Over the last centuries different materials have been used for making yo-yos, specifically yo-yo halves. This page deals with their history and yo-yoing properties. For axle materials see Axles.
Wood
Yo-yos were - if we ignore some old Greek ones made of clay - originally made out of wood. Since yo-yos are usually subjected to lots of physical abuse the woods used are most often hard woods. For its even density, maple has become the primary choice here. Beech is also sometimes seen. To add a nice color effect, plywood also is used, each layer dyed differently, looking like a rainbow. This technique was pioneered by Hummingbird.
Advantages:
- Abundantly available
- Can be easily turned
- Looks and feels nice
Disadvantages:
- Uneven density, making a yo-yo often slightly wobbly
- Difficult to process other than by turning. While it is technically possible to machine a starburst into a wooden yo-yo, it is usually not done for reasons of economy.
- Insufficient density for modern yo-yo shapes
Plastic
Since the advent of thermoplastics (i.e. plastics that can be molded by melting them), these materials have been widely used to make yo-yos.
Advantages:
- Cheap
- Easily molded into nearly any shape
- Easily dyed any color
- Good density
Disadvantages:
- Molding often leaves sharp edges
- Difficult to mold without enclosing gas bubbles
Polycarbonate
Polycarbonate is a very strong plastic used in many injection molded yoyos. It has high strength to weight ratio and can flex under impact. Many yoyos are made from this plastic due to its ease of use, low cost and existing worldwide manufacturing base. It is often referred to as 'polycarb'. Some examples of polycarbonate yoyos are the Duncan Freehands '1','2' and Zero. A large proportion of current YoYoJam models are also polycarbonate. Enyo is a trademarked polycarbonate with suspended holographic foil particles that glimmer strongly in direct sunlight. Clear yoyos are usually polycarbonate due to the natural clear quality of the plastic along with its high strength/weight ratio. Colored polycarbonate yoyos are made by adding coloring to the plastic. Sprite trademarked yoyos often have bubbles in them which is made by adding a powder, often baking soda, to the mix during injection that produces carbon dioxide which expands in the polycarbonate making a bubble. Polycarbonate has some drawbacks when used in yoyo manufacture. It will crack when dimensions are too thin and when exposed to even small amounts of solvents it crazes (surface cracking), becomes brittle and yellows as the solvent degrades the plastic.
ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
ABS is a strong, lightweight and inexpensive plastic used for some yoyos. It is not rigid enough to be successfully used in places where strength, weight and rigidity are priorites such as standard sized rim weighted yoyos. It is used in less expensive yoyos such as the modern Duncan Wheels (vintage models are polycarbonate and sought after by modders). It lends itself to very well to inexpensive mass produced yoyos that can have thicker dimensions and do not have rim weighting. It is easily scratched and does not machine well due to a low melting point. Advertising yoyos are often made from ABS.
Delrin/Celcon
Delrin and Celcon are trademarks for nearly identical polyacetal plastics which are machineable like aluminum. Polyacetal is a lightweight, durable, low wear, and low friction plastic originally developed by Dupont in the 1950s as a metal substitute. It is not as prone to ding or scratch as aluminum while retaining many of the qualities desired in a machineable material. The Silk by Eric Wolff, the Milk by Paul Yath, the Lucha Libre by Throw Down, and the Gung-Fu by Death By Yo-Yo are examples of yo-yos that are made of this material. Some polyacetal yo-yos, such as those already mentioned, are machined like metal yo-yos while others, such as the Lyn Fury and the KickSide, are injection molded from Celcon. Polyacetal has also been used in the hub stacks of YoYoFactory yo-yos, like the G5.
Heavy Gravity
Heavy Gravity is a composite material used by YoYoJam made by saturating plastic with metal powder either before or during injection molding. The Heavy Gravity material is much more dense than plastics typically used in yoyo manufacture. Because of this it allows for rim weighting at a cheaper price than machined metal rims since it is produced by injection molding rather than machining. It also allows greater flexing vs metal which likely reduce stresses in other parts of the yoyo during impacts.
Aluminum
While other metals have been used to add rim weight to yo-yos, none was so often used as aluminum. Ever since Tom Kuhn made his first Silver Bullet it is has been used very successfully in yoyo production.
Advantages:
- Attractive
- Slightly more dense than most plastics (and won't have air bubbles like some plastics resulting in smoother play)
- Usually smoother and has less friction than plastic giving better grinds
- Anodization allows many different colors to be made
Disadvantages:
- Can corrode
- Expensive compared with plastic alternatives
- It is easy to get dings or scratches if it makes contact with rough surfaces
- Resonates easily, resulting in an annoying ringing during play
Titanium
Titanium is a relatively rare yo-yo material because its cost makes the yo-yo retail price prohibitive. Most yo-yos that do use titanium only using in small quantities for the weight rings, such as the YoYoJam Night Moves, or for the axle, such as the Oxygene Oxy4. Only the YoYoJam Titan, Kyo TiPhiter 1, 2 and Tiraid , One Drop Sovereign and Derti have been made almost entirely of titanium.
Advantages
- As strong as steel, but lighter
- Attractive
- Corrosion resistant
Disadvantages
- Very expensive
- Produces an ear splitting ring when bashed with the ground
Magnesium
Magnesium is another rare yo-yo material with properties similar to aluminum. It strong and light, and often used in racing car wheels. The Duncan Freehand Mg is the first and only yo-yo to be made from a magnesium alloy.
Advantages
- Strong
- Light
- Can be machined to very precise tolerances
- Can be anodized or powder coated
Disadvantages
- Expensive
- Harder to work with than aluminum
- Flammable in powder form
Carbon Dioxide
Carbon Dioxide is a very rare yo-yo, similiar to Carbon Monoxide. It is very light weight in normal condition, and is subject to negative gravity in common atmosphere.
This sort of yo-yo has never officially been observed. It's rumored though; that aliens use this kinds of yo-yos in low temperatured enviroments.
Advantages
- Light-weight
- Non-coroding
Disadvantage
- Requires a temperature of below -78.5 degrees C, to not disappear.
- Very expensive
- Fragile
- Touching it may cause freeze damage.
Corian
Corian is the same material that counter tops are made from.
There are currently no comercially produced yoyos in this materlial, but a few prototypes and one-offs of yoyos made of this material have been made.