thought someone somewhere might be interested in looking more closely at the yo-yo steve made for me. here's a brief tour of the only throw i've known this year. in that first pic, you can see some of my favorite aspects, the grain and the engraving. the body is oak, which is porous. the perforated veins of xylem and phloem are easy to distinguish. the whole yoyo oaks up sweat like a rag, and in 4 months has developed a lovely patina. the engravings are about 1mm deep and easy to make out in any light. the only issue with them is that when they catch a fingernail, they will drag a chunk of it off. small price to pay.
(click the images for big)
here's the obligatory "open" shot. as you can see, it's a fixed wood axle yo-yo, with a replaceable axle kind of like the no jive's. these axles are made of hemlock, which is a bit soft, but has worked really well. i'm using duncan friction stickers for extra snap. i actually stick em on something flat and manually scratch off all of the tacky material, leaving only the linen (which is all that's needed with wood) before adhering them to the yoyo. both sides have built in dimples, but they don't really provide enough variation for adequate response on their own.
In this shot, you can see the only 'non-cellulose' material pretty well. the 'eh' has brass thread inserts and a steel axle. this makes it MUCH easier to maintain, and way more sturdy than all-wood construction. this is probably also the aspect which made the eh so difficult to get "just right", and why spyy would be loathe to make a production run of them. take-apart design still precludes me from any more "1955" contests at worlds, but the trade off of replaceable axles is necessary.
i'm using a special aluminum jig (not pictured) to sand my axles evenly. i've over-sanded a few of them. the last set steve sent me were quite long, so i can kind of 'guess and check'. too long, the gap is wide and you get loose winds and up loops. too short and you sacrifice spin time.
i'm still using the same old 'cones to balls' type 10 cotton string. this cone is definitely on its way out, but the stuff lasts so much longer than normal, thin cotton, that i rarely use more than one string a day. i'm pretty adept at twisting at this point, if i do say so. this year has really brought into relief the difference having good string can make. people make a big deal about having this or that poly for great whips or lacerations, but with fixed axle, even your sleeper suffers if you have the wrong stuff.
here's how the 'eh' compares with two relatively common shapes (or maybe they just USED to be common), a fhz and a no jive. it's definitely got more of a fhz profile. the edges are quite sharp, which can hurt on whacks, but i need every milligram of mass on that outer rim to get the most out of my spin.
here's the obligatory "open" shot. as you can see, it's a fixed wood axle yo-yo, with a replaceable axle kind of like the no jive's. these axles are made of hemlock, which is a bit soft, but has worked really well. i'm using duncan friction stickers for extra snap. i actually stick em on something flat and manually scratch off all of the tacky material, leaving only the linen (which is all that's needed with wood) before adhering them to the yoyo. both sides have built in dimples, but they don't really provide enough variation for adequate response on their own.
In this shot, you can see the only 'non-cellulose' material pretty well. the 'eh' has brass thread inserts and a steel axle. this makes it MUCH easier to maintain, and way more sturdy than all-wood construction. this is probably also the aspect which made the eh so difficult to get "just right", and why spyy would be loathe to make a production run of them. take-apart design still precludes me from any more "1955" contests at worlds, but the trade off of replaceable axles is necessary.
i'm using a special aluminum jig (not pictured) to sand my axles evenly. i've over-sanded a few of them. the last set steve sent me were quite long, so i can kind of 'guess and check'. too long, the gap is wide and you get loose winds and up loops. too short and you sacrifice spin time.
i'm still using the same old 'cones to balls' type 10 cotton string. this cone is definitely on its way out, but the stuff lasts so much longer than normal, thin cotton, that i rarely use more than one string a day. i'm pretty adept at twisting at this point, if i do say so. this year has really brought into relief the difference having good string can make. people make a big deal about having this or that poly for great whips or lacerations, but with fixed axle, even your sleeper suffers if you have the wrong stuff.
here's how the 'eh' compares with two relatively common shapes (or maybe they just USED to be common), a fhz and a no jive. it's definitely got more of a fhz profile. the edges are quite sharp, which can hurt on whacks, but i need every milligram of mass on that outer rim to get the most out of my spin.
so there you have it; the spyy "eh" in all it's glory. simplicity is truly bliss... or anyway, it's all i know!
