Thank you. 
I’ll keep that in mind.
I’d go with an Irving or Irving pro, but believe it or not I find my Irving to play better then the pro with less snagging and longer sleep times.
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Im asking for a freemont for christmas i dont really want to spend to much moey on this i just want to try it out.
AXle in my irving just broke, now I will be few weeks without any fixed axle throw. 
Nice additions, L.J. Any chance we could see a profile shot of the Baldwin?
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That’s a great looking shape! Thanks for posting the pics!
Beautiful yoyos!
I try to stay away from wooden yoyos because whenever I throw my Irving, I get hurt.
If you know someone with a lathe it’s relatively easy to drill it out and install a new axle. It can be done on a drill press if you are able to center the pieces.
There is a nice looking yoyo at my local antique shop.I’m buying it if it’s still there.
The Baldwin is wider than I thought it would be. Now I kinda want one. This is precisely why I have to give myself a yoyo allowance. Right now though, I’m getting a back up Duncan Tournament for Edcember and waiting on the eh to drop. Then I’ll get some more TMBR. February is going to be fun. I hope lots of videos get posted.
I found this link while researching drill mandrels:
http://www.woodturningonline.com/Turning/Turning_content/make_a_ball_bearing_yo-yo.pdf
Anyone know what has become of this guy? I haven’t heard his name in some time.
This is a question for the more experienced wood throwers: What is the best way to break in an axle? I know that some people suggest the string wrap ripcord “burn in,” but I didn’t know whether there was another method that’s a little better? My preferred method is just to play a particular yoyo with lots of sleepers, but perhaps I’m missing out on some sweet trick.
I’ve always just done the ripcord break-in… but I feel like playing the yoyo seems to produce a better result - it just DOES take longer though…
my $0.02
you’ve got to be careful with pretty much every way. both the ripcord and the long sleeper method CAN irrevocably mess up axles if you do them too hard with thin string. if you do ripcords, i wouldn’t recommend doing more than 2 wraps before pulling.with my hemlock axles, i usually do a few of those with thick type ten string and then do a few :30 sleepers. then just play it in. since going to an all-wood diet, i’ve noticed that breaking in really continues throughout the life of an axle. the goal is to maximize that sweet spot in the middle of its life. i also tend to get better results if i use pretty positive string tension for the first 20m or so. it really depends on the axle though - a russell is going to take a lot more love than a tmbr’s walnut axle, which is super low maintenance.
Axle break in - I use some thick packaging string we’ve had around for a long time. It’s white cotton (I believe), about 1/16 in. thick. I wrap it around the axle a couple of wraps, leaving about 10 inches on either side to hold on to. Then I pull it back and forth a few times.
How would you describe the play of a non-broken in axle? A broken in axle? A “messed up” axle? How can I tell if an axle is past its lifespan? Thanks!
Here are the first three butterfly mods. As you can see, they are pretty rough, but in terms of ranking, I’m liking the orange one’s mix of weight orings and rubber washers best. The combination gives it an even but slightly rim-heavy distribution. The green one has almost no center mass and just a large drain sealing oring in each hub. The blue one is mostly stock with a wooden axle to compare the weight more accurately. I wish that the halves were a little straighter, but that is the nature of the beast when working with these yoyos. This weekend I’ll hopefully have some time to make a couple more. The axles are holding up great and make these much nicer than stock. They are all very smooth with the expected hum. No wobble and very light vibrations.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8206153907_ba15aa8453_z.jpg