Why aren't there carbon fiber yoyos yet?

I know that a carbon fiber yoyo would be expensive and brittle but I still feel that it would be a natural beast, especially as a hybrid with stainless.

Is there something about carbon fiber that makes it prohibitively expensive? I have an athletic knee brace composed primarily of the substance, and although it was costly, it wasn’t impossible to pay for. Is it just difficult to machine?

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They did it… once.

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Still I feel there should be more. An experienced yoer shouldn’t have much fear of damaging it on a ding so long as you don’t straight up throw it at the floor

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S.kon did a carbon fiber clad yoyo called the vektor

Crucial also did carbon fiber pads

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A veneer of carbon fiber is different than a yoyo actually composed of carbon fiber.

I like the idea. They are using it in golf clubs to change weight distribution and get more distance. Seems like someone could use the new carbon fiber tech instead of plastic for an amazing new breed of hybrid yoyo.

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I do believe there was a carbon fiber body with steel rimds modded throw at one of the mod contests and well but never a full production throw

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Carbon fibre is awful to turn on a lathe. Its also dangerous to do so.

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I can definitely understand how it is probably torture on a lathe but how is it dangerous? I would assume fire hazard, perhaps?

Carbon fiber dust is very very very hazardous. Some shops that work with it use special filtered rooms.

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No i wanna breathe the carbon noooooooo

I think this is an amazing idea. The first one failed due to a faulty adjustable gap feature. I wish it would have shown the weight. Carbon fiber is molded not turned on a lathe. Layered as needed. Most everything you see on an F1 car is carbon fiber.

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I’m not sure there is a clear benefit.

Carbon fiber is not as uniform as metals, so there are potential issues with even weight distribution.

Also, the benefits of carbon fiber don’t really seem useful in a yoyo. It can be lighter than metal and stronger than plastic. . . would that make for better yo-yos?

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Yes that is a problem, and the yoyo wiki piece was being kind. As I recall it had more problems than the string gap issue.

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It would be neat to see another attempt, but yeah, it had enough problems to take the bottom spot in Ed Haponik’s bottom 5.

I’d throw a carbon fiber yoyo with a ruby bearing and tungsten rims, sure, but I wouldn’t buy one and I’m not sure anyone really needs that kind of rim weight ratio or spin time these days.

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I like rim weight a lot personally. I would buy a yo with that extreme of weight distribution tbh

Where is your sense of adventure Glen?? :rofl:

And just for the record, I wouldn’t be in the same room if carbon fiber was on a lathe :rofl:

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One does not simply chuck a bar of traditional carbon fiber and turn it down. @Glenacius_K is right about that.

IMO this would be doable with a injection (with crushed injectible carbon or whatever) mold or maybe a smash style mold. But seeing as you would need to machine a mold, and laying up in a round shape alone is tricky, you would be taking a big risk on the design as you would need a new mold for a new design. A mold if done right would only leave flashing from resin behind, which can be sanded down unlike exposed composite layers. Its a nifty idea, but an expensive one at that.

Cost is a big factor, the process, skill, and material required for a carbon fiber mold aint cheap.

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I highly doubt a carbon fiber yoyo would ever be cheap. Probably titanium-grade pricing if not more so.
But as you said, it sure would be nifty for sure.

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Besides a really cool visual impact, carbon fiber has nothing in the way of added performance in a spinning yo-yo design.

The carbon material is more often used in objects that move through space, not ones that spin in place.

The best things about carbon fiber are its exotic appearance and strength when used skin coverings in race car bodies and other structures.

That being said, carbon fiber could make/would make a pretty cool, looking yo-yo that could have very good functionality, but more based on the overall design and less reliant on the carbon fiber itself to add any real beneficial performance factors.

The people that made the Rev-G, if nothing else proved it’s not that big of a challenge to incorporate carbon fiber into a yoyoe design. The primary problem with that particular yo-yo is that the people use the carbon fiber in a very poorly thought out design. The resultant, low quality performance of the Rev-G, has no negative reflection on the carbon fiber itself. It’s the design that killed the yo-yo, not the incorporation of carbon fiber into the design.

So in the next year or so, if somebody does step up and produce a Yoyo, that is part carbon fiber. And the yo-yo just happens to play very well. The carbon fiber should not be identified as the primary reason the yo-yo plays well. The conclusion more likely will be that the yo-yo plays very well because of the actual design, and not because carbon fiber was integrated into the design.

Regardless, I love the look of it.

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