Players have long modified stock yo-yos, and many mods became standard features later, like recessed response.[9]
Recessing: cutting a pocket so pads sit flush and don’t rub the string.[9][7]
Siliconing: filling an O-ring groove or recess with silicone.[9]
Bearing swaps: for example, adding a KonKave bearing.[9]
Shims: thin rings on each side of the bearing that widen the gap for less response. Cardboard or plastic shims are recommended because metal ones can get stuck.[10] 3D-printed shims are fragile, so don’t overtighten.[57]
Spacers: pieces that seat the bearing on the axle; swapping widths changes the gap.[11] Duncan’s Mod Spacers (2012) let players change a yo-yo’s response and body shape.[12]
Sanding: for a smoother “grind” surface; see below.[9][13]
A 3D-printed imperial rim (a Layer Infinity design) fitted to a modular yo-yo. Swap the rim and you swap the shape.Photo: Brandon Rogers (Captrogers), from the YoYoExpert thread Let’s talk 3D printing
Remove the axle and bearing, then wipe the yo-yo with a soft cloth, a drop of mild dish soap, and warm water. Rinse with a damp cloth and let it air dry.[38] Monkeyfinger Buff brightens anodized finishes and leaves a slick surface for grinds.[56][38]
Know the Damage
A ding is a dent you can feel, from hitting something hard. Pinpricks are tiny dings, often in clusters. A scuff is surface marking that usually doesn’t break the anodizing.[41]
Smoothing Dings
You can smooth a ding, but you can’t restore anodized color without removing the finish.[39]
Players knock down sharp edges with a small file, even a nail file, then smooth with fine sandpaper.[39]
To fully strip and polish a metal yo-yo, one guide spins it on a drill and works through sandpaper from about 80 to 250 grit, then 0000 steel wool, scratch remover, and metal polish.[40]
Sanding at low speed on a drill gives a satin “grind” finish; lower grits leave fine lines.[13]
The words players use in reviews and on buy/sell/trade (BST) boards, plus the finishes, grades, and records you’ll run into once you start collecting.
Vibe
Vibe is vibration you feel through the string while the yo-yo spins. It usually comes from the two halves being out of alignment. Most modern yo-yos are machined so precisely that vibe is far less common than it was 10 or 20 years ago.[179]
Causes: hard drops that bend the axle or bearing seat; materials like wood and plastic that can’t be machined as precisely as metal; and bimetals, whose extra parts add more places for error. Very thin walls with heavy rims can vibe by design.[179]
Halves matter less than you’d think: in a 2018 forum experiment, halves from two different yo-yos, with very different weights, spun smoothly together, pointing to alignment and axle fit as the bigger factors.[179]
Fixing vibe after a drop: flip the axle around, flip the bearing, and screw the halves together evenly and firmly. If that doesn’t help, swap the bearing or axle. Some players “tune” by threading the axle a little deeper into one half and testing.[213]
A common fix: players often wrap the axle in Teflon tape, which can absorb some of the vibe from a loose axle fit.[179]
B-grades: yo-yos sold at a discount for anodizing flaws or vibe.[188] Some brands mark them: YoYoFactory with a “B grade” stamp, CLYW with “Fool’s Gold” or pickaxes, SPYY with “star grade.” Players warn that unmarked B-grades sometimes get resold as new.[187]
“Floaty” and Other Feel Words
“Floaty” describes a yo-yo that feels light and drifts through tricks, as opposed to one that feels heavy and sluggish or light and fast. Weight distribution matters as much as total weight: some heavy yo-yos feel floaty.[180] One physics-minded explanation: pushing mass toward the rims (a higher moment of inertia) gives a denser “presence” on the string, while a designer can make a yo-yo floatier by taking mass off the rims or spreading it out.[181] See the Science page for moment of inertia.
Size Classes
There is no official standard, and players disagree by a millimeter or two. One commonly cited forum breakdown by diameter:[182]
Another player in the same thread drew the lines differently (full-size at 56–57.5 mm, oversized at 58 mm and up), and some small yo-yos “play big.”[182]
Fingerspins and Hubstacks
Fingerspin dimples: a small cup in the hub lets you balance the spinning yo-yo on a fingertip. Jeffrey Pang’s MagicYoYo Skyva made it easy to “lock in” a fingerspin; he credits earlier ideas like YoYoJam’s lateral caps and the AnY Air Rider’s advertised dimple.[183]
Hubstacks (side cap bearings): bearings on the hubs, covered by caps, that you can grab while the yo-yo keeps spinning. Modders started it; Frank Difeo “bearingized” his Spike-Fly into the Gladiator; the AnY MiRoC was the first mass-produced version (its caps had trouble staying on); then YoYoFactory’s G5 named them “hubstacks.”[184]
One Drop Side Effects: swappable axle caps that change weight and look; see the Science page for why they were never patented.
Colorways and Finishes
Solid, fade, and masked: fades are dipped partway into dye; masked designs are dyed, masked, stripped with bleach in the open areas, then dyed again.[185]
Splash and acid wash: “acid wash” strips color from a splashed area, sometimes with acid and sometimes with bleach. It can blend two colors or put one color over raw metal.[185][186]
Stripping anodizing: a yo-yo maker on the forum recommends oven cleaner or a commercial stripper; sandblasting removes metal and changes the texture.[186]
Counterfeit copies of popular metal yo-yos, notably YoYoRecreation models, have been sold on BST boards, and players wrote authentication guides in response.[189] Players separate knockoffs from legitimate budget brands, and a common piece of advice is to buy inexpensive yo-yos from reputable companies that support the community.[190]
World Records and Collectors
AYYA world records come in Open, Junior (14 and under), and Masters (50 and up). The yo-yo must be commercially available and unmodified, though tuning like new string, lube, or bearings is allowed, and the string must be 32–42 inches.[191]
Listed records include “Fast Eddy” McDonald’s 8,437 loops in one hour (Toronto, 1990) and a 30-minute 28-second transaxle sleeper by Wang Wai Sheuk Simpson at the 2012 Worlds.[191]
Hans Van Dan Elzen (“Yohans”), owner of Playmaxx and YoYoFactory, set a Guinness record of 54 tricks in one minute in 2005 with a YoYoFactory FAST 201.[192]
Doc “Lucky” Meisenheimer holds the Guinness record for the largest yo-yo collection, wrote a collector’s guide to 20th-century yo-yos, directs the National Yo-Yo Hall of Fame, and coined “bandalorist” for a yo-yo collector.[193]
Keep Exploring
How to Yo-YoThrows, first 100 tricks, contests, glossary
