Nice. How much?
I don’t know if anyone is up to the challenge - as it’d be darn near impossible…
But I’d LOVE to see someone come up with a “fully organic” yo-yo that has a bearing.
Which is to say, I think, theoretically, someone could construct a wooden bearing. Get a hardwood, and fashion some wooden balls, races, sleeves, etc… it COULD be done, it’d just be a nightmare to accomplish, and may not last very long.
but… that’d certainly be a sweet sweet yoyo.
I wonder what sort of wood the bearing would need to be constructed from.
Today, I threw my Apollo so hard that there was a string burn on the axle. Is there some kind of second rung of elite fixed playing that I’ve ascended into?
There is a wood called Lignum Vitae (Tree of Life) that is extremely hard and oily, and has been used among other things, in water lubricated shaft bearings for ships and hydro-electric power plants. It was commonly used in ship’s propeller stern-tube bearings, due to its self-lubricating qualities, until the 1960’s. That’s not the kind of bearing you have in mind (ball-race-bearing), but this very cool wood has been used in fixed axle yoyos before…it’s petty slippery.
What about a roller bearing instead? I can’t imagine the sleep time would be any different in this hypothetical circumstance. The construction would likely be simpler. I think a good question is, “what kind of sleep times could a player reasonably expect from a wooden bearing?”.
I may need to get a 1/4 inch dowel of that stuff. I rope burned another axle today with a strong breakaway.
Wow. What kind of string are you using? That’s a fairly new yo-yo isn’t it?
Whatever string TMBRs come with. I just opened the thing about an hour ago. I’m not an unnaturally strong guy either. Hmmm. It doesn’t bother me, I just think it’s strange.
Hmmm, now you’ve got a fixed axle center-trac.
Lol. I think you may have to call Nick Fury and apply. My guess is your throw is stronger than you think. I just checked the axle on my freemont (which I played almost exclusively last month) and the axle had a small smooth shiny line. No where near a burn.
Gentlemen, by making jokes about SHIELD, you put agents’ lives at unnecessary risk. I will speak to Colonel Fury about this matter when I make my next weekly report.
Seriously? I’m the only one? I should be entering tug o’ war competitions… Maybe the key is to break the axle in normally before I start focusing my rage from lost Tom Kuhn eBay auctions into each throw.
Mint mandalaaaaaa?! ARGH!
Howdy y’all!
Decided that the best place to spend my “Stick it, Win it!” winnings was on a TMBR Baldwin. So I’ll be a regular on this thread shortly. 
Already have it strongly in my head to try my hand at making a yoyo soon. Hardwood dowel for axle, not unscrewable. I have some spare white limba and maple around that would make good halves.
Been working on my stalls with a Duncan Butterfly in preparation!
YYE needs a “Fixie Tricks” Learn section.
that’s what happens to me when i don’t break an axle in. it’s especially likely to happen on a new axle and with thinner string. on my eh, i ended up doing that to about 1/3 my axles in the long run, but with much less frequency if i took time to prep the axle or if i started with really thick (type 10) string, which is what i mostly used anyway.
I’d be all for that as long as they don’t use the word “fixie”. With every throw of a fixed axle yoyo I say a silent prayer that the term never catches on.
[quote=“StillinKansasCity,post:514,topic:43367”]
I have seen this before (I have never done it) I think Jrod does that a lot to his throws.
I too would love to see a section on YYE for learning. One thing I have noticed in learning modern tricks on my wood throws is that you need to really work the yoyo to keep it from catching in a way that you are keeping the slack away from it. It is hard to put in words what I mean but I am sure everyone can feel where I am going with this.
Hey Alex. I have wanted to say this for a while but THANK YOU for starting this thread. It has been one of the best threads on YYE for some time now!!! I always look forward to reading what people are saying about their wood throws and seeing all the comments from the pro’s too!!
That’s a bummer… I LOVE the term “fixie” haha.
Oh well.
It’s the heart of it that counts - or somesuch…
Is that yellow tinted no-jive, or just the lighting effects?