Modification/Customization of Equipment

[Aaron Z]

The title says it all;

What have people done to modify their diabolo gear?

I've found that electrical tape is really fun to play around with. Because you can find eltape  in a whole bunch of different colors, it's useful when you're trying to make your handsticks in particular more visible.

I have Xtreme G3s, white silicone grips- I thought that in the air they had a really blurred motion, because white doesn't contrast outdoors, so I wrapped three bands of black eltape onto the grips and now guiding them into genocides and catching integrals is that much easier.
Additionally, the tape constricts the grips and stops them from sliding off the stick itself so easily.

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Next up, a lot of people with silicone-grip Xtremes may have had the same problem as me: after wearing them out a bit, the grips can slide off the stick, especially during Chinese Whips. Before I used tape to hold the grips on, I used a much more successful method.
If anyone's tried gluing their grips down, especially with super-glue, you might've had the glue start to set as you slid the grip back on.
Unfortunately, super-glue dries very quickly, which is a shame because it's such a good glue. Instead, try to use Epoxy Resin. ER is a binary adhesive that is as strong if not stronger than super-glue in some cases. After mixing each component of the glue - A & B, you're left with a thick, slow-drying super strong glue that perfectly grips onto silicone- just smear it on your stick and slide the grip back on. (Ewwww)

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Lastly, me and my mates got my neglected little YoHo Comet and did some experimenting with "speed lines". Basically, we got out lots of black markers and drew lots of spirals and lines etc. trying to make a cool pattern appear when the diabolo spun. None of out crap worked, and the lines we drew just blurred-out when the diabolo got to speed.

Has anyone had any success customizing and modifying their gear like this?

[mellowscholar]

I know chiok's got some hot custom sticks, damn his access to materials!! *shakes fist*

I'd like to mod some stuff but i haven't really got the money or the expertise, i'd love to play around with self powering dynamo-ish light kits.

[fzzyrn]

i've got a blue finesse that i've eltape'd black, and my sticks have eltape pattern.

[logoman04]

im still somewhat new to diaboloing, with equipment especially. but with my basic jugglingstore.com handsticks, i put a little ducktape on the edge of the grips to prevent them from sliding off, and it looks great. i had white duck tape, and with the black grips it looks good!

[Eric Moffett]

lz and I under separate invention made Spinabolo/Fly hybrid diabolos which are pretty much the best bearing diabolo ever. There is a thread on how to dye yo-yos and such which only lz (to my knowledge) has really experimented on - who needs Custom Flys when you can make them yourself?

[logoman04]

There is a thread on how to dye yo-yos and such which only lz (to my knowledge) has really experimented on - who needs Custom Flys when you can make them yourself?

can you post a link for that thread. it would be interested to see it, but i cant find it

[LaNgErZ]

i will actually be selling a bunch of dyed g2/3's in a week or 2, flys should be relatively easy to dye too,

also the next batch of ReVo's will have a fair few custom colourways

i was also thinking of doing a few colours of circus tuning kits if i get time

lz

 

[Eric Moffett]

wouldn't flys be easier with the acetone water and dye trick since they're plastic and not rubber?

[fzzyrn]

I would guess that Langerz is dying the finesses using RIT? I want to try that but i haven't gotten myself around to learning about the process. Could one of yall post the thread?

[LaNgErZ]

yesh would need to use acetone loads of it too, same goes for all nylon mods

lz

[fzzyrn]

oy, here's a question. Is it possible to dye the finesse's hubs? I understand one could try using the acetone method, but would the color show on the black plastic?

[LaNgErZ]

oy, here's a question. Is it possible to dye the finesse's hubs? I understand one could try using the acetone method, but would the color show on the black plastic?

No

lz

[JC]

I know that white is no colour, but it is possible
http://www.diabolonet.de/anzeigen.php?art=5974

[Pete]

I've had my own self-made sticks for a while now, which are basically xtremes with aluminium screw threads that i made from scratch using aluminium tube. Haven't got a way to get the old g2 screw tips though, any help? Most of mine are pretty worn out. I had the silicon grips stuck on with some double sided tape so i could always remove them if i wanted, but after a while they slipped off, so put some more on, but they came off again. Now the glue from the tape seems to have gone all slimy and actually makes the grips a bit slippy. Superglue won't work as the inside of the silicon is covered in the glue from the tape, which seems to stop it from sticking. Any ideas other than new grips and superglue and/or epoxy resin on the current ones (which i might try)?

While we're at it, anyone know where to get a blue equivalent of the silicon grips on xtremes, and still being UV? Or perhaps blue UV duck tape or something like it

[seán_]

My extreme g2 have blue UV/glow in the dark grips Pete. Devilstick handsticks were the donators. You have a good idea where I got them from.

[Darragh]

for all you fans of electrical tape , you could try using heat shrink tubing for a similar effect but it would be seamless. Careful you don't melt your grips when applying it though .

my Henry's grips used to slide on me, so i took off the grip and wrapped some tape around the handle at either end of the hand grip.
problem sorted.


also while the grips were off i cut about 4 mil of the end of the sticks, glad i did to .

[Chiok]

I know chiok's got some hot custom sticks, damn his access to materials!! *shakes fist*

Aww, you love them really.

I'd like to mod some stuff but i haven't really got the money or the expertise, i'd love to play around with self powering dynamo-ish light kits.

Physics boys, always with the power.

I put a little black dot on the nuts of my all round tuning kits to distinguish them from other similar diabolos.  Does that count?  Also, all the signatures inside the cups might be a giveaway too.

Chiok

[Pete]

My extreme g2 have blue UV/glow in the dark grips Pete. Devilstick handsticks were the donators.

I could only find the blue ones as part of a set of lunastix, not bought separately.

[Myke]

So what if you wanna paint or customize the diabolo itself? More impressive than the sticks it seems to me...

[mofro]

well i have recently created a jazzabolo. a spinb axel and a jazz's cups for all yor concrete bairing needs.

[Aaron Z]

So what if you wanna paint or customize the diabolo itself? More impressive than the sticks it seems to me...

Painting a diabolo seldom works out for people, the paint simply doesn't agree with diabolos in a lot of ways. People have instead used Dyes to color their diabolos, which is the best option IIRC.

Note- Finesses seem to take coloring much better than other diabolos, try drawing on one using water-soluble crayons as a temporary decoration.

^^^ Someone really should try it.

[Myke]

i will.
as soon as i have a finesse...

[Aaron Z]

i will.
as soon as i have a finesse...

Haha, really? I remember when I got my first finesse I had to take it back inside to clean each little grass-mark on it every minute, now I do the same thing with my Flys.

I can't stand seeing new equipment get dirty or damaged, I was devastated when my Flys started getting torn up on my bench corners.

Remember to use water soluble crayons, which will dissolve in water, otherwise you may stain your stuff 

[Myke]

Haha, really? I remember when I got my first finesse I had to take it back inside to clean each little grass-mark on it every minute, now I do the same thing with my Flys.

I can't stand seeing new equipment get dirty or damaged, I was devastated when my Flys started getting torn up on my bench corners.

Remember to use water soluble crayons, which will dissolve in water, otherwise you may stain your stuff 

thanks for the tip
and by the end of this month i will know if i like diabolo enough to buy a good one...
so now the big question...
well i'll go to another topic for that one ^_^