What is the proper way a cuemaker would remove dents from a shaft?

I Got Lucky

I Got Lucky

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a Mezz WX700 that has a few dents in the wood right where my bridge hand is and I would like to have them removed the proper way. When I ask some local cuemakers how they would remove the dings, what answers should I be looking for? What questions should I ask?

Thanks in advance
 
Steam is my preferred method.
Sanding and those "dent removal tools" create a flat spot.
My 2 cents,
Gary
 
This is just the way that I do it. I start by thoroughly cleaning the shaft. This removes the dirt and somewhat open the pores of the wood. Then I use steam to remove most of the dents. If there are really deep dents that have cut or broken the fiber of the wood then some of these may need to be filled and smoothed. Hope this helps,

Todd
 
tsp&b said:
This is just the way that I do it. I start by thoroughly cleaning the shaft. This removes the dirt and somewhat open the pores of the wood. Then I use steam to remove most of the dents. If there are really deep dents that have cut or broken the fiber of the wood then some of these may need to be filled and smoothed. Hope this helps,

Todd
Click to expand...

I agree. I get the steam source by a much different source however. I learned this trick many years ago from My ex-partner Sherm. It really works well and I've removed literately thousands of dents in this manner very quickly. I'm about out of the business so I'll pass it along.

1st as tsp&b states clean the shaft and then I spray some ammonia onto the dent and then I wrap a thicker piece of leather around the shaft and with the lathe spinning the shaft I put pressure with my fingers and rub the leather back and forth along the shaft. depending on how deep the dent is you may have to apply the ammonia more than once.

Don't hold the leather in one place to long as you may char the shaft. Back when I used to do tournaments I would sometimes rap a shaft on a corner or such so that it left a real good dent and then I would remove it in this manner. This only works if the fibers are not cut as has been explained in the previous post.

I believe Sherm used water to raise the dent but I've always used ammonia as it evaporates quicker and cleans that part of the shaft very well.

Dick
 
Dents

Depends on how big the dents are and how big of a hurry I am in .

big big dents and not in a hurry I use a wet band aid , I use a eye dropper to wet it or keep it wet.
I will leave the band aid on for a week normally .


small dents I steam out..
 
Rinse, steam (as many times as it takes) sand, burnish, seal.
This method works fine for me, I've removed some serious dents that way.
If its really, really deep, the steam method might not work.
Then I raise the wood as much as I can, rinse the are real good and use superglue to remove the dent.
I let the glue dry, sand and burnish.
You might still see the dent, but you want feel it.
 
Quick easy way is to take a sponge that you use in the kitchen and dampen it. While the shaft is spinning squeeze where the dent is and hold pressure and the dent pops out pretty fast. This works when you dont have your steamer with you.
 
Depending on the dent, you may not need a cue repair person with steam or a lathe. Try this first:

• Take the corner of a small piece of sandpaper and lightly rough-up just the dent -- just kind of removing anything sealing the wood.

• Place the shaft flat on a table, cabinet, floor, or whatever -- with the dent facing up.

• Place one drop of water in the dent.

• Check it after a while (10 min. or more or less, not critical) to see if the dent has risen at all.

• Repeat, if necessary. This has worked for me many times. You can burnish the shaft afterwards.

• Resort to one of the more involved methods if the simple drop-of-water approach has failed.
 
AtLarge said:
Depending on the dent, you may not need a cue repair person with steam or a lathe. Try this first:

• Take the corner of a small piece of sandpaper and lightly rough-up just the dent -- just kind of removing anything sealing the wood.

• Place the shaft flat on a table, cabinet, floor, or whatever -- with the dent facing up.

• Place one drop of water in the dent.

• Check it after a while (10 min. or more or less, not critical) to see if the dent has risen at all.

• Repeat, if necessary. This has worked for me many times. You can burnish the shaft afterwards.

• Resort to one of the more involved methods if the simple drop-of-water approach has failed.
Click to expand...

I recommend that you use hot water for this, the results are a bit faster and better. I usually use steam though as a better resource.
Dave
 
rhncue said:
I agree. I get the steam source by a much different source however. I learned this trick many years ago from My ex-partner Sherm. It really works well and I've removed literately thousands of dents in this manner very quickly. I'm about out of the business so I'll pass it along.

1st as tsp&b states clean the shaft and then I spray some ammonia onto the dent and then I wrap a thicker piece of leather around the shaft and with the lathe spinning the shaft I put pressure with my fingers and rub the leather back and forth along the shaft. depending on how deep the dent is you may have to apply the ammonia more than once.

Don't hold the leather in one place to long as you may char the shaft. Back when I used to do tournaments I would sometimes rap a shaft on a corner or such so that it left a real good dent and then I would remove it in this manner. This only works if the fibers are not cut as has been explained in the previous post.

I believe Sherm used water to raise the dent but I've always used ammonia as it evaporates quicker and cleans that part of the shaft very well.

Dick
Click to expand...

I too use a similar method as this with one minor variation. I spray water onto a folded paper towel that I'm holding with the leather as any dies on the leather may be transferred to the shaft, along with the fact that I find less burnishing occurs with the paper towel.

I don't want to burnish the shaft with the leather until after I'm sure that the dent has been removed and then I can work on sealing the pores of the wood again.
 
I spin the shaft and lightly sand with 220 to open the grain and remove hand oil and some of the chalk.

Then I wash it with a double folded paper towel while I spray and soak it with 409 bathroom cleaner. I go up and down the shaft slowly 3 or 4 times,

Then I immediately dry it with a heat gun. Go up and down the spinning shaft to get it hot and dry.

Most of the grain will stand up and most dents will come out...

Sand it with 220 lightly and apply sealer.

Dry the sealer with a heat gun.

Sand length wise with 600 holding the paper on it to sand and then burnish it smooth.........

wax it

takes about 10 minutes

Kim
 
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