I usually do this in the lathe to hold the shaft and allow turning. Tear off a small piece of paper towel proportional to the dent and fold into a small wad. Wet with water and apply to the dent. Repeat for all trouble spots and wait five to ten minutes.
Then I use a $15 mini iron from Walmart to press the paper towel and steam the dent out. Lightly sand any raised grain then finish and burnish normally.
Some players seem to age more gracefully than others- like Efren, Parica, Bustamante and Souquet. Earl to an extent as well when his head is on straight. Archer seems to be in a noticeable decline in recent years though.
i guess you werent around better players. ive never ever saw one with any of the rich cues. and never ever heard any good player or in fact anyone says good things about them or even mention them when talking about cues.
ive talked with fats and mosconi about cues when i was younger and more into thinking about great cues. neither mentioned rich cues.
and i have hit many from players that fell for them and none hit well and even the players with them didnt like them.
even when i was down miami way no one played with them. thats why i know little about the miami cues as people did not buy them that were players.
In an interview with Efren, Efren stated He did come to USA with inexpensive $10.00 cue.
In 3rd world where He came from at the time ,was all that was available I suppose
