Hand-made toys have recently been in great demand, because they have a lot of advantages: cheapness, environmental friendliness, non-toxicity. But most importantly, the process of creating a toy with your own hands brings true pleasure and gives extremely positive emotions.
History of occurrence
Yo-yo is a toy that has ancient Chinese roots. Some sources even report that the yoyo has been with the Chinese since 1000 BC. e. The very first predecessors of modern toys that history has preserved are clay yo-yo dating back to 500 BC. e. In the 16th century, such toys were made of stone, which was tied to a rope about 6 meters long. They held the rope in their hands, and threw stones at the animals. If the attempt was unsuccessful, the stone returned back to the hand.
Description
Yo-yo is two identical coils symmetrically located in relation to each other, connected by an axis on which the rope is fixed and wound. The assortment of modern toys is wide, the disks can be made of a wide variety of materials, the bearing acts as a connecting element.
The principle of operation is the pendulum.
The principle of operation is the mechanical inertia of the rotation of the disks.
Yo-yo: a toy and its classification
There are several classifications of yoyo. Consider the main ones.
1. Depending on the material of the case, yoyo there are:
- Plastic The main material used in the manufacture is plastic. Consumer audience - children and novice users. Feature: bright exterior design, minimal weight, low price.
- Composite The main material used in the manufacture is plastic, there are individual parts made of metal (usually a rim). Consumer audience - advanced users and professionals. Feature: ideal for performing tricks of increased complexity and lengthy tricks, have excellent inertia.
- Metal. The main material used in the manufacture is aluminum. The consumer audience is professionals. Feature: maximum weight distribution , ideal for freestyle, high price.
2. Depending on the form:
- Butterfly yo-yo: a profile toy is associated with a butterfly. Characteristic is a smooth rounding towards the center and a wide space between the two halves (gap).
- Imperial. It is considered a classic form of yo-yo: two convex halves with a narrow gap. Suitable for games characterized by cyclic performance flights, in particular for Looping.
3. Depending on the design features:
- Collapsible. The toy can be disassembled - two halves are removed. Finds wider application than non-separable yo-yo.
- non-separable yo-yo: the toy is a single unit, and it can not be disassembled.
Specifications
Among the main characteristics of yo-yo, the following can be distinguished:
1. Gap. The term “gap” has English roots and means “gap” in translation. Gap is the distance between two halves of a toy. The yo-yo stay time in the slip mode depends on the value of this indicator (distance) - the larger the gap, the longer the performed trick can last.
2. Used type of bearings. The gap depends on the size and shape of the bearings, and, consequently, the duration of the slip. There are several sizes of bearings:
A - provides a minimum gap. The outer diameter is 10 mm, the inner is 5 mm, the width is 4 mm. It is usually used in the most primitive yo-yo models, suitable for the average user.
C is the most commonly used bearing size. Outer diameter - 12.5 mm, inner - 6.3 mm, width - 4.7 mm. Suitable for the game "Looping", as well as for more complex and lengthy tricks.
D - provides the greatest distance between the halves of the toy. External diameter - 11 mm, internal - 5 mm, width - 5 mm. Used in a circle of professionals for passing all kinds of competitions and performing complex and lengthy tricks.
The shape of the bearings can also be of several types:
- Standart - standard bearings with a flat outer surface.
- ConCave — grooves on the outer face are characteristic of such bearings. The groove helps to center the rope in the center of the toy. A variety of yo-yo - little devil on a string - is easy to manage, which makes it possible to operate the toy by novice users. Analogs are grooved, Center Trac.
- Slim - are similar to the type of the form “Standard”, but inferior to them in thickness.
3. Type of brake system. The brake system is the most important element of the toy. There are 4 possible types of it: starburts (with teeth) - a toy yo-yo is equipped with such a system, the price of which is at a minimum level; rubber stickers - more practical than the previous type; rubber (or silicone) rings - is in great demand, since it guarantees soft braking; liquid silicone - not practical to use, since silicone tends to wear off quickly.
4. The presence of additional improvements. These include grooves, hubstacks (holders), Z-stacks, side spinners, etc. The presence of one or another add-on is necessary to perform a specific trick.
How to make yo-yo yourself
Consider the simplest example of how to make yo-yo at home.
Required Tools:
- tin can - 2 pcs.;
- pencil;
- glue "Liquid nails";
- rope;
- knife;
- scissors.
How do you do yoyo (toy) with your own hands? The instruction gives step-by-step explanations:
1. Trim the top of both cans. The width should be 1 cm. It is recommended to use unopened tin cans, the liquid of which must first be drained from the incision (puncture) made from the side. Thus, the part cut from the top will not have a trace from the opening of the vessel, which means that the likelihood of leakage of glue is completely excluded.
2. Take the knife and cut it about 3 cm from the pencil. This segment will serve as a bearing. You can verify the correctness of the work done as follows: we take two tin halves of the toy, connect them on the inside with a pencil and measure the resulting gap. If the gap is not more than 1 cm, you did everything right.
3. Fix the pencil with tin hemispheres. Insert the pencil in the center of the cut part of the can and grease with glue. You need to do this in turn with each part (half) of the toy.
4. Bend the sharp edges of the cans and process with a file. This must be done so that during operation the rope is not damaged.
5. Bind the rope. The length of the rope should be about 1 m. We fasten it as follows: at one end we tie a loop for a finger, and at the other we attach it to a pencil-bearing.
That's all! The toy is ready! Now there will be something to occupy yourself in your free time.
Tips & Tricks
How much does a yoyo toy cost? The price of the cheapest Chinese-made models is from 35 to 199 rubles. Higher price category - from 216 to 1,000 rubles. Maybe it’s really worth trying to make a toy yourself?
Do-it-yourself yoyo (toy) can also be made using already opened tin cans. The main requirement is to close the holes qualitatively by bending them back.
When gluing a pencil and parts of cans of glue do not spare! Remember that to get a quality and easy-to-rotate yo-yo, you need to make it heavy. This can be achieved thanks to glue, which is poured inside the homemade tin half of the toy.
When choosing a rope, it is recommended to give preference to elastic ropes made of silk or kapron.
Toy yoyo: how to play
The most common question among novice users is: "How to play yo-yo?" In nature, there are several styles of the game.
Looping - a toy driven by hand movements - describes an elliptical flight path and does not return to the hand for a long time. When performing tricks, various manipulations with the rope are possible (winding around the fingers, sharp pulling, grabbing, twisting, etc.).
String - all tricks performed with the toy end with the return of the yoyo to the player’s hand on which the rope is attached. To play a string, a yoyo butterfly is used.
Freehand - in some ways, is an analogue of string games, but the rope is not attached to the player’s hand. The hand is replaced by a counterweight, which is a small figure that is attached to the hand. That is, the counterweight connects the toy and the player’s hand.
Offstring - games with yoyo without a rope.