I’mma start with silver…
But Kyo planted the idea of ano’d cups in my head and I just have to ignore his pleading not to try doing it with 9v batteries (he feels the results will be inferior and is probably right!).
Wow, I didn’t know you could do that. If you outline the method to me I’m happy to try it on my Ricochet tonight/tomorrow and see how it turns out (I’d be interested myself actually). Might as well give it a test before you risk ruining your shiny new toy. 
Apparently the anodize layer on titanium is super thin and easy to polish out if you blow the mission. Here’s the video Ben McPhee shared that made me think of going mad scientist:
Seems pretty easy and safe compared to aluminum anodization. I haven’t done the research beyond spotting this video and going “hey, I’mma try that!”. As for doing cup-only, Kyle mentioned using electric tape as a mask.
I do fully believe the results will be splotchy and less awesome than with a rectified and voltage-regulated power source… but hey, cheap and easy! 
That was very cool indeed! I know what my evening is going to consist of…
I can almost guarantee I’m going to make a pig’s ear out of it and wind up making an awful mess, but hey, at least it’ll make for an original looking yoyo. 
Will post up my results tomorrow. Might give it a few hits with a bug zapper as well and see what happens. ;D
Haha!
Nice. 
Shouldn’t be hard to do multi-colour with planning and masking, either. Going higher voltage will “replace” the lower-voltage colours that are exposed, or you just mask off colour areas you want to preserve.
Inb4 Greg becomes YYF’s official Titanium anodiser.
The anodising isn’t the tricky part, it’s the doing it without injuring myself. They’re going to find my frazzled corpse laying in a puddle of salty water next to a car battery, a toaster, and one fine looking yoyo. What a way to go.
1 Like
That would be a shocking way to go…
…
I’ll get me coat.
Just to clarify, I’m not guessing at that, I’ve done it
Kyle
Bad news Greg. I didn’t have enough batteries yesterday so I decided to just experiment… which ended with nothing more than a couple of melted batteries, a lot of mess and a very numb hand. 
I’ve just been to my local electrical store and stocked up on all the proper gear as well as tonnes of 9V batteries, so hopefully today will bring a bit more luck and a few less health and safety violations. ;D
Kyo, any tips?
I, too, would have liked to see a bit more “flair” in the design. But the specs look great, and the design is similar enough to other “almost a pure V with a bit of comfort at the rims” yoyos that I’ve absolutely loved… so yeah. I’m still pleased.
Gambit: that sounds horrifying. I hope the numbness has passed. 
As for asking Kyo for tips on this one, I think it’s safe to say his tip will be: “Put away the 9v batteries and the patched together rig, and do it right!” Hahaha! Let’s make it our mission to infuriate Kyle by ignoring him and badly marring our workbenches and yoyos. Let’s do our very best not to injure ourselves or other people while we’re at it, though.
But the icing on the cake will be that we MUST actively complain directly to him about it. “Dude. This didn’t even work.” That sort of thing.
Workbench? I was doing it on a chopping board in the kitchen. Maybe therein lies the problem.
Yeh my hand is fine. The thing with those 9V batteries is you don’t really notice they’re shocking you since it’s so mild. It’s only when you start feeling your hang going all numb and tingly that you realise you should probably let go.
Also, if you’ve ever wondered the question “what happens if you drop a 9V battery into salt water?” the answer is a lot of fizzing, bubbling, and release of all manner of toxic looking chemicals and odours. Would not recommend. (Don’t worry, I was working under an extractor fan so it was decently ventilated.)
Needless to say, I will be considerably more careful this evening since I’ll be working with around 40v or so (aiming for a purpley-blue). Fortunately I have a friend that’s an electrician, so I can at least get some form of advice from him as to how best to not injure myself. That’s the plan anyway. Risk aside, it’s all rather interesting and I’m really hoping that I can get at least some sort of result out of it, regardless of how blotchy or unpleasant it may look.
If it fails, I’m all for your plan of moaning to Kyle. ;D
try wearing rubber gloves next time… like the really thick kind… that might keep your from getting a new hairstyle…
1 Like
Rubber gloves fo’ sho’. Or driving gloves if that’s all you have. But SOMETHING.
Just got in on the Indiegogo deal… This is really a great opportunity - especially if it hits $30k (which, at this rate, it undoubtedly will) A gorgeous Ti yo-yo, plus an aluminum version for $200. Very nice…
So here are the results of my labour! All pictures are filter/enhancement free to give you the most accurate view of the results, even though it’s a little hard to really photograph titanium well since it’s so darn shiny.
Here’s a picture of my setup:
I DO NOT RECOMMEND DOING THIS. IT’S DANGEROUS AND YOU MIGHT RUIN A PERFECTLY GOOD YOYO.
^ That’s diet coke in there in case you’re wondering.
^ Here is our Ricochet half all masked up and ready to go.
^ This is the result afterwards. Rocking the rubber gloves as per Alecto’s recommendation.
The inside of the catch zone is scratched because I was originally having trouble getting it to work so I tried sanding down the surface to give it a better chance of anodising. Turns out I had the wires in the wrong places (positive attached to the yoyo instead of negative… doh). Should have looked at the battery properly. Live and learn.
I did the cup of one half and the catch zone of the other, so I end up with a yoyo that looks different colours from both sides.
Side 1:
Side 2:
Pretty cool huh? Now that I know how it all works I have no doubt that if I did it again I’d end up with a much neater and more consistent result. At the very least I wouldn’t scratch up the catch zone.
There’s no denying that my result is as higgledy-piggledy as we expected it would be, but I’m pretty sure that this method could indeed give good results. I’m actually surprised at how well it worked.
More pics:
All I know is this. My Ricochet is now one of a kind, and I have successfully performed my first ever yoyo mod. Feels good man. ;D
Gambit, that looks amazing! Nice work!
1 Like
Haha! Nice work, Gambit! Love that you took the bull by the horns.
1 Like
Gambit, you are a crazy man, and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Your post has me evenly torn between wanting to try it on my Ricochet and being horrified at the thought of trying it on my Ricochet. Just so I wouldn’t completely copy your work, maybe I would use diet mountain dew ;D
I only wish I still had access to all the electrophoresis boxes and power supplies that I used in grad school.
Thank you fir sharing your experience and setup pictures
did u just say u anodized w the negative electrode
Actually, it turns out that I never actually looked at the battery to check which side was positive or negative. I was always under the impression with 9V batteries that the bigger connection was the positive one, so I never really thought about it. You learn something new every day… facepalms
@French, thanks man! I’m sure with a properly regulated power supply you’d be able to get much more consistent results. Still, if one really wants a good job done and without the risk, I’d recommend sending it to someone who actually knows what they’re doing.
At any rate, it’s given me a new found respect for Jason Wong’s work.
^That’s how it’s done right there. Comparing my results to the above shows just how much of a better job you can get when you do it properly.