I have a Tom Kuhn Lightning yoyo, it’s all wood with the wooden axle glued in, I was just wondering what and how I can look after the axle, because it’s starting to look the slightest bit shiny, and play a little unresponsive unless I double wrap the axle.
It’s supposed to get shiny. That’s called breaking it in.
That’s the nirvana of wood axles.
Double wrap the axle if that’s what you need.
2 Likes
Not sure if you are having the same issue, but I too have some woods that simply became too unresponsive after breaking in where you cannot find a consistent response worth playing with. I have a BC Phantom that plays unresponsive, for example. It plays stupid awful with a double wrap and is pointless. There is no happy medium with this yoyo. The gap is larger than my other Phantom/Lightnings and was simply a mistake in my opinion.
I also have a couple of TMBR axles that just won’t respond so I got replacements and everything is cherry. Then there is my Baldwin. Even with a gap so tight that rubs against the string and one NEW Duncan friction sticker, its still hard to get to return.
That said, my Lightning and Apollo collection is growing and out of 7 so far (waiting on 4 more Apollos), all but one have given me acceptable response that I can work around.
Also, one of my OUT Pocket Loves has become on the loose side and depending on weather, I will get zero response or some response. I even modified one of my Pocket Loves so that I could adjust the gap, but when the weather gets a certain way out here in the desert this yoyo acts a fool.
Conclusion: Wood is an inconsistent medium if you are expecting precise consistency and that could be the problem, or like my BC Phantom, it may have just been put together without the right gap set properly.
Sorry PAPO, I don’t have a solution. Just wanted to share my similar experience so that you don’t go crazy thinking you are bad at fixed axle yoyo and give up. 
It’s meant to be a 2A/ Looping yoyo, so it’s not mean’t to be unresponsive 
@SloppyBinds: no worries, also I already know I’m crazy, but not with this, I’ve seen mentions of wooden axle maintenance but any time I try to search for anything all I find is how to replace the axle on take apart wood.
I’m not sure if it can be taken apart or not as I’m not familiar with the yoyo, but a fairly simple solution if it can be is to take a bit of sand paper to the axle. Just sand the axle a little shorter until the gap is the size you would like. And that’s honestly the beauty of working with wood. The inconsistencies and never quite knowing how a piece will turn out until it’s finished is what makes it such a great medium.
I know that, and my answer still stands.
People strive for a smooth axle.
I have a bunch of them.
it’s glued, so no it can’t be taken apart
Thicker cotton string and tighter string tension will help, inside, outside loops.