Rout the Yo Yo- Question of the Week

August 21, 2007 | Filed Under Blog, Question of the Week 

This week’s question comes from Jchon. He writes:

I’m hoping you can lend some suggestion to something for me. One small project I have enjoyed making are yo-yo’s, but I haven’t made them in quite some time because I haven’t found a safe way of routing/rounding the edges of the small wooden circles. In the past, I would laminate my wood, cut my circles and then hold (stupidly) these 2 1/4 inch diameter pieces of wood to the bit on the router table. The last time I made one of these, let’s just say, I had the opportunity to witness the miracle of the body’s healing ability (seriously - it was amazing… a small chunk of my finger was, uh, routed - and it grew back - gross but cool… finger-prints and all! :o) Anyway - I vowed not to make another yo-yo until I found a safer, easier and repeatable way to make them. Whatchya think?

And here was my reply:

“Hey Jchon. That sounds like quite a challenge. I couldn’t actually see the picture from the link you provided, but I am pretty familiar with yo yos. :) I would say your best best is to double stick tape the disks to a piece of ply and secure that to the workbench. Then you can keep both hands on the router as you rout the edges. Turner’s tape is a great product for this and will hold them securely. You might even want to attach a small spacer block (same thickness as your yo yo) to each side of your router base so that you dont tip as you rout the edges of the yo yo. Think that will work for ya? Good luck and protect those fingers!”

So what do you guys think?

Turner's Two Way Tape Turner’s Two Way Tape
1” wide x 25 yards two-way tape…

Turner’s Two Way Tape

Comments

16 Responses to “Rout the Yo Yo- Question of the Week”

  1. John on August 22nd, 2007 6:37 am

    Hi,

    Couldn’t you cut a circle the size of your yo-yo out of a piece of plywood or other so that part of the circle is set on the edge. This would hold your work piece against the fence of a router table. Don’t cut the yo-yo stock to thickness. Then you can spin the yo-yo from above with fingers safe and cut it after the edges are routed. The little rout-able edge would protrude from the edge of the plywood into the bit.

  2. Jim on August 22nd, 2007 8:26 am

    Why not just buy the Yo-Yo Blank cutter from Rockler then there is no routing to do

    Jim

  3. John on August 22nd, 2007 8:55 am

    since you have to put a dowel in the inside center of the Yo-Yo to connect the two sides use a screw to attach each side to a piece of plywood, once you are done routing the shape you can drill out the hole to an appropriate size for the dowel (assuming that is how you construct it)

    John

  4. Tim TAN on August 22nd, 2007 9:16 am

    Guys : I have a solution that will be worthwhile if you are making lots of them… use a vacuum clamping hold-down for routing! I invested in a vaccum pump a few years ago and have never regretted it. It can be used for veneering as well.

    Tim

  5. Eric on August 22nd, 2007 9:48 am

    Why not just turn them on a lathe, much, much safer, and a lot more fun!

  6. Byron on August 22nd, 2007 10:27 am

    I would invest some money in a small lathe and save a few fingers in the process.. plus you can do some intricate designs..also some cool accessories that go with them like the chatter tool !!!

  7. David in Charlotte on August 22nd, 2007 11:12 am

    +1 Lathe

  8. David Caskey,MD on August 22nd, 2007 11:37 am

    The best solution is to get a small, cheap lathe and turn them. This is the safest and fastest method.

  9. Jack Frost on August 22nd, 2007 11:45 am

    I agree the way to go is a lathe. I have turned many yo yos on my lathe.

  10. Che on August 22nd, 2007 1:55 pm

    I second the use of a small screw to mount the yo-yo side to some plywood (or similar) and free-hand rout the edge. You can use some scrap the same thickness as the yo-yo around the outside to support the router since the yo-yo is fairly small. Be sure to give yourself enough space for the bit.

    Che.

  11. Vic on August 22nd, 2007 6:05 pm

    Or…OR!….you could make a really big Yo-Yo and start a whole new toy craze!

  12. LordLQQK on August 22nd, 2007 6:35 pm

    Definitely a lathe is your best option, however if you are running short on cash, and you can’t find a midi-lathe on ebay, craig’s list, or other; try using your drill press (that you probably already have). It will spin the wood through the hole you already have to make. If you haven’t yet, you can make a MDF or plywood table for it and use a steel rod for a tool rest for chisels or without the steel rod and make some pull gouges and scrapers. If you do make the table for the table saw remember to use at least 2 sections of 3/4 cabinet grade or MDF glued together for extra stiffness.

  13. Dennis on August 23rd, 2007 10:53 am

    I’ll also vote lathe. You can do so much with it. Yoyos with a screw chuck are easy and fun. Plus you may find yourself in the legions of us who do very little flat work. Round is where it’s at. (unless of course you are into multi-axis turning, but that’s another post)

  14. Jason on August 24th, 2007 7:22 am

    I’d be tempted to try one of these from PSI: http://www.pennstateind.com/store/pkyopr1.html
    Good luck!

  15. Steve on August 30th, 2007 5:48 am

    How about rounding the sides before cutting the blank clear of the laminate?
    Use a circular jig outside your router to create a clear channel and then round over with the same jig. The jig is has a base with a cut out that holds the yo-yo blank in a recess using double stick tape (yeah, stole that from Mark). Then flip the blank and perform the same operation. Then release the yo-yo with a straight bit.

  16. Steve on November 14th, 2007 6:08 pm

    We use a simple jig and the router. Yo-Yo blank has a hole in the center that we set over a dowel in the jig. Turn on the router and it takes about 1 minute to route both sides. Like all jigs, you take more time with the jig than the router. The last time we did this we made over 200.

    We also made a simple jig to twist the string for the yo-yo’s.

    If you like I can email you some PIC’s of the router jig.

    Steve
    steveo35@yahoo.com

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