3YO3, Landon Balk

was having a chat with Landon(who turns out to be yoking, how dumb am i?), maker of the 3Yo3 Cosmo, and he told me about when he started yoyoing, and how 3Yo3 came about, its not an interview, but a chat and i would like to share this, with Landon's persmission.

Jayson: Hi Landon! have u heard about the SY blog?

Landon: i never actually go to it, but I've seen it linked through YoYoSkills many times, so i'm very familiar with it

Jayson: was wanting to post stuff from 3yo3 but i didn't know the website until just now

Landon: actually, do you remember when you posted pictures of a cold fusion w/ delrin pieces, turning it into a butterfly?

Jayson: uh huh, yeh

Jayson: don't tell me u did those?!

Landon: i actually saw that & thought it was really cool, & made some myself... it vibed, but worked, i just never got around to perfecting it

Landon: i didn't invent it lol, but i totally copied

Jayson: oh haha, but its still cool

Jayson: making something from scratch

Jayson: i dig that mod

Landon: ya I really enjoy it

Landon: you know all the 3yo3 stuff is made completely by hand?

Jayson: yea i figured

Jayson: most acrylic stuff are handmade right?

Jayson: and u can make so many of it, its crazy

Landon: Ya! Eric Wolf was doing it years ago, that's where I got the idea in 2004, & when i made my first acrylic yoyo

Landon: i'm gonna give you my whole story if you don't mind?
----- here comes the info -----

Landon: back in '97 when the US had it's yoyo boom is when I got into it. I stuck with it on & off,learning up to like split the atom & stuff. Then in like 2000 I found out about all the tricks & forums availble online

Landon: so I learned more stuff- cold fusion, spirit bomb, etc. in about 2002 I saw people modding- turning wheels to bearing, changing bearings, etc, & they were using simple stuff like drills & dremels

Landon: well i've always been mechanical minded, so I ate this up! I did some cool stuff, put YYJ weight rings in non YYJ yoyos, made stuff bearing, etc, but it wasn't never "lathe good"

Landon: by 2004, when i turned 16, I got a metal lathe for my birthday, the one i've got now. I messed around with it a bit, made quite a few wood yoyos, a few delrins & a few acrylics, but for the most part it always vibed HORRIBLY, like 1 in every 2 yoyos, and at the time it was taking me about 3 hours per yoyo, so i'd get done & have all this time invested, & nothing to show for it

Landon: the lathe kinda didn't get used until 2009, around january. i made it my new years resolution to try making yoyos again, & to get www.landonbalk.com, my site which i also got for that birthday in 2004 back up to speed

Landon: I had ALOT more patience then, & a vast amount more knowledge on why stuff would go wrong. I made a few acrylic & delrin yoyos, & brought them to the FL state yoyo contest, yoyoguy was here, & I asked if they'd want to buy some @ wholesale... to my surprise, they were more than happy to! they asked what my company was called, & the names of my models... I came up with "3yo3" naming it after the synth, the Roland TB-303, & the model names at the time (Cosmo, Luce, Savanna) were all named after rotary mazdas that never came to the states, or came under a different name

Landon: I went home after the contest, & made the first cosmo, which differed from the very first acrylic yoyo i'd made in 2009 slightly, i'll find a pic of it

Landon:  
Landon: that's really the inspiration to the cosmo, note the only difference is how the rims were razor thin
Jayson: oh wow, this is so infomative!

Jayson: can i like, post the writeup on the blog?

Landon: ya man definitely! I'd love for people who find this interesting to read it

Landon: But ya that's the story of 3yo3, it's been a blast so far, & i don't plan on stopping any time soon, as we speak i've got 64 orders that i have to make, & i'm sure before I can finish all those more will be piled on... For future plans I hope to come out with something different by my standards, a CNC machined metal... right now i think it's just going to be aluminum, but i'd like to venture into another material world, just to be different... we'll see!

Jayson: is it the metal one that was posted on yyn forum?

Landon: nah, that's too plain shaped haha

Landon: i made that one by hand- if i'm doing CNC i want curvatures

Landon: oh, ya! i should mention that, all my yoyos are strait lines because they're hand made, & it's almost impossible to get curves w/o special techniques on a hand metal lathe. The rounded edges at the corners are there from either forming tools, filing & or sanding

Jayson: u're crazy....

Landon: =P hahaha

Jayson: oh hey, are 3Yo3 yoyos only available through YYG? is there like a contract/verbal agreement or something? any chance it'll hit our local store here?
----- there, i've asked on your behalf, guys! -----

Landon: no actually! What is your guys local store I'll have to send some to them-
----- !!! guys guys guys, aren't u happy to hear this?! -----

Jayson: its SPINWORKX.com

Jayson: i'll talk to the person in-charge.

Landon: ok, cool definitely. please please please let him know that i've got all those orders left, & can only work on them on weekends, so it will be a few months before i'd get around to his stuff

Jayson: yep sure!

Jayson: i hope your yoyos goes to every country!

Landon: thanks.

so, for those who love to get the 3Yo3 yoyos, keep your finger crossed.
XD