I got a tmbr Baldwin for Xmas. It’s rad but it doesn’t spin as true as the other tmbrs in my collection. I can feel that it doesn’t screw together evenly and it doesn’t roll evenly on a table. Anyone know how to tweak it so it does?
Start with the axle. Turn it one quarter turn, then screw the yoyo back together. Repeat until you notice some improvement and keep at it until the yoyo performs to your liking.
If the axle tuning isn’t doing anything for you, I’d recommend weighing each half on a precise scale to make sure they’ve been manufactured properly. If you happen to discover a manufacturing defect, contact TMBR and I’m sure they’ll be more than willing to help you out.
You can’t expect precise weights with TMBR. It’s wood that is hand turned, not CNC’d metal. That said, it is possible that the axle nut is not properly seated and thus, the axle might be at an angle. Try to realign the axle in relation to the two halves as described by nkessler and then contact Colin if it still doesn’t do it for you.
How do I rotate the axle? The wooden sleeve doesn’t budge.
bump
First pull the sleeve off. It’s a tight fit, but it will come off. You can wrap it with a rubberband and then gently twist it in one direction (only) with pliers. Keep them tight enough to grip the rubberband but not hard enough to fracture the thin walnut sleeve or splinter it. It’s delicate so go slowly. Once the sleeve is off, cover the axle threads in duct tape or rubberbands and twist it counterclockwise to loosen. You may be able to free it with your fingers alone. Using pliers is fine, but dont grip the axle so tightly that you damage the threads. If the allen head of the axle is exposed, use an appropriately sized tool to loosen it and disregard the rubberband nonsense. Once you loosen the axle, try to tune it. If you’re not sure how to do that, check out the tuning sticky in the modifications discussion.
Good luck.