mass concentrated in the center feel noticeably different in play compared to hollow center ones.

Also it’s not even like bearings in counterweights stay clean and freely spinning anyway. Exposed bearings are gonna gunk up sooner rather than later.

1 Like

oh ok

I just got this Objet d’art counterweight from RCS and I’m having a rough time trying to string it up. I’ve only used Duncan dice and a rapid ball before this.


The bearing is fit so it slides in but it keeps sliding back out and the little caps keep falling out of the bearing every time I stop playing it. I feel like I must be doing something wrong.

1 Like

Just run your string through the pieces you want. POM cw + light AL plug as the lightest setup, and POM cw + bearing + brass plug as the heaviest setup, and any other variation as a middle ground.

When you’re actually playing and force is being placed on the counterweight, it’ll all be forced to the end of the string as a single piece. That’s just how bead counterweights are.

That design seems a little excessive to me, I don’t really see the appeal. The idea that you’re adjusting to find a “perfect” balance between the yoyo and cw is silly. The supposed ideal ratio has changed over time with differing tricksets, which is to say that the ratio you like best is determined by what tricks you’re doing and the pacing/feel you prefer for them. There’s no perfect ratio, just what you personally want, and there’s a lot that goes into picking what counterweight/yoyo you want to use than just simply the weight alone.

3 Likes

I just thought it’d be fun to play around with different weights and see how they feel. I had no previous experience with beaded or bearing CW’s so I didn’t realize it would be so loose.

It’s fine when it’s in motion but if I have to grab the CW and the string goes slack everything starts falling out of the hole then when it goes back together the pieces don’t fall back in straight… kinda annoying.

2 Likes

try turning it upside down so the small pieces stay inside the cw?

Counterweights like that can only be string up one way since the bead/plugs are what keep the counterweight from just entirely sliding off the string. Unless you put the bead on the outside which would make it so the bead could never slide inside the counterweight at all.

1 Like