I fell like this has to be just for the aesthetics.
Maybe if you were trying to design a super durable EDC throw but didn’t want to go full titanium, maybe there’s a case for tri-metal? 7068 body, Ti outer rings for ding resistance, and depleted uranium brass inner rings for weight.
I think we would need to ask Julio at Sengoku. I have a Hideyoshi (his other tri-metal), it is powerful and quick. It feels like it changes direction a split second before I decide to (pardon the bad attempt at humor, I’m not implying the yoyo is unpredictable, just that it will play as fast as anyone would like).
My guess is the different metals and placements allow the aluminum to push the limits of wall thickness and light weight while possibly providing support. Also, due to density differences, it could provide weight distribution that you just can’t get with mono or bi metal.
I haven’t played a bad Sengoku. The ECRIP (prototype of ECRIM) is strange, but, not bad.
Adding weight rings will usually make a yoyo less durable. It increases the complexity and cost, and striking it on a surface can cause one or both of the rings to shift.
That said, you can design a durable bimetal/trimetal if you choose to - this usually means having a longer axle, thicker walls, larger ring/body interface, etc.
There’s definitely something very cool looking about this design.
The use of different materials is done to achieve a particular aesthetic or a particular weight distribution, which results in a particular and often unique feel. Tri-metal is only practical if you want a specific feel you can’t achieve through any other means, so it really depends on the yoyo.
Hey buddy. I´m glad to answer that.
First of all, rings made of denser material allow to distribute the weight in a way is not possible by making the Aluminum thicker in some areas. so the idea is to allocate weight in the less space possible. But i don´t want to get into a discussion about how rings work. I guess that has been discussed a lot already since the introduction of bi-metals.
I don´t think that would be much dispute if I say 4 rings are better than 2. There will be more benefit to have more rings unless you don´t know what you are doing.
The original idea of a Tri-metal was Al+SS+Brass. Brass is considerably denser than Steel, so in the case of the first Tri-Metal I made it was necessary because Brass is not as hard as steel and will deform easily if used in an upper ring because its exposed and dings would wreck havoc. So the upper ring was Steel and the inner ring was Brass.
After 5 years I observed that while Hideyoshi still in great shape, some yoyos have a slight vibe and I believe is due to the brass, so I discarded for the new project.
Cobalt-Chrome is quite similar to steel in density and doesn´t deform.
So, for practical purposes, there were no noticeable difference if i used SS on all rings.
Then why use CC instead of all SS rings? for several reasons:
-Al+SS no matter how many rings would be a Bi-metal, and I believe this type of yoyos (with more than 2 rings) are something significantly different from the typical 2 ring bi-metals. The difference between 2 and 4 rings is as much as the difference between 2 and no rings. The feeling is different. Bi-metals tend to have a hard kick, you feel the drag, because the ring is allocated on the edge in most cases, which is the idea, to give it a powerful spin. While an extra ring towards the center will stabilize the yoyo without having to make the walls thicker.
-I think calling it a Bi-metal would mislead to think is the same as a 2 rings yoyo.
So to make a distinction, I decided to use different materials on the rings. It is not aesthetic, since the color is the same, CC rings are are PVD treated to make a visual distinction.
-It doesn´t increase the cost more than a couple bucks.
-Plus wouldn´t you agree that its more cool to have CC+SS rather than SS+SS?
Any other questions, let me know, I´m glad to answer.
Performance is the main goal in most cases, but it also has to look cool. both are part of a good design. Thats the challenge, to make something that works and looks good.
There are other cases where Aesthetics played the center role and i had to adapt performance to it like in the case of Hattori and ERCIM.
But I understand what you tried to say.
Thank you @NeoHamster for directly addressing my curiosity. Your explanations were super insightful and exactly what I was curious to know.
I think the Shogun looks amazing personally, especially in that YYE purple!
Loving your work sir.