Simple Yoyo Tuning

Yo-Yo Mods and Maintenance
1

To make it smoother and play better overall.

Here are some steps to take

SEAT:
You can clean the bearing seat by getting a tissue, pinching the small metal part that makes up the axle hole and twisting. Not too hard! If you get black grime on the tissue you are doing it correctly.

AXLE:

  • Flip it the other way
  • Cut a small piece of Teflon/Plumbers tape with scissors and wrap about a 3mm wide strip of it around the end of the axle.
  • Loctite the axle using blue loctite on the non-hex side of the axle. Lightly lube the other side, the hex key side, before reassembling. This way the axle always stays in and the yo-yo unscrews from the correct hex key side every time.
  • Change out the axle (might have wrong size axle pre-installed)
  • Twist the axle halfway into the side of the yoyo, leaving a bit of room for the axle to find its sweet spot (@JohnnyJ 's addition)

BEARING:

  • Flip it so it goes into the other half of the yoyo
  • Lube (not too much)
  • Deshield
  • Clean (mineral spirits/lighter fluid)
  • Change and replace (this can actually have a decent effect)

PADS:

  • Replace
  • Try different pads (silicone?)

OTHER:

  • Adjust Tightness
  • Sanding halves on a hand drill… only if you wanna risk it
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2

I am unsure how to change and replace my pads? :face_with_monocle:

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It was a joke, change and replace are synonymous. Thanks though lol

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Great post @noodles, much needed.

I wanna add; sometimes tuning a yoyo can be as simple as screwing the axle into the half the perfect amount.

I know it makes logical sense to screw the axle all the way into the yoyo until it’s snug, but sometimes giving it a little bit of wiggle room and not screwing the axle in tightly helps smooth out a yoyo as well.

Not every yoyo, but it’s made huge differences in a bunch of them for me.

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