Great! I have nothing but poly…
Well, there’s a hobby store by my place and they sell cotton yoyo string. I’ll pick up a pack. Thank you for the info, Waylon. I’ll post how it’s going in a couple weeks.
Yeah, I grabbed a 25-er of plain white cotton when I got the Baldwin. I wouldn’t want it thinner unless I was trying to duplicate some complex string tricks in a fixed-axle way. If it doesn’t come back when I tug, I get all “what’s up with this throw?” or “what’s up with this string?” The first few throws on a new cotton string are still like that for me (the loop hasn’t tightened up maybe?) but then it’s smooth sailing.
^^ String is definitely less responsive when it is fresh. I always work on hooks etc. in the first 30 mins, after that it gets much harder to hook or lacerate, but much easier to stall and regenerate.
Uhm… If you’ve only got poly, try it. If the axles are smooth you can often get away with poly. When I first started playing fixed, I just used to use the old strings from my regular 1A yoyos. Cotton is the way to go, for reasons Waylon pointed out, but sometimes you can get away with a lot. Play with what you’ve got and see what happens.
I played for about half an hour today, first time I’ve played in Feb. Hit a few grinds on a mill-end Fremont… I think there’s a lot of room here to develop interesting combos involving grinds, stalls and regens…
Got it. Cold fusion on the Lovejoy. It’s hurried, but it wound up at the end. Bird in hand is also now in the bag, with a BC Rainbow. The only problem is a full weekend with cotton string has burned my fingers up.
Thanks for the advice, frodoslair, but I went ahead and got a pack of 10 cotton strings.
Now, I just need to get the yoyo 
It’s still in transit.
Give me some clues guys. What am I up against? I’ve thrown simple Duncan plastics with fixed axles and I couldn’t do more than a double or nothing into a dead yoyo. Maybe 8 seconds of spin tops. What can I expect from a wood yoyo like the Baldwin?
Well, I can perform tricks like Cold Fusion and some other combos on my Baldwin. I’ve come close to hitting Kamikaze once or twice. Keep in mind, the Baldwin was designed to be very good for stalls rather than long sleeps. Not that it won’t perform well all around.
Woot woot! Landed trapeze stall to brother stall, repeated 2.5 times. That was fun.
I knew you’d get it 
Ok, well, I actually started on loopers, so this might be an interesting challenge. But I never really got to stalls, flips or regens. So this may require more than just a month for me to perfect.
Stalls are pretty easy, at least the basic ones. Regens should be natural to someone who’s been looping. The hard part is putting all that together and making it look cool. That’s the part I can’t do.
Haha, thanks! Next… More of the same plus brush up on picture tricks… A challenge with such short spin time! Practice basic stop-and-go also.
Re your smoothness, I bet it’s better than you let on.
I only very recently got a couple of fixed axle yoyos with wider or flared gaps… I’ve always only had imperial shaped loopers, like the one I use in the video on the first post (page 1).
You’d be surprised at what you can do, you just need to be very smooth and very clean, and keep slack away from the gap. Just a tiny bit and it will snag.
Trying longer string trick combos is completely new for me too…
The thing withfixed (and wood axles especially), is that in order to appear “consistent”, you need to adapt your playing almost constantly. String tension, new string, humidity in the air, etc. can all have quite a big impact on how how a yoyo performs.
I’d love to see Waylon make a video
I busted out an old Duncan Butterfly. Took a bit of throwing to get it so it wasn’t 100% responsive. But now I’m getting some decent spin time. But I can only land trapeze to his brother ONCE before it’s starts to die. I can’t wait for my wood throws to arrive. I’m going to throw my arm out whipping this plastic around ;D
Yeah, Waylon! What Frodoslair said! Make a video.
Attempting to put a wood axle and some weight rings in my butterfly tonight… wish me luck!
I would, but I’m afraid I am completely invisible when I yoyo. Crazy, I know, but I don’t know how to fix it.
However, frodoslair and I would like to give all of you the chance to make some videos and win a small prize or two. The details are forthcoming but I can tell you this - it will be a video essay contest in celebration of Fixed Axle February. Yoyoing skill won’t be a factor
“Fixed” my Baldwin tonight with some CA (super glue) and fine sandpaper (320-grit; wish I had even finer). There were some rough spots from the cuts across the end-grain and this did the trick nicely.
It didn’t strictly need it (hence the quotes around “Fixed”) but I’m happier that the catch zone is consistently smooth. Now when I fail at UFO I can’t blame those patches.
Saw this amazing video (featured in some of the TMBR store listings here) and man was it inspiring:
Fixed-axle play is turning out to be so fun… and addictive…
@Waylon : if there’s one thing I like, it’s the opportunity to not be skilful.
I only very recently got my first Butterfly (not so easy to get in South Africa!). I really love the weight distribution and feel of it - but I am sure it would play so much better with a wooden axle. Good luck with the mod!
So… Before Waylon and I reveal the details for our little contest… what would work for you guys? We were thinking of either doing, a) a video essay contest, where you relate your FAF experiences and throw a few tricks, all on video, OR, b) a written essay where you relate your experiences, coupled with a short trick video that ties in with your essay… Any thoughts??
Did the mod and it doesn’t play very well.
Attempt wood axle butterfly #2 tomorrow… Ill call that first attempt practice.
Does I count if I take out the bearing of my Metal Drifter and then twisted it back together?
Will it be fixed axle that way?