...does it take to cut a new yo-yo from an aluminum blank on the CNC machine? I think I heard that M1's are made on a lathe...how long does that take?

Just wondering...

Thanks.
Erik

too long!

We never really timed it actually, and there are many steps. A finished yoyo doesn't just fall out of the machine ya know.
1. Unload 2000lbs of material by hand from a really big truck with a really big grumpy driver.
2. Use the band saw to cut the 12' long bars into short 3' bars to fit into the lathe.
3. Machine the first operation, set these aside 'till later.
4. Once we've made enough to meet that anodizing minimum, tear the machine down and reset it to do the second operation.
5. Stand in front of the machine and hand-load all the first op. parts into the lathe so it can do the second op.
6. Once that's all done, go over and load them into the tumbler 40 parts at a time.
7. After a few hours, remove from the tumbler, rinse, and pick out all the tumbling media that gets stuck in the bore where the nut goes.
8. Dry them all off so they don't get water spots.
9. Package them all nicely in paper towels so they don't get scratched on the way to the anodizers.
10. Drive them to the anodizers, about 90 miles North.
11. Wait one week.
12. Go get them from the anodizers, about 90 miles North.
13. Inspect them for ano defects, enter the good ones into inventory on the website.
14. Install Friction or Flow-groove stickers, press in the brass nuts into one side, press in the axle(previously assembled with locktite and let dry for 24 hours), install bearings.

None of the above includes the time it takes to: pay bills, order tools, maintain the machinery, insure that we're not making trays full of bad parts, keep up on the website, do customer service, answer emails, clean the toilet, shipping, dealing with landlords and tax collectors, sweep things, prototype the next yoyo, go have coffee, maintain our stellar image, and entertain people on the shop cam. Not bad for two guys in a little shop. One day a week Colin comes down to help do design stuff and pickup/drop off the ano. I'm sure I'm for getting just a few things. What was the question? Oh yeah, how long does it take to make a yoyo, ummm...I actually have no idea, but it seems like a long time.

/QFT

What is the first operation -- cutting to length,or do you have to actually machine the blanks to prepare them for the lathe?



And here, do you have do do them one at a time, or can you do several at once?



What else does the adonizing company do besides yo-yos? Car parts and the like?

Just curious... One of my favorite shows is "How it's Made." I love to learn how this stuff is done.

Thanks
Erik

Imagine machining material like painting a ball, you need to hold onto some portion of the ball while you paint the area that's accessible. Our first operation is to cut the majority of features on the yoyo half while holding on to a small portion. After this they all get set a side for the second operation.

The second operation requires all the pieces to be loaded into the machine one at at time. This is when we cut the bearing seat. Since we try and hold a very tight tolerance on the seat(.0002" or about 1/20 the thickness of paper) we need to monitor closely as we run.

The anodizers also anodize all of Leatherman tools, Leupold Optics and DeMarini baseball bats, they are a huge operation.

You obviously need more robots to do your bidding.

RISE MINIONS RISE!!!
You know, the first question I get when I take out my Yo-Yo around adults is "How much did that set you back".
I always thought $60 was a great price for what I had...but many of them quickly respond with
"I know a guy who could do that for $5"
"cool- have him do it"
I of course have yet to see one
In any event- glad to send such a small amount of money to OR for such a huge amount of entertainment

The problem with robots (of which we have two, Victor and Victoria, the mill and the lathe), is that robots need attending. Machining, as The Machinist will tell you, is not about setting up once then pushing a button. Holding tight tolerances like the bearing seat requires the touch of a master machinist, which Shawn most definitely is :^) Props!!! I too am a fairly experienced machinist, but nothing like Shawn. My skills are out of date. But I digress.

Robots need constant attention, you have to have a finely tuned ear, the first sign that a robot is going down a bad path (making scrap parts) is usually a slight change in pitch or tenor of the lathe or mill. Shawn has the ear of a conductor and can tell by the sound when the machine is cutting right and when it is going off kilter.

Machining is part art, part science, part engineering, and you have to be good at all of them. You also have to know a fair deal about your driving software, where you both design the yoyo's and set up the code that drives the robots to do the right set of maneuvers to make the parts you want.

How it's made is also one of my favorite shows, but they necessarily gloss over the "art" of machining and running high tech factory equipment. On How It's Made everything always runs perfectly and there are no hitches. In real life machines malfunction, processes go awry, parts and batches of material get scrapped. They never mention any of this on How It's made :^)

Finally, there is the all important design cycle. The biggest challenge of all is shortening the time it takes to design and get into production with a new product. I won't tell you what our design cycle time is because that is a trade secret. What I can tell you is that we aim to cut our design cycle time in half each time we put a new yoyo into production.

The reason the design cycle is so important is because it INTERRUPTS PRODUCTION of existing products. Needless to say this is a huge challenge. One that I must say our intrepid Machinist is well up to the task. My job is to help with new product development by taking some of the work load off The Machinists hands and helping him to think through the various scenarios of each new product design cycle.

There, I've said enough. I hope that you get the sense that making good yoyos is no easy or simple task. Anyone can make a bad yoyo, it takes a whole team of people to make a good one. That's what One Drop is, a team.

Think big, We do.

I love it! Thanks for all the detail!

Erik

Thanks for the breakdown! That was a really interesting read, I've always been curious to learn more about how the yoyos are made.

Interesting indeed. So much more than most people realize.

I may be wrong, but did you mean how long does it take for the machine to actually machine the yoyo? as opposed to the ENTIRE process? Like, when you press go, how long does it take Vicky to cut it to shape?

ahhh got th secret now run and tell everyone haha thanks for the detail it helped me develop alot of patiance for your operation
;]

I was just wondering about the actual cutting time, but I didn't realize that it needed to be done in two phases.

Erik

Ahhh so, you ask some very probing questions Grasshopper. The Machinst will answer if he can, but I think the answer is again more complicated that at first meets the eye, spindle time, and that is the correct technical term for what you are asking is fairly short, but cycle time, which is the entire process of making one part is very different. Typically cycle time includes taking the yoyo on and off the lathe for operations one and op2, quality control, each yoyo has to be measured by hand as the machine is operating to ensure the tight tolerances on the bearing seat are not "drifting." Drifting is what happens as the machine heats up and cools down, this is a very interesting phenomenon. When Shawn opens the door to the shop to get some fresh air the temperature in the shop can change by as much as 10 degree. This in turn affect the size of the milling machine itself. Every 20 or 30 yoyos you have to make a fairly substantial adjustment to the program to account for heat expansion/contraction. Nathan or David (our intrepid machine operators, an "operator" is not a "machinist", it's a skill level thing) can't make this adjustment, they can only measure the parts to see if any adjustment needs to be made. If Shawn is busy on another task or out of the shop for coffee or whatever, then cycle time goes waaaay up. See?????? :^) :^)

If you are not getting the exact answer to your question it is because you have touched on one of our few areas of "trade secrets." We are not being deliberately evasive. If it's really that important to you drop me a private message and I may be able to fill you in, but we are definitely not POSTING this information for the whole world, including our valued competitors, to see. I hope that our loyal and valued customers will understand and cut us some slack :^) ;^)

Best Regards, Jay
One Drop Creative Team
R&D Department

Trade Secrets are cool. he he he.

--Erik

knowing that every single half of yoyo is hand measured will not want to ding my yoyo not just because it will look worse...but because someone really spent his time working on it. You know i was always thinking that you take that metal and put it in some machine that has some CAD software and it just makes yoyo like lil' chicks LOL.

Thanks Jay for great input, there lots of good info on this thing!

Hopefully in our lifetime we'll get nano-replicators but for now the process of cutting metal has lots of variables including tool wear and thermal drift.

and hack factory machine techs that come and screw up yer machine instead of fixing it, neat! Friday looks to be busy yet non-productive.

I guess what you actually need are more blood powered cyborgs to tend your robot minions. Alternatively, it's never too early to start teaching Graham how to be a machinist or engineer.