A Few Questions

I used Norton Sharpening Stone Oil to clean my bearing and wondered if this was appropriate or if it will ruin my bearing. I also used a drop of Bones Bearings (skateboard company) Speed Cream to lube my bearing and wondered if this is also appropriate to use and keep the bearing unresponsive.

Regarding the sharpening stone oil, I can’t say. I don’t think it would be a good idea, but I don’t know what’s in it. As long as it’s not petroleum based, there should be little concern about how it may affect plastics. Then again, there are some petroleum based lubes that don’t bother plastics used in yoyos.

Regarding the skateboard cream, based on the term “cream”, it might be too thick. I’m sure it will behave like a thick lube but will most likely take a lot longer to break down.

I don’t really see how either will permanently damageyour bearing. Worse case is use mineral spirits to clean it out and then use a lube that is better suited for the task. I recomment YYJ Jam Oils, both thick and thin(depending on what you need) and One Drop’s VM4.

Thank you for your input Studio42! The sharpening stone oil is based with “white mineral oils” so it should be okay and I plan on getting some thin lube next time I order a new yoyo to avoid paying for shipping twice. Thanks again!

I hear that. I always try to lump in accessories(at leas strings) with every order for the same reason. If I gotta pay shipping for the yoyo, I don’t pay more for accessories to ship with ti.

I’d say when you get the proper lube, give the bearings a good cleaning out, then apply lube very sparingly and you’ll be good to go.

Agreed.

I’m curious how you applied a cream lube to the bearing. I’ve used white moly lube in my raiders and it’s a real chore to get it in the bearing. Note that I only use this on some of my loopers, not yoyos I use for string tricks.

That sharpening stone oil won’t clean a bearing at all. The idea behind cleaning a bearing is to use a solvent to remove oil and other debris from the bearing. The skateboard cream is going to be far too thick for use in a yo-yo that you want to be unresponsive. The sharpening stone oil should be fine to use sparingly for lubing bearings, assuming it has no grit in it (which it shouldn’t).

The term cream used in the title is misleading. On the side of the packaging it says “Speed Cream is a blend of low viscosity, high speed lubricants that allow your precicion bearings to roll faster and longer with less wear than ever before.” The lube bottle looks exactly like a standard yoyo lube bottle and the actual lube is nothing like cream at all, it is more of a watery substance.

Thank you for your input. I will probably pick up something else as soon as I can in terms of cleaning the bearing out. And like I mentioned earlier, the term cream is misleading as the substance is nothing like a cream that you would think of.