Beginners Journey

General Yo-Yo
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@Mo_Arsh kindly reminded me of today’s anniversary. 2 Years since I came to the forums.

Seems like the perfect excuse for reflection and an update.

Two years ago, I came to the forum with a grand plan to be close to professional by now. My kids would be on their way to Greatness. Through this journey, my priorities have changed. I have no desire to compete, no desire to be the “Best” at any discipline. Kids have decided to remain kids. Play for the Joy! (One of my lessons learned also.)

Can I still be a beginner after 2 Years? Most would have probably progressed to intermediate by now. I on the other hand am very Slow. So I would still consider myself an experienced Beginner now.

My play style through the first year shifted. I thought I needed to be an Unresponsive Machine to validate myself in the community. I am glad I was wrong. I have found my Happy Play Style.

While my trick set is not very deep, I am proud to say I designed my own trick. Based on a Beginner Classic, the Brain Twister. In my preferred style of 0A play now, I came up with a Stalled Brain Twister, I call it the “Brain Fart”.

This has been a very meaningful accomplishment for me.

Another amazing Accomplishment that has transpired is around the community. The creation of an environment for 142 people in the community to have a place to belong. The Yoyo Boomers Club!

In its first Year of existence, the club has done so much. Hosted Events, Donated to Charity, Sponsored a competition, prototyped yoyos, supported individual makers, partnered with companies and supported the community! To say I am proud would be an understatement.

One of the AMAZING values of this club is the people! The online friendships I have made and cherish are astronomical to me. Who would have thought?

I am still working on Kick Flips. I am coming to the realization that my Trapeze Stall needs more consistency to set up for the flip. Zipper stalls have become a favorite past time.

Kids have not progressed much, they play for fun when it hits them.

Yoyo Collection is larger than I would have ever thought. But I have settled on my self-imposed Modern Responsive Yoyo Historian. Along with Fixed Axles in my preferred play style.

I never thought I would have the opportunity to Chat with Yoyo icons, or meet one in person.

For those who have and continue to follow this journey, THANK YOU.

For those who have found and read The Journey for the first time, please feel free to comment or ask any questions.

What an amazing 2 years so far!

Have Fun.

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It’s been fun riding along. :smiley::+1:

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Still one of my favorite threads on the forum. Thank you for sharing Cody!

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you’re a gentleman and a scholar sir, happy 2 yrs and ty for yybc. it’s genuinely a highlight of my day :clap::call_me_hand:

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Love you, man. Keep on doing what you do!

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Time for another update.

Been a busy few Months. The Boomers club pulled off another Fixed Axle February and Modern Responsive March. 2025 was chaotic for a lot of us, but the amazing members made it happen.

The Production Run of the YYBC Workhorse powered by G2 has landed!

What an amazing project to be a part of.

Kids have not been playing string time much at all. But they are available when they feel it.

For me, still working on the elusive Kick Flip. So like anyone that cant do something, I decided to coach. Just Kidding.

I meant to say get coached.

Had a amazing opportunity to meet up with a gentleman many of you may know, or seen in YYBC Event Videos!

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@GnarlyCharlie !!! We had a fun morning that turned into a fun afternoon. He is even cooler than he appears in videos or on the forum.

I politely asked if he could look at my struggles and offer some help. Of course he did. In a short amount of time he was able to notice some inconsistency in my technique. While I did NOT land a kick flip while with him, the consistency has developed quite a bit. The mechanics are there, just need to tie them all together.

Lessons were worth every penny! Some of you may be asking; “How much did Charlie charge you for lessons?”

A true Gentleman never tells… it was $Free.99

We talked a lot about yoyos. Having a in person conversation with some one that knows is amazing. We had a lot of options to throw and discuss also.

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We also Half Swapped our Druid guts. So we each have twins to commemorate the day.

I picked up the next portion of the Beginners Journey while seeing Mr. Charlie.

Beginners Journey Turning Yoyos to come.

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I love this so much! Great to see online friendships grow into in-person friendships.

I’m so stoked to meet some peeps at Northeast Regionals next month.

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Awesome! Cant wait to see what you spin up.

This is an epic meetup for sure. Lucky ducks.

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As soon as I got out of the truck and saw Charlie. “Can I give you a Hug?”

I can’t describe how easy the encounter was (for me). Years of conversation, interactions online, mailing things to each other. It just felt “Right”.

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Beginners Wood Turning Journey - 1

Picked up the Lathe from fellow Boomer Member Gnarly Charlie.

Cleaned off enough of the work bench to set up the Drill Press and cut some pucks.

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Chucked up a puck and gave it a shot. Not knowing what I was doing, I made several errors, resulting in a puck getting launched across the garage.

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So like anyone that doesn’t know what they are doing, I went to YouTube to learn. Watched a video from Mr. Dazzling Dave.

Watching his video, I noticed he had some “Specialized” tools for the 3-piece design. I reached out to him and asked a lot of questions. Like the amazing guy he is, he answered all of them and provided some suggestions.

Next Try went better.

I adjusted my jig, and actually had my tool rest set at the correct height.

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I did notice when I reversed the half on my Jig, it was turning off center. This issue will equal a wobbly yoyo.

So I picked up a 5/16 Blank Drill Steel Rod. I am running it through the Head stock and into the Jacobs Cuck in the Tail stock.
My Goal is to use this as a alignment tool. Lock Rod into Jacobs Cuck. Lock Head stock Jaws. The two points are now centered on each other. Then Lock the Tail stock down to confirm this placement.

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This seems to have helped. I just finished making the new jig. Doesnt seem to have a wobble to it.

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More to come as I keep working the project.

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This is awesome man🙌 keep it up, I wanna see a punisher fixie.

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Jacob’s a what now??

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It’s EXACTLY the same as a Fred… only COMPLETELY different. :thinking:

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I, for one, am excited for new woodturned yo-yos from the head boomer.

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I have 2 models I am working on in my head.

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Will see how it goes.

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I have 3 yo-yos in my head, and no way to make any of them without some design skill/money.

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If you ever need help with the design part I might be able to help for a price! :grin:

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I’m also willing to help with design.

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