I’m using Duncan hornets to practice 2a. I practice probably 2 hours a day for 2 weeks now. My left yo-yo was getting unresponsive. I change strings and add thick lube but it’s no longer as responsive as my right yo-yo. So I swapped bearings to test and the problem transferred to my right hand. That helps because I’m better right handed. But! Is it even possible to kill a responsive bearing like that?
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Try cleaning the bearing before lubing. I have a lot of loopers and play a lot and don’t think I’ve ever really jammed up a bearing. Soak it in acetone or mineral spirits or some other cleaning solvent.
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Hornets I also have found don’t always reassemble the same. Try taking the left one apart and putting it back together a few times to see if you get a better alignment.
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Oh I wonder if I accidentally swapped halves. They’re both identical but I put a sticker on the left one later.
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Little update. I pulled it apart. The axle is locked in , in a way that I couldn’t have swapped halves. The sides would match and be obvious. So I keep messing with this washer, I’ve even sanded it. But I dropped the spacer in without the washer and it fits fine. There’s a step that prevents the spacer from dropping in too far. So I left the washer out completely and now it feels back to normal? So it’s very possible I’m not getting good spacer alignment. I’m just awaiting strings so I can use my new Sochi’s and I ordered some Loop Up’s also. But these are definitely getting me through.
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Feels normal and sleeps when I want it too. So strange, this set up.
Video
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Many players remove the washer from one side to improve response. It closes the gap slightly.
The axle is a pain to remove. I use a vice grip to do it. You definitely need to remove the axle to access the second washer on the other end. A few players will remove both washers but I think most people keep at least one in.
I thought the sticker was like a paint splatter before I recognized it was an upside down dog 
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Loop ups are considered one of the best pair of loopers I sometimes wish I still had some.
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He’s a cute holographic dog. 
Ok well thank you very much for the insight and now I know a little more about tuning. Or at least this specific model.
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Ok so some time later… i removed both shims under the spacers. I run thin looping string from the Yo-yo rewind store. I also ordered some iYo-Yo slackies to try.
Seems like the Duncan Hornet and thin strings don’t mix well.? The response is awful compared to my Sunrise or others. So I haven’t really used them much for two handed because my left hand timing isn’t great so it just hangs out there like I’m doing an around the world.
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Here’s my Sunrise throws. I love these because of the response, which I need at this point. I can’t handle surprise responses at this point lol.
iYo-Yo sunrise.
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Looking awesome!
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I run my Hornets with both washers and I picked up a few Delrin spacers from Yoyomaniax in Japan which seem to smooth out the response a bit. I’m currently using either kitty normal or OTS slim on all my loopers. The Hornets are not my fave but they are consistent enough to be playable.
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So I emailed yoyoexpert a little bit ago and some others have recommended Kitty normal. But are you using white? The blue ones I have to cut down to 29” to get the same loop height as 36” thin string.
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Yes, I cut them down quite a bit. There is Sochi loop string which is pre-cut to a looping length but I’ve been having a hard time finding it in stock in the US, and it’s cut to a looping length but maybe not yours (it’s close enough for me).
I use Kitty Normal in white. My OTS slim is pink.
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White kitty first class normal has given me the best results so far of any string I’ve used. The hardest part is finding a good length and consistently cutting to that length
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I keep a reference string but lots of people also create a jig for tying and cutting.
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Here’s a little just because post. I’m learning hop the fence. Never actually learned this in the past so it’s completely like starting over in looping.
I got a couple sweet 2 handed bangers at the end. It’s only like 20 seconds.