How often should one check his/her axis?

Last time I had mine checked was 4 years ago by Mike Jasnau. It was 5 1/8, 1/2" up.

(Prior to that my axis was 5 @ 3/4 up, before that 4 3/4 @ 1" and way earlier than that, I was a spinner   )

Misnomer - strength tends to be less relevant than one realizes in regards to the core

XRJ pretty much my point! Keep it simple in regards to layouts!

Flare management, as an example, would be laying out a full roller...the pin is placed in a position to avoid gripping holes...similar with a 3/4 roll, not only managing flare to avoid gripping holes but managing the total amount of flare necessitated..more is NOT always better
Stronger cores with stronger layouts create instability and uncontrollability...

You can do that (avoid the gripping holes)? I was told that you couldn't get that precise.  I am refering to local pro shop.