I Like To Make Stuff | How to make a wooden Yo-yo

Glowforge cameo.

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That looks like fun! Thanks

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Glowforge at 4:00ish. Great project @iliketomakestuff! Makes me want a lathe.

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Posted this about planning to make yo-yos about 18 months ago. Laser etched YoYos and Tops

Couldn’t justify having the lathe take up so much space while waiting, so sold it. Guess it was better than selling the GF.

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Go with a fourth axis in a cnc instead, far more versatile.

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Way cool! Once met the man who created the original Duncan Yo Yo – same guy who created the Duncan parking meter :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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lathe more immediately satisfying, though. you’re jabbing metal into wood with your hands and ripping it apart. that’s awesome.

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I think I like him better for one of things than for the other.

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LOL :grinning:

Yeah – I get that. He was in his 90’s when I met him, still getting around – and I think the latter invention was far more influential on his company’s growth financial standing, although the former was more fun!

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Reminds me I still haven’t gotten my lathe pulley fixed. I could totally do that with a Glowforge by building it up in layers.

Frank Howarth has a good video but with a button type rather than butterfly. It does discuss balance and symmetry very well.

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@morganstanfield just got one for her birthday, so I am sure if you brought her a GF, she’d let you use her lathe…

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Those don’t usually spin fast enough to use as a lathe, especially for wood.

True, but the spindle does. A different technique to get the same place. Even better, and I’d like to build one, is a combo lathe/4 axis cnc.

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My experience with metalworking tools (mill and lathe) leads me to believe that the finish on round parts is usually much better on a lathe than in a mill with a 4th axis.

This device would be an exception but it’s not a normal 4th axis:

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Totally true with wood and plastics. Everything is a trade off. With a lathe, you can come off the machine with no more finish work to do. You can polish and add finishes right on the lathe. On a 4 axis cnc, there is significant post processing. The thing is though, with the 4 axis cnc you can have any shape you want! With a lathe, you can have any shape you want as long as it is round. This is why I want one of each or a combo.

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