Tuesday, March 24, 2015

A little lubrication goes a long way

Hi readers ,

Yes yes , I know , I have been away for a very very long time. Please accept my humble apologies. I have written something similar to what I am about to write today but unfortunately that website is down and I could not retrieve back what I have written before.

Yo-yo bearing plays a huge roll in a yo-yo. As I have mention before , without the bearing , a yo-yo is just a piece of metal screwed together and tied at the end of the string. Which technically doesn't serve any purpose unless its a fixed axle yo-yo. A proper maintenance for a bearing is crucial. Therefore proper lube for different type of bearings is a must know knowledge for any yoyo player.

WHAT ARE LUBES ?


Lube is a form of a transparent liquid substance that is used by dripping a drop of lube into the yoyo bearing to create a less responsive or more responsive yoyo performance.

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HOW MANY TYPE OF LUBES AVAILABLE ? 
Essentially there is only 2 type of lubes that is available for a bearing, it's either a thick lube or a thin lube. Each of the lubes will give two different type of performance but both of them will provide protections from rust and minimising friction in the bearing.

How does it works ?
It's simple actually, besides protecting the bearing from rust, as I have said , you may change the performance of the yoyo based on the lube that you used. It either you may use a thin lube to make the yoyo spin longer or to use a thick lube to make the yo-yo more responsive. Usually a yoyo player will use a thin lube for 1A, 3A or for 5A yoyo and a thick lube for 2A yoyos. It is uncommon we apply yoyo lube onto a 4A yoyo. This is because if it is too unresponsive , it will be difficult to bind or to do regeneration tricks and if it is too responsive , the yo-yo will bind back immediately the moment it touches the string. So my advice is, if you would like to apply a lube, just a small bit will do the trick.   

Why do I need to Lube my bearing ?
Do you realise that your bearing is making that loud hissing sound whenever you spin your yo-yo ? It means that the bearing is too "dry". When the bearing is in it's dried condition , there is more friction between the bearing wall and the ball bearings that's within the bearing. It is likely for the bearing to suffer more damage than you expected. Therefore, the lube provides a coating for the ball bearing in the bearing by minimising friction and provides a smoother spin for the yo-yo. Lube enhances the yo-yo's spinning performance and at the same time making the yo-yo less wobbly.

Another reason to apply lube on the bearing is to avoid rust within the bearing. Even though the bearing is made out of stainless steel, there is still a chance that the bearing will rust if the outer coating of the bearing is slightly damage that allows air and moist to enter into the inner part of the bearing , resulting in rust. Older bearings have a higher tendency of rust due to the material used to produce the bearing.

P.S : Please take out your strings whenever you are not planning to play with the yoyo on a daily basis. This will cause the bearing to rust due to the moist soaked into the string that is wrapped around your bearing. This advice comes from my own personal experience.

How often do I need to lube the bearing ?
The answer is really simple , apply the lube as and when you feel like it. Tadaa ~ I know , its too subjective but hei, the trick is to rely on your own intuition and the feel of the bearing. If the bearing feels rough or there is a slight "tick" once in a while, that would be an indicator to apply some lube.

However , this tip does not apply for 2A division because for looping yo-yos , you will need to have a responsive yo-yo. Which means , if the yo-yo has became unresponsive , it is time to apply THICK lube onto the bearing to make it responsive once again.

How do I apply it ?


For bearing removal tip , here is the link : http://wyvernstrings.blogspot.com/2015/01/bearing-removal.html

If there is any further enquiries in regards to bearing :

Feel free to email me at wyvernstrings@gmail.com
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Drop us a message on our FB Page : Wyvern Strings
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Drop us a comment below.

Till next time ,

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