In January, I released the AKURA MG, a yoyo made from Magnesium. This material has a very low density and I talked about how it performs more like a plastic than anything else. But what made that yoyo really special is the aesthetic. I loved the lines on that yoyo. The proportions with the chunky rims were just perfect. One of the biggest aesthetic challenges though were that after the ceramic coating the lines were quite subtle which hid the design.
I set off with this concept to create a model that carried this design but with two goals in mind - highlight the unique ring design and to keep the proportions. Originally I wanted to make this model as a full aluminum yoyo but I quickly realized that going back to developing a Ti-7068 would just make it perform a lot better. This decision made the second part much more difficult - keeping the proportions.
As mentioned, Magnesium is super light, so the large chunky rims would make a yoyo like this way too heavy. I played around with the diameter slightly going for a more conventional 56mm size - but it was still not enough. The rim would become too thin and just looked like a generic yoyo from other available brands. I prototyped a few more and just didn’t find the proportions that good.
I developed the Fluid Print Dynamics Yoyos with holes back in 2014. I would 3D print yoyos with actual holes in them and see them before I started Luftverk. This thought popped into my head as an option to create a super thick chunky rim and just machine a hole inside.
You can see the cross section here. The Hole looks pretty significant but I can assure you the body has plenty of power.
In hindsight it is essentially a capped yoyo with such a big pocket of air. The ring sits beautifully flush so no one would actually know. With this pocket it feels slightly less rim weighted and actually plays similar to a yoyo with a double wall feature. The concave meniscus is highlighted with the parting of the machined titanium ring and the aluminum body.
The unique blue I chose took some trial and error but the green is directly lifted from the R34 Skyline “Millennium Jade” which I have also run in titanium before. Only a few of the silver and raw ones were made as A Grade - so I expect those will be the first to sell out.
The example shown here of the “Millennium Jade” which was first featured on a Triple Zero back in 2017. Blow is a nice comparison shot of the blasted AKURA vs the raw uncoated aluminum one:
Overall this was a pretty simple fun project of mine so I apologize if this blog is a bit short - Luckily somehow avoided any manufacturing hiccups. It has been a while since I have created a yoyo with this brutalist design language - something I think that has been missing in the recent years. I also wanted something I could work on while taking a break between the last plastic release and the Christmas season. To everyone thank you for your continued support. Crazy to think next year will be 10 years of Luftverk…
AKURA TI-7068 will be available on September 29th, 2024 10:00pm EST. AKURA TI-7068
Its wild to think that the Fulvia design is now 8 years old - originally released in 2016. This design was developed in titanium with the pursuit of rim weight and stability. So much has changed since then. 2024 was an interesting year with the challenges of moving to a new country while maintaining releases. Not many people realize but I often prototype yoyos for myself and they just never get released. Often they join the rotation of throws I have on the shelf, which never make it to production. The monometal 000 and Fulvia was exactly that - prototypes that I submited earlier this year that just never ended up making it to production.
Been a long time since I released much. A lot of things have been going on behind the scenes but a lot of it has to due with either financial or business legal stuff. Both that are not as interesting as I would hope but is definitely necessary going forward. I actually prototyped the initial plastic Stelvia design way earlier on in 2023, but only picked up working on it again at the start of this year.
It has been a while since Ive written much - the second half of 2023 was insanely busy with project management. Since the release of the plastic lineup, I had very little time to focus on the roots of what made Luftverk so exciting. I realized this was a huge problem - I needed to guide Luftverk back to it's roots of exploring new materials and build product lineups that told a story stemmed from exploration. I had done this with plastics last year but in 2024 I would like to also focus back onto some more products that use exotic materials. While being incredibly late to the party this recent project is Luftverk's first Magnesium ever, which was at first canceled and almost never released.
Jeffrey Pang
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