I don’t think it has to do with where the yoyo is machined at all
It has to do with OD being the only manufacturer with the tolerances to avoid the issue.
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Well, I guess it depends. My yoyofriends hummingbird has the exact tolerance(no vibe) and I can remove it easily. Saying OD is the only one withouth having tried a lot of yoyos(it can vary even from the same model/manufacter) doesn’t make sense IMO. Again, that doesn’t have to do with where they are manufactured
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I don’t think it’s that hard for other machine shops/manufacturers to avoid the “death grip” bearing posts/seats effects. I own a lot of jos from a lot of different companies and the company I most often have this issue with is YYF. Even Magic YoYo and TopYo don’t consistently have this problem. Sure you’re not gonna have OD levels of bearing seat niceness but it seems like a lot of other companies & machine shops have figured out how to avoid that.
It honestly probably comes down to b-grades, as you said. YYF consistently puts out quality designs at cheaper prices, like the Meerkat. They’re probably doing this in part by being a lot more generous with what they consider A-grade. But even then, other companies are putting out throws at competitive prices that don’t have this issue (Duncan, TopYo, MYY, etc) so idk why YYF can’t control for it more.
Hmm I’ve never had that issue with any of my G2 throws. Jake actually posed the question awhile back on whether or not the G2 community wanted bearing posts more like OD. It was either on G2Nation on FB or YouTube. Not sure which. The tone sounded like his machine shop had the ability to do either, and he basically stated outright that he choses to have them machined so that they’ll fit snug on the bearing post but pop off easily with pliers or a bearing tool as it results in a smoother throw. And tbh that’s exactly how all my G2s—A-grade it glitch—seem to function. I do appreciate how OD sizes their bearing posts/seats but that looseness does end up adding a touch of fingernail vine when you throw in a non-OD bearing (all of mine have Boss Rage and many got a touch of vibe when I swapped). That said it’s not noticeable unless you’re standing around fingernail testing, but my personal preference is to have the bearing sit slightly tighter.
Edit:
That sucks. Mind if I ask which throw?
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I’m with you on this, SirD. FPM does amazing work and everything they’ve made that I’ve tried has been on par with OD-machined stuff. And again, there are brands like Duncan etc who aren’t machining stuff through OD that consistently put out glass-smooth throws with what I would describe as comfortably snug seats/posts (easily removable though not “fall out of your throw the second you unscrew it” loose like OD). I think in a lot of instances it’s a design choice or choosing not to invest in dialing in the bearing seat/post just right.
The bearing seats are tighter because loose bearing seats are more likely to induce vibe. David had a comment about it at one point. It’s easier to make the bearing seat tight than machine them exactly right to be loose without any issues.
I guess I like them when the bearing stays there but is removable with your hands. Enough tight but it can be easily removable. And lots of brands do that.
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I read that same thread when it was posted and I agree. What I disagree with is that it’s a crapshoot for every machine shop that’s not OD. At this point a lot of companies don’t have the “death grip” bearing seat/post issue that YYF often has. Pretty much all boutique brands (edit: boutique and large-scale like Duncan) and the smaller indie brands are machined overseas and the vast majority of them have excellent bearing seat/post snugness. I agree that OD has the precision to execute the type of bearing seat fit that they want to but I don’t necessarily think that FPM etc couldn’t replicate it and at a cost that would be reasonable for a decent-priced release. I think it’s more a decision of the brands on how they want the bearing to sit.
Also, the anodizer plays a big part as that can also cause an otherwise precise bearing post to become extra tight. OD has an awesome anodizer; it’s possible that YYF doesn’t use as good of an anodizer.
^ this
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My YYF Wangle has the perfect tolerance. A single yo-yo from a manufacturer isn’t indicative of anything. It’s variance that’s the issue. OD has the least variance in their posts, period. Every other manufacturer’s variance goes all the way from too loose to strips ano when removing.
Since most Chinese manufactured yo-yos are also assembled in China, the possibility of catching problem yos and marking them b-grade for posts being too tight or loose isn’t possible. But even if they’re assembled here, sometimes it’s really hard to tell if a bearing post is too tight until you try to remove the bearing. especially if the tight side is the one you’re screwing onto the one holding the bearing. I’ve had dozens of bearings press onto one side easily, only to have it get stuck on the other without any noticeable resistance while screwing the yo-yo together. To catch the problem you’d have to assemble and disassemble every yo-yo, which just isn’t going to be done.
I also don’t understand why you’re assuming I haven’t tried many yo-yos? I have, that’s why I’m saying they all, minus OD, have yet to perfect their bearing post tolerances. But even OD would say theirs still aren’t good enough.
My issue was with swearing off a manufacturer for an issue that only OD has remotely perfected. I admit, I’ve been lucky with YYF. Others haven’t. @nonja121 I’ve been unlucky with 2Sick and Retic. The 2Sick throw took me over 2 hours to remove the bearing. I just sat watching TV and kept working it till it finally came loose. There is very little ano left, but it’s still snug and vibe free. While I consider that unacceptable, I see it as the current state of yo-yo manufacturing in general. 
I think it would be silly to swear off 2Sick even if I had the same issue again. Now if it took 2 hours every time I got a new 2Sick… lol, then I might feel differently. But I doubt I’ll ever have a bearing post quite that tight ever again.
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I mean, ODs might be “perfect”, but I’m sure they are not the only brand to make good bearing seats
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And what you said might be true, but that’s because they machine their own yoyos, not because of the country they machine them.
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Yes, it’s not China or location that’s the issue. It’s who has the manufacturing capability, and that’s not the machine shops yo-yos are made at in China. Sorry. I wasn’t clear enough, my fault.
But at the same time, I am the one advocating not swearing off any brand due to this issue.
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It’s entirely possible for a Chinese person to test for tight/loose posts. If someone wants a specific tolerance + testing they’d need to specify that (or choose a machine shop that does that by default) and pay the correspondingly higher price.
Choosing not to is more of a business decision than a capability decision.
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That’s right.
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But can they do that, without the anodizing creating too much variance, without making too many that don’t meet the tolerances? OD made a big deal about how they were able to do that. And if so, what kind of costs are we talking about?
I might be wrong but doesn’t YYF make a bunch more yo-yos than most other manufacturers? Wouldn’t that factor into their cost? Maybe it’s not as significant a cost for one run of 200 yo-yos as opposed to five runs of 200 yo-yos.
Just speculation though. One Drop has higher priced yo-yos on average for multiple reasons. Maybe this is one of them.
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Never use pliers… if you plan on using the bearing again.
A bearing tool applies the power and the leverage on the inner race sleeve only. The rest of the bearing: balls, cage and outer race; just float along for the short ride.
When you use pliers; All parts of the bearing are in motion. And the cage is easily damaged. The other parts: balls and races; are pretty much distortion proof.
An exception would/might be; when the bearing is just lightly ‘stuck’. And the pliers used gently; can help wiggle the bearing off without using enough twisting power to junk the bearing. Everybody doesn’t have the right ‘fingers; for bearing removal.
PS; I understand that if you (nonja121) want to remove EVERY bearing from every yoyo you have; with a pair of pliers; that is up to you.
I only mention this in this response; because I have no doubt others that don’t yet know any better; will read the ‘old school pliers are your friend’(story)and grab a pair of pliers before starting their bearing killing adventures.
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Heh, I actually damaged the 2Sick yo-yo bearing when I was getting fed up and tried using pliers. I realized how stupid that was when I started to see the bearing’s outer race was moving a bit too far. So I went back to the bearing tool and just took my time.
Kinda like I should have taken my time and posted a more clear response to @nonja121 instead of starting a whole thing. I’m such an idiot.
Lol I ALWAYS use pliers and I have never damaged the bearing in any way. IMO they are better than bearing tools
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Yeah, but Yoyodoc’s point still stands: a bearing removal tool is safer and purpose built for well, removing bearings.
When you use pliers the force is being applied directly to the outer race, then transferred through the cage, finally to the inner race. Shearing pressure passing through the cage has a not insignificant chance of causing damage, e.g. deforming the cage or races. Yoyo bearings are definitely not designed to handle loads in that direction so it should be avoided if possible.
A bearing removal tool by contrast puts the pressure directly to the inner race where you want it. And we’re talking pretty small tolerances here, so it doesn’t take a whole lot to cause distortion.
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