Young Entrepreneurs of YoyoExpert!

TotalArtist Review of YoyoSpirit Ano Strip and Polish

Well, at yo-yo club, a kid wanted to trade me his YYF Boss that had a bit of damage, for my Spyy throw that also had a bit of damage. The trade was in his favor, but because it really made him happy, I traded the Spyy for the Boss. As soon as I did, I knew what I planned to do with it…send it to YoyoSpirit.

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Boss by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

Now for some background. Some time ago, Fellavader texted me a photo of his Skywalker, that he bought off the Buy Sell Trade, and later had polished by YoyoSpirit. I saw that yo-yo before it was polished, and it seemed like there was no way it could be the same yo-yo. So, when I saw the Boss, that had scratches and tiny scuffs around the rims, after that word of mouth review, I knew that I had to send the Boss to YoyoSpirit. I remembered posting a donation thread, where yo-yos would be donated to Fellavader’s club, New Hampshire Yo-Yo Club. If I recall correctly, Fellavader told me about YoyoSpirit then, as he was impressed with what he donated. Fellavader told me that YoyoSpirit was a young man, and that he silicone recessed Freehand Zeros. He also told me the tool that he used to do it, and he told me that they played great. I took note of this, and was curious about this talented young man. I polished a few of my own raw throws, but to strip the ano off the Boss and then polish it, was really a bit too much of a task.

So, I contacted YoyoSpirit, and we quickly made a deal. We decided that the strip and polish would be a mere $20. He was willing to work with me on the price, but the $20 was more than fair, so we agreed on that. After all, it must take several hours, at least, to strip and polish a yo-yo. I sent the funds via Paypal, and mailed the Boss out to him the very next morning.

Communication was prompt, straight forward and consistent throughout. I notified him when I shipped out, and he contacted me when he received the yo-yo. Not only did he state that he received the yo-yo, but he gave me a quick assessment of the condition of the yo-yo cosmetically and otherwise. I knew precisely that the yo-yo had some vibe, but I was not sure if it could be attributed to the bearing. I had not switched it out to check. YoyoSpirit noticed it, and gave me his assessment of it, and he identified the bearing in the yo-yo as well. He identified it as a 10 ball bearing. He gave me an estimated return ship date, and when he shipped out, he sent me a tracking number.

I met YoyoSpirit in person at NorthEast Reginals. He is very perceptive, and I can tell that he like to analyze things and take in the world around him. That was my read of him when we met. He knows his yo-yos, and I noticed that in the Shape Game I posted on the forum, he could identify almost every single yo-yo I posted…99% of them. He is extremely observant, and has the characteristics of a great yo-yo modder.

The timeline was as follows:

I shipped the yo-yo first class on July 20th
He received the yo-yo on July 22nd
He return shipped on July 27th, via Priority
I received the yo-yo on July 29th

So, from the date he received the yo-yo to the date I received it back, was one week turnaround time. Pretty fast, to have your yo-yo get an entire makeover in that time. So, I received the yo-yo, which was packed well in the box, with the yo-yo halves wrapped separately. A complimentary string was included with my bearing and axle, which were all packaged separately in a small zip lock style bag. I removed them carefully, so that I would not get my fingerprints on the yo-yo. I knew, as soon as I saw it, that the yo-yo was way too shiny to have the light box do it any justice. It was a sunny day, so I thought it was best to photograph the yo-yo outside. I put some white paper down, and took these shots. I should have dressed better and done my hair, because I did not realize I would be in the photos. Shame on me for that:

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Boss3 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7360/9399895713_5f8a00a2a2_z.jpg
Boss6 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7389/9402657858_e20e18fbb6_z.jpg
Boss5 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5344/9402656290_15f61b373d_z.jpg
Boss7 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

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Boss4 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

Now for indoor shots…mark on the left is part of the light box showing in the reflection:

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Boss2 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/9399900195_0fb2ba7774_z.jpg
Boss1 by The TotalArtist, on Flickr

So, this young modder lets his work speak for itself. He has quietly maintained his thread, updated his photos, and let it do the talking for him. He had no clue that Fellavader essentially gave him a referral long ago, and I had not forgotten. YoyoSpirit is very knowledgeable about the things he tranforms, and he has a talent that is the product of hard work. I can tell that he enjoys what he does. He is responsible, and lets people know when he is accepting work and when he is not. He responds promptly, and he is more than fair. Communication is great. I got an overall assessment of the condition of my yo-yo, the ano stripped and polished, all for $20. I had my yo-yo back in a week. YoyoSpirit has just gained another satisfied customer. If you would like your yo-yo to be stripped and/or polished, send it to YoyoSpirit. I cannot imagine the work he will be doing in the future.

-A TotalArtist Review

wow he did an amazing job on your yoyo! If I have any yo-yos that could use that I will definitely send that Yoyo to him!

This is such a cool thread and has really inspired me! This year I’m going to get my first real job doing Pet Sitting, but I’ve really wanted to start making yoyos. Either just making a wood yoyo for myself or selling them could be a lot of fun. My community really doesn’t have any yoyoers so I’ve been planning on starting a club and I think that selling some simple to use (and appealing looking) wood yoyos could help too.

Do you guys have any advice on how to start making wood yoyos? My thoughts are that I’ll need to find a friend who’s lathe I can use, keep making prototypes until I get one that works, then repeat the process maybe thirty times so I’ll have enough to sell locally.

I have some advice… Love what you do! then you’ll never work a day in your life :slight_smile:

that sounds like something a millionaire would say!

I think what you mean is that if you truly enjoy your hobby it won’t seem like work. :wink:

Let me give another perspective:

I once turned a hobby and passion into a business. It destroyed my love when you have to do it for money.

Careful what you wish for.

I will forward this to mrcnja. He might know, because I know he works with wood. He might have some better insight on this.

Thanks! I’ve tried making some clay yoyos (without much success) so I’d love to try making some out of wood.

Wood seems great at first. It’s cheap and easily available, but making good yo-yos out of it can be trickier than using delrin. If you want to make something relatively simple like TMBR or Once Upon a Tree you shouldn’t have too hard of a time, but if you are trying to make a wooden yo-yo that can compete with other modern, readily available plastics and metals, you are in for a lot of work.

If you have a friend with a lathe, definitely have them show you the ropes and try to soak up as much knowledge as you can from them. Learn basic operations such as facing, turning, grooving, and boring. The more time you spend making stuff on the lathe, the better feel you will have for how everything works, how much material to cut off in each pass, and how quick your feed rates should be. Being able to just instinctively do stuff on the lathe is invaluable.

The other thing you have to learn is order of operations on the lathe. It is going to be different depending on what you are making. On yo-yos it is easiest to turn the inner cup and rims first, flip it around, and then turn the profile and bearing seat. In general, always plan out how you are going to make each cut and how you are going to hold the part while you cut it.

When working wood on a lathe, keep your tools sharpened. Plastic and metal cut slower on dull tools. Wood tears out along its end grain if you use dull tools. Depending on how advanced you want to make your yo-yos, CAD is very helpful for drawing your design and especially for estimating how much it will weigh, which is extremely helpful to be able to do. However, don’t feel like you need to invest in some top dollar CAD suite just to design yo-yos that you are going to turn by hand. I use the occasionally buggy, but very inexpensive FreeCAD and it does what I need it to do.

These are all very general pointers and lessons that I have learned as I have struggled with what I have been working on. Without knowing more about what sort of yo-yo you are wanting to make or what struggles you are having, it is hard to get too much more specific. If you have more specific questions, just let me know.

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Thanks for all the help! I’ve got a free version of AutoCAD that I’m learning to use. I’m also trying to find out if there’s anybody I know who has a lathe that they’d be willing to let me use.

Even if my yoyo sucks I still think it’d be fun the make one XD

It was initially a mixture of my love for yoyos and also design. And I thought i make a better product than many others.
I learned that i was wrong.
Just kidding.
I learned that its important to have a very solid plan when dealing with a lot of money. I was never able to get the Chupacabra stocked in stores because the market was flooded upon its release, and it didn’t have anything special enough about it for it to “stand out” (according to store owners).
I learned that the quality of the product does not really matter. The important thing is making people think its great.
Its all about marketing.
I sound like a downer.

Don’t be down yoyomaverick. I did not get to try your product, I don’t remember it for sale on YoyoExpert, not sure if I missed it, but if I had seen it, I would have offered support. I heard of your product here on the forums though, and your plans, which means that you had some marketing going for it. Sometimes the first time out isn’t the charm. A lot of people currently in this business did not make a “hit” the first time out. Some will be a “one hit wonder.” Others will make a good yo-yo here and there, without a level of consistency. Then, there will be some that seem to never miss. So, you never know what is destined for you, unless you keep at it. Just take the experience from that release, and use it toward the next release. As you do that, you will become better and better at it. Find a way to keep your name alive, and when you are ready to fund the next project, jump right in again, determined to do even better.

Keep at it good sir! If you still love, still do it. I realize there needs to be profit involvoed. But it’s not too hard to get the word around

Im 13 and usually work part time in the summer.
My sister makes money by begging my parents.

Well, you’re ahead of where I was at your age. Around here, you could get a job at 13, but it could only be a job selling newspapers. That wasn’t for me, so I toughed it out another year and got my first summer job at 14. So, you’re on your way. Is your sister older or younger than you? Have you figured out a system for determining how much you spend or save? What job did you land?

I remember back when I was 14, I had to get around on public transportation to and from work, so I had to deduct the cost of transportation from my bi-weekly checks (I hated being paid every other week). By the time the two weeks rolled around, I already had plans for all the money…easy come, easy go. Usually, I wanted to buy music on cassettes back then. :smiley:

yoyomaverick, do you have any yoyos right now left over? Your logo actually gave me a good some good concept ideas.

This is a little embarrassing but I actually work as a part time custodian twice a week.
Pays good. get paid every week.
I have a system where you save half spend half.
My sister is younger. She needs money for random stuff. She usually begs “DAD! IF YOU LOVE ME, GIVE ME MONEY!!!”
So yeah very interesting what you had to go through for tape cassettes. ;D

I remember 8 track tapes too…still had a few around my house when I was little :stuck_out_tongue:

My first job was cleaning up in the public park. I did that for two Summers, when I was 14 and 15. It was hot outside, and we had to do various tasks like weed whacking, sweeping up glass, using a trash poker stick to pick up trash. It seemed like no time at all, when we had it all cleaned up, people just threw more trash down…all day. It was like 6 of us kids in a squad, and we all had to wear the same red shirts while we were working. The shirt had the city logo on it. If your friends saw you wearing that shirt, you’d try to hide back then. :smiley: But, I wasn’t hiding when I had some loot in my pocket though…people were hating :smiley: We had a few college age supervisors, and they were kind of cool. I think my W-2 form (tax) for the Summer was about $800 total for those few months if I remember correctly…no need to file. :smiley: We got a paycheck, and were all wondering how we were going to cash it with no valid I.D. So, they worked a deal out with a specific bank, at a specific location, where we could go and cash our checks. That was pretty funny.

To this day, after cleaning for work, I would never, ever throw trash on the ground, litter or any of that. I was watching a guy smoke a cigarette outside yesterday, and he just put it out by throwing it on the ground and stepping on it. I was like… ::slight_smile: All you have to do is give someone a job cleaning, and they will think twice about throwing their stuff out of a car window or on the ground or whatever. You’re learning life experience on that job.

I like the idea of save half, spend half. Back then, for me…I spent it all :smiley: Not too wise. I think I was making like $5.00 an hour back then. Whatever minimum wage was…that’s what I got. After working 2 weeks (actually 10 days), I remember that bi-weekly check was no more than about $150. Not sure what it would be today adjusted for inflation. When I was almost 16, I got a job during the school year at an insurance company, doing clerical stuff after school every day. I worked every day after school and had some fat checks for a kid. I was in the record store 24/7. During school vacations or Summer, I went to full time. Ever since I was 14 years old, I had to have money in my pocket. I kept that insurance company job until college. I was still there in the Summers, but because I went away from the city, I did something else during the year.

But, just how you’re doing now, you have to take what you get in the early years, because things can get a lot better down the road. Nothing like earning honest money. When you have to beg like your sister, your parents have a lot more say about what the money is used for. I liked having my own money, and spending it on what I wanted. Usually harmless, music stuff, the latest pair of kicks, clothes, or a walkman/headphones, that kind of stuff.

Those were the days. :slight_smile:

I didnt follow the spend half and save half on my first summer working last year. I pent it on a spyder 2, solaris, avante garde, 7th run caribou street chief, and I think first run arctic circle.
All about yoyos. ;D

My job wasnt so bad. I didnt do much.
Interesting what you had to do back then. I cant work this summer so I have to wait next year.Well it was cool knowing what you had to do to get money.
I dont like how kids these days just had to beg to get money or super expensive stuff like beats or a new generation iPod. They’re kinda spoiled these days.