3D Yoyo

"Have you ever made a Yoyo with a 3D printer", asks bollweevil in this Yoyonation forum discussion. Yoyo enthusiasts know their yoyos, and many custom build them. Now, they consider using a 3D printer to do so. The result is interesting, as YoMattSta replies:

"Yes, I have. I made 2 yoyos on a 3d printer. Don't waste your time."

What? How could this be? And he's not the only one with this viewpoint. The comments all come down to this: the 3D printed yoyos are good as a prototype, but are not sufficiently durable for ongoing use. We suspect very high precision is required to produce the best quality yoyo, and it may be that commonly available 3D printers just aren't up to that standard yet.  

Another interesting observation results from YoMattSta's note on his 3D Yoyo (pictured): 

NOTE: The weight rings are in there because the plastic that the proto is made out of is very light.

This points out another issue with 3D printing today: weight can be very important in some applications, particularly when then printed object has motion. Perhaps Objet's multi-material Connex500 could be used to produce weight effects by mixing dense and light media?

Via Yoyonation and Yoyonation