Shaft Dent Help

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DGHustles

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So I have a small dent in the shaft of my Prather sneaky pete. Its not big or anything but just wondering what you all do to get rid of these pesky things.

I was thinking of when I am at Super Billiards just getting a cuemaker to shave it down just a tad and voila, no more dent. That a good idea?

Thanks for the input
 
DGHustles said:
So I have a small dent in the shaft of my Prather sneaky pete. Its not big or anything but just wondering what you all do to get rid of these pesky things.

I was thinking of when I am at Super Billiards just getting a cuemaker to shave it down just a tad and voila, no more dent. That a good idea?

Thanks for the input
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Small dents give it character! However, you could try wrapping it with a moist piece of paper towel and then apply some heat on the dent.
 
I have a piece of glass that when you rub on a shaft, the dent comes out. I forget the name, but you can get it from Mueller's or any of the venders at the SBE. My 6 year old dropped his cue and put two BIG dings in it, and I was able to buff them out with this piece of glass. The cue repair guys will charge you $20 or so and get it out too. I think they use a wet rag, and then spin the shaft so it heats up and the dent raises up. Something like that.
 
metallicane said:
I have a piece of glass that when you rub on a shaft, the dent comes out. I forget the name, but you can get it from Mueller's or any of the venders at the SBE. My 6 year old dropped his cue and put two BIG dings in it, and I was able to buff them out with this piece of glass. The cue repair guys will charge you $20 or so and get it out too. I think they use a wet rag, and then spin the shaft so it heats up and the dent raises up. Something like that.
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a shot glass will work too :thumbup:
 
metallicane said:
I have a piece of glass that when you rub on a shaft, the dent comes out. I forget the name, but you can get it from Mueller's or any of the venders at the SBE. My 6 year old dropped his cue and put two BIG dings in it, and I was able to buff them out with this piece of glass. The cue repair guys will charge you $20 or so and get it out too. I think they use a wet rag, and then spin the shaft so it heats up and the dent raises up. Something like that.
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I dont think the glass takes out dents,it just makes them longer or more tapered out so they are not as noticable
 
This will work well on any small dent. Warm up your clothes iron, put a wet piece of paper towel on the dent, then put the iron on the wet paper towel for about 30 to 60 seconds. Take a look at the shaft and see if the dent is gone - if not, then repeat the procedure. To eliminate the grain raised while "steaming" the dent, use a very fine sandpaper, fine steel wool, etc. Burnish well with a leather burnisher. This procedure has always worked very well for me. Good luck on the dent removal.
 
Dip the corner of a wash cloth in boiling water then press the wet cloth against the dent. Repeat several times until the dent is gone. Finish with fine sandpaper and a burnish. The dent will be gone but there will be a slightly dark spot where the dent used to be.
 
I have taken out 100's of dings working at the pool room. Heres my method.

1> rough up the area of the ding with 400 sand paper. If you don't open the grain...the next step won't work.

2> for small dings...wet a small piece of paper towel and place over the ding for about 1/2 an hour. For bigger dings set a drop of water directly on the ding.

3> after the grain rises and the ding puffs out to even with the rest of the shaft...you need to smooth it out. I use scotch brite pads, or progressively higher number sand paper like 400/600/1000....then to steel wool, then finish with a leather burnisher.

note: when sanding the shaft, don't stay in one spot too long....blend in the whole area.

Thats it man.....good luck,

G.
 
Go to your local thrift store and buy a steampot, you know the kind that whistle and shoot a stream of steam out. Hold the dent over the stream of steam for a few seconds, then burnish the shaft. They come right out as long as they're not too deep.
 
Here's What needs To Be Done...I've been Doing This For Forty taers

Okay...here's what to do...."lightly sand the dent with 1200-14=500 grit sandpaper to remove any oils, dirt, etc. Get a steam kettle and bring it to a boil....hit the dent with steam holding the dent in the steam coming off the kettle for 15-20 secs duration ....quickly dru the shafty and see how mjuch is any hgas raised,,,,,you may need to do this 4-5 times....on big dnets, I've actually done this 20-25 times over 3-4 days letiing the cue wait 15-20 mins before doing it again.

After the woiod has raised as mucgh as possible, I sand the cue using 2000 grit sandpaper....nothing but duist comes off the cue with this fine grit....rub the entire cue shaft not just the tretade area.....then....and this is the most important step...I wax the cue using "Craftsman Cue Wax" I get directly from Craftsman Cues in Birmingham, England. I order 60=-7 cans at a time because of the shipping cost which is as much as the cue wax. I started using catrnuba wax 40 years, and since then I've tried dozens of cue waxes inclusing Cue Dr, RX, Cue Slick etc. Not on eof these other products comes close to the smooth, longer lasting finish I obtain using Craftsman Cue wax....It's absolutely the very best cue wax to use and it's needed after steaming the shaft or lightly sanding it.

I refinish shafts for all my buddies and I'll put my technique up against anyone else's approach....with the Craftsman Cue wax, the final finish is like satin...completely smooth and slippery in a tight closed bridge....can't do better than that.

Matt
 
Gerry said:
I have taken out 100's of dings working at the pool room. Heres my method.

1> rough up the area of the ding with 400 sand paper. If you don't open the grain...the next step won't work.

2> for small dings...wet a small piece of paper towel and place over the ding for about 1/2 an hour. For bigger dings set a drop of water directly on the ding.

3> after the grain rises and the ding puffs out to even with the rest of the shaft...you need to smooth it out. I use scotch brite pads, or progressively higher number sand paper like 400/600/1000....then to steel wool, then finish with a leather burnisher.

note: when sanding the shaft, don't stay in one spot too long....blend in the whole area.

Thats it man.....good luck,

G.
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Tap Tap Tap, this is nearly the same way I have done dent removal for 30 years.
I have had some success by removing impurities over the dented area with a cue tip and alcohol instead of the sanding method, but I have done it both ways.

I have never worked in a pool room but my wife has a habit of hitting me in the head with my cues from time to time.:p

Pointed head = shaft dents.:embarrassed2:
 
For small dents the Cue Doctor Dent Buffer works great. Its a glass rod and can be gotten for just a few dollars. Similar tools have been a traditional piece of equipment that professional restorers of violins and other fine wood art have used. Ozone Billiards has them in stock.
 
My shaft does not have any wax or a finish coat on it therefore, it's very simple to remove dents. Just make a small spit ball from tissue the size of the dent, moisten it and lay it on the dent. Check it about every 30 minutes and re-moisten if the dent hasn't raised but usually will be out in 30-60 minutes. Then, sand and burnish as other have mentioned. If it has a coating may need to use a steam iron over it, just cover the shaft and leave the dent exposed and steam it for a few seconds.
 
My steps below assume that you also want to clean up the shaft as a whole, and if not you can just follow the same steps but just localized to the area of the dent.

1) I first clean my cue shaft completely of dirt, chalk, oil, etc...

2) I then go over the shaft lightly with a scotch pad.

3) I dip a drop or two of luke-warm water onto the dent and let it soak in for a few minutes, this raises the wood. Don't use exessive amounts of water, just enough to affect the surface of the dent, clean up any excess water with a napkin or towel.

4) Use the towel again to try to soak any excess water from the dent, just dab it, don't rub it. Then take a beer or glass soda bottle, find a smooth spot on the bottle and rub that smooth spot over the dent, rubbing it back and forth with light to moderate pressure... Just like you are sanding. As you rub it with the bottle will generate heat and dry out the wood and the pressure will smooth out the raised wood. If the dent is deep you should feel it reduced, and will have to repeat steps 3 and 4 again.

5) Once all the dents are out, you can use the bottle to go over the entire length of the shaft with moderate pressure, and this will effectively burnish it and close-up the grain. I like it more than burnishing with leather. Again, moderate pressure, you're not trying to kill the wood.

A couple notes...

Learn how to take out dents on a crap cue first, so that you can get a feel for it. It's not hard to take out a dent, but it takes a little bit of time to get a feel for it... Fortunately as pool players we are good at things require a certain touch, so it should come to you quick :)

With this method I've had a lot of success removing dents, and I do just as well as my friend does with steam. I don't mind steam, but it seems like a lot of work, and as I understand it modern LD shafts use water-based glue which is NOT something you want to expose to steam.

This method does not just spread the dent out, it actually raises out the dent to get rid of it; somtimes it may take 3 or 4 tries for a deeper dent, and then there are some dents which are never coming out because they are too deep, but the glass can at least smooth those out so you don't feel them so much.

You can use a shot glass instead of a bottle. But I noticed that if the glass is too smooth it doesn't work as well, so I prefer bottles as they have really minor irregularites.

Make sure you are not using a part of the bottle/glass that has a seam, is pitted, or has a scratch... This will scratch the shaft wood and will just cause more work. Just find a decent smooth area with no label, paint, or ink and make sure the area is large enough in-case the bottle rotates or moves around.

This will not work if you have a factory coating over your shaft... I've seen some production shafts that have a thin coating of some type, brushed or sprayed on, that blocks out water, dirt, etc... for the purposes of storage and shipping. That coating needs to be removed first, but I think most people who are aware of it usually sand it off when they get their cue. Also, some shafts, like Cuetec, are fiberglass laminated and I seriously doubt this method will ever work on such wrapped shafts.

Remember, whatever method you choose you use first, practice on a crap shaft first.
 
I take a washcloth, get it wet, wring it out really well and microwave it for 30 seconds. Then I roll it up tight and wrap it around the shaft over the dent for 30 seconds...check and repeat, if necessary. You may have to nuke the rag if it cools before you get the dent out. Then dry the shaft very well and run a scotch brite or fine sandpaper maybe 4 or 5 times over the area that got damp. Finish with burnish pad or apply Q-Silk, if that's your preference. Works like a champ and is super easy. I've done it a hundred times, damn those low-slung lights!:thumbup:
 
I dont think the glass takes out dents,it just makes them longer or more tapered out so they are not as noticeable.
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Most correct. But yes, if you want to do it this way, a shot glass works and for that matter, the edge of a Bic lighter will do the same. If you have time in between games, a wet bandage will pop a dent quickly before your next game. Most of us keep a bit of sand paper in our cases anyway. I know how it is when you ding an over head light and it always puts a dent right where your bridge hand goes. No matter what, that dent needs to go before the night is over, right. Or only if you're as anal about it as myself. HA!

The wet bandage is one of the best methods and using the tip of your iron
can make it work even better. If you have a small hobby soldering iron, you can use that too.

Steam can be dangerous so don't be over zealous. I use a steam gun but I use it more often so it was worth my while to buy one.

One thing I'd like to mention is that you don't want to use steam if you are taking a dent out of a laminated shaft such as a Predator.
Heat is glues worst enemy. A wet bandage is the way to go with a Lam shaft. If the dent is too big, the best way is to fill it in. Sometimes thats your only option. I apologize for being a bit anal when it come to giving advice like this. Its like the guy who suggested using Acetone on your shaft. Yes, Acetone can be used to clean your shaft, I know a well respected member here that recommended it to me. I haven't tried it yet but I trust him. Just remember too, Acetone is the one chemical that will absolutely melt CA glue, so not recommended on Laminated shafts either. I use it mainly to get CA off my clumsy fingers.

If you are going to use a kettle, fold a little tin foil over the spout of the kettle. You just need to poke one or maybe two small pin holes in the foil. That way, you will get a smaller more concentrated stream coming out.
Easier than steaming a larger area that you don't want the steam on.
Less is more doing this. A little at a time and feel for the dent. If it needs more steam then do it. Like I said, don't be over zealous with the heat.

Sorry, I just made a JB post. Please forgive me.
 
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put 1 inch of water in a pot and wrap the top tight with aluminum foil. poke a pin hole in the center of the foil and turn the stove top on to start the water boiling. when the steam comes out of the pinhole put the ding/dented area of the shaft in the steam to swell the wood back to its original shape.
 
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