How to make old carbon fiber shaft slick again.
- Thread starter @imei420
- Start date
Synthetic car paint sealer and polish.
any particular brand u used that worked?
Flakeandrun
Well-known member
The blood of your enemies
I don't have any CF products. I do know silicones are the last word in lube. On wood, talcum and grease get buffed in to make that high friction shine. Takes magic eraser and high percentage isopropyl to basically sand it off. What I would try with a CF issue is buying polishing sheets that go from beyond 10,000 grit and come down to maybe 3,000 grit. You just want to get the shine off. Doing that alone would probably kill the vacuum based adhesion. As far as what products, Turtle Wax off the shelf car products from Walmart is what I use on all my shafts.
Ice Seal and Shine - I've used this to seal a new maple shaft. I sprayed on more than recommended, rubbed evenly along the shaft and let it soak in. Did a couple more applications and quit. After daily use it's still blue free and responds readily to magic eraser and isopropyl.
My go to slick coat is Ice Synthetic Liquid Polish. The trick to this one is to never shake the bottle. The solids stay on the bottom and only the liquid (whatever that is) gets applied. Just a drop on a folded paper towel will do a clean shaft.
I tried Ceramic spray coating but the Ice liquid is so far, slicker than everything. IMO it's the solids - especially anything called "wax" that will tack up on you.
Do you play with a glove?
thanks for the in depth suggestions lol. i prefer to play without gloves but im forced to use them these days unfortunately. will def tryout the suggestions
Careful with the sanding is all I can offer about CF. Wet sand gently from finest grit down; stopping frequently to check progress. Consult cue makers as well as the Mfg. They may not agree. The MFG will probably want to work on the shaft themselves. lol.thanks for the in depth suggestions lol. i prefer to play without gloves but im forced to use them these days unfortunately. will def tryout the suggestions
It would be foolish to not ask the maker.
I would not put anything wax related on a carbon shaft. I have some Jacoby Black and Rhino carbon shafts, and while I haven't used the Black shaft much, it is the slickest shaft I have ever felt and doesn't appear to have any coating on it, and I have not done anything to it since buying, to include cleaning of it. It's finish appears to be sanded and dull in looks.
I guess it depends on your shaft, If the Jacoby ever got sticky to where alcohol wouldn't clean it, I wouldn't hesitate to do a very light wet sanding with 2000 or 3000, but on shafts that seem to have a darker look or a shiny look, I'm not sure. If out of warranty, I would probably try a light wet sand.
I guess it depends on your shaft, If the Jacoby ever got sticky to where alcohol wouldn't clean it, I wouldn't hesitate to do a very light wet sanding with 2000 or 3000, but on shafts that seem to have a darker look or a shiny look, I'm not sure. If out of warranty, I would probably try a light wet sand.
cueball2010
Member
I think Predator charges $80 + shipping to refinish CF shafts. I would email Mezz before attempting to sand. You really don't know if there is a coating and the CF walls are what... 1mm thick at best?
Back when Cuetec first introduced coated shafts (fiberglass?), they had a nice, shiny finish. They were also sticky and impossible to play with if you used a closed bridge. The solution was to sand them and make the finish dull. Eventually, Cuetec started doing this at the factory, which they should have done from the start.
It is counterintuitive, but for a stick to slide smoothly on the skin of your hand, you want a slightly rough surface and not a smooth one. That's why the OP has a problem now that his shaft is shiny from wear. And that's why chalk dust is really bad for CF -- it is slightly abrasive and polishes the surface just where it needs to be a little rough.
It is counterintuitive, but for a stick to slide smoothly on the skin of your hand, you want a slightly rough surface and not a smooth one. That's why the OP has a problem now that his shaft is shiny from wear. And that's why chalk dust is really bad for CF -- it is slightly abrasive and polishes the surface just where it needs to be a little rough.
Ever try?
I use Renaissance wax, it can be used on leather, jewelry, paintings, buy the smaller can, you will need very little of it and makes the shaft very slick, I have been using it for the last 2 years, I do use it on my leather wrap, you can find it on Amazon, it does have a strong odor that doesn't last long.
This question does not make sense because there is no such thing as an old carbon fiber shaft.
buy a new one
They are easy to keep clean, chalk dirty sweaty hands will make any shaft dirty......
Paul_#_
Well-known member
Predator does refinish (recharge) shafts for $80 including replacing tip. See photo below from their video showing the refinished shaft duller than shinier shaft sent to them. See https://support.predatorgroup.com/h...06949594-Predator-Repairs-Returns-Information