KNOWLEDGE BASE
Manufacturing
A LOok at manufacturing
Today, there are only a few large, well-established companies making yo-yos. There are even more, smaller, tightly held boutique manufactures. In order for either to get their designs made into reality it costs a lot of money. Typically, it's around $500-$1000 just to get a prototype designed. Then there is the laborious task of refining the design and making changes until the yo-yo matches the vision of the company, or pro player if it's a signature throw. This costs even more. By the time full-scale production is reached, a boutique shop might have a total of 50 yo-yos produced for sale and a large company might have a few hundred ready to be sold.
Either way, both types of manufactures are looking to reduce their bottom line in order to at least recoup their costs and hopefully make a profit! The largest cost in this process is paying for the yo-yos to get cut from the aluminum by CNC and turned into two halves of an actual yo-yo. Production most commonly occurs overseas in order to reduce cost and also due to the high skill of CNC workers in countries such as China. A lot of the overseas manufacturers will often include the bearing and axle as part of the cost. Some are installed overseas and others are installed by yo-yo companies in the USA.
Either way, both types of manufactures are looking to reduce their bottom line in order to at least recoup their costs and hopefully make a profit! The largest cost in this process is paying for the yo-yos to get cut from the aluminum by CNC and turned into two halves of an actual yo-yo. Production most commonly occurs overseas in order to reduce cost and also due to the high skill of CNC workers in countries such as China. A lot of the overseas manufacturers will often include the bearing and axle as part of the cost. Some are installed overseas and others are installed by yo-yo companies in the USA.
Factory Bearings
FACTORY BEARINGS
Most bearings that end up shipping with your yo-yo are 8 ball, non-ABEC rated, with nylon cages which cost mere pennies. They are more often than not chrome steel that is not stainless steel. Nylon cages are cheap, thin and susceptible to breakage. Eight ball bearings actually create vibration especially with a nylon cage. This is due to the large gaps of space between each ball and the loose nylon cage that holds them. As the bearing rotates, the negative space allows the balls and cage to shake!
There has always existed confusion especially due to countless outdated forum posts regarding the ABEC rating. Quite simply put, the ABEC scale measures precision. The lower the number on the ABEC scale, the less precise and lower the tolerance to measurements. Most of the top bearings sold have no ABEC rating and are not even tested or certified. The overall demand on your bearing is extremely high: millions of revolutions and thousands of hours of use. It is because of this that the overall life of non-ABEC bearings are greatly reduced.
Because bearings are so small, precision absolutely matters. With tolerances even slightly off, the performance of the bearing will suffer. Everything from slow spin times to seizing that lands your bearing right in the garbage. No amount of cleaning will fix that! All Lotus Bearings are ABEC 7. This is the highest level of precision that can be attained due to the extremely small size of a yo-yo bearing.
There has always existed confusion especially due to countless outdated forum posts regarding the ABEC rating. Quite simply put, the ABEC scale measures precision. The lower the number on the ABEC scale, the less precise and lower the tolerance to measurements. Most of the top bearings sold have no ABEC rating and are not even tested or certified. The overall demand on your bearing is extremely high: millions of revolutions and thousands of hours of use. It is because of this that the overall life of non-ABEC bearings are greatly reduced.
Because bearings are so small, precision absolutely matters. With tolerances even slightly off, the performance of the bearing will suffer. Everything from slow spin times to seizing that lands your bearing right in the garbage. No amount of cleaning will fix that! All Lotus Bearings are ABEC 7. This is the highest level of precision that can be attained due to the extremely small size of a yo-yo bearing.
Factory bearing
Factory Bearing: Not ABEC Tested or Rated, 8 Ball, Chrome Steel with Nylon Cage.
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LOTUS BEARING
Lotus Bearing: ABEC 7, 10 Ball, 100% Surgical Stainless Steel including Cage.
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Axles
LET's TALK ABOUT AXLES
The single most important part of any yo-yo is its axle. If you don't believe this, remove the axle from your yo-yo and see what happens. Now that we can agree, we can talk about the most dreaded occurrence for any yo-yo player: VIBE. Vibration can occur for a number of reasons like physical damage, poor design, etc. Today's yo-yos are massively rim weighted pushing the majority of the weight away from its center in order to increase spin time. This is an incredibly effective design when properly executed. Unfortunately, the downside of this modern design is they become incredibly susceptible to vibration.
When the yo-yo is machined, both halves are tapped and threaded by CNC machines to exact specifications. During assembly, a setscrew is used for the axle. Often the quality, precision, and tolerance of these setscrews do not match the threads tapped by the CNC machine. Imagine overseas production lines having tons of boxes of setscrews with thousands of screws contained in each. A worker grabs a screw, affixes it to your yo-yo and off it goes. Because of time and deadlines, it would be impossible for anyone to check the measurements and tolerances of every screw.
Almost all vibe issues can be improved with a high quality, correctly sized, and heavy duty threaded axle properly seated in the correct half of the yo-yo along with the use of a 10 ball bearing. A properly cut cup point allows the most secure amount of contact between the axle and the material, in this case aluminum, without causing any damage that differently pointed axles would cause IE flat points.
Every yo-yo is different and usually an axle won't fix vibration on a yo-yo that's been heavily damaged.
When the yo-yo is machined, both halves are tapped and threaded by CNC machines to exact specifications. During assembly, a setscrew is used for the axle. Often the quality, precision, and tolerance of these setscrews do not match the threads tapped by the CNC machine. Imagine overseas production lines having tons of boxes of setscrews with thousands of screws contained in each. A worker grabs a screw, affixes it to your yo-yo and off it goes. Because of time and deadlines, it would be impossible for anyone to check the measurements and tolerances of every screw.
Almost all vibe issues can be improved with a high quality, correctly sized, and heavy duty threaded axle properly seated in the correct half of the yo-yo along with the use of a 10 ball bearing. A properly cut cup point allows the most secure amount of contact between the axle and the material, in this case aluminum, without causing any damage that differently pointed axles would cause IE flat points.
Every yo-yo is different and usually an axle won't fix vibration on a yo-yo that's been heavily damaged.
A CLOSER LOOK
Lotus GoodVibes on left, 100% marine grade stainless steel. Factory grade carbon axle on right. Both 4mm x .07mm x 10mm. Lotus threads are heavy duty, evenly spaced, and threaded up to the cup point. Factory grade threads are irregularly single threaded. Factory axles are narrower due to poor threads and soft carbon steel. Often, they will not be true to measurement.
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Lotus GoodVibes on left, 100% marine grade stainless steel. Factory grade carbon axle right. Both 4mm x .07mm x 10mm. Lotus head is fully cup pointed while factory head is barely formed and actually smaller. Precise shape and size of the head is integral for maintaining proper surface contact inside the yo-yo.
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Dead Bearings and Bad Vibes
DEAD BEARINGS
We personally grew tired of waiting for our brand-new expensive competition model to arrive, receive it, unbox, string it, and finally give it a toss. Boom...dead bearing on arrival. We cannot put into words how much time we have spent cleaning bearings with hopes of getting it running again only to discover that it was a dud. If this only occurred occasionally we could understand however, in slightly over one year's time, with over 200+ yo-yo purchases, the number of bad factory bearings we've experienced is almost 90%. Ninety percent bearing failure across numerous brands is unacceptable. Because this figure is so high, we found ourselves spending more time attempting to repair yo-yos and bearings rather than learning new tricks, practicing, and playing!
BAD VIBES
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We noticed an extreme amount of vibration on a brand-new high-end bimetal right out of the box. When we opened up the yo-yo, we soon discovered the issue— there was a 12mm axle crammed into a 10mm tap. Everything from the length of the axle to the thread spacing was wrong. A penny screw rendered an expensive throw useless right out of the box.
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BAD vibes! Damaged factory axle on right. Notice the incorrect length and destroyed threads. The point is flat and misshapen. Lotus GoodVibes Axle on left, properly threaded and perfectly cup-pointed.
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The Lotus Way
ALL LOTUS BEARINGS AND AXLES:
Are custom made for only one thing, yo-yo. They are constructed from the ground up using the best possible materials at the highest precision possible. If we think of your bearing and axle as the "engine" of your yo-yo, remarkable things can happen...even a budget throw can play amazingly. Ten ball bearings average a minimum of 40% higher RPMs than eight ball bearings. This equals longer spin time that allows a player more time to learn a trick without having to throw again or completing a long combo for competition. Expect the best for your throws. Expect Lotus Bearings.
LOTUS BEARINGS
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LOTUS AXLES
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What's your throw?
Some players have one yo-yo. Others have tons! Some players aren't picky about their yo-yos. Others are currently on the "I'm only playing lightweight H shaped monometals that are all pink" phase. Lotus gets it and has been there— especially pink throws! It doesn't matter what level yo-yo you are playing. It could be a beginner, midrange, or high-end yo-yo, or a combination of all of them. By upgrading to a Lotus Bearing and GoodVibes Axle, yo-yos of all levels have an immediate increase in play that has to be experienced to be believed. Check out what these simple upgrades will do for yo-yos from each price point and level on the market today.
