Dented my shaft at the worst time

[SSDiver2112]

It was league night Tuesday and I managed to get there 30 minutes early to get warmed up. The place was nearly empty with no one on any of the eight 9 foot Gold Crowns in the place. Got a beer and started knocking the balls around. All was good until disaster struck.

They have a low plush industrial carpet on the floor and I let the cue bumper touch the floor just as I moved my foot forward. The cue's butt abruptly dug in the the carpet and my foot pushed the cue out of my hand. Then came the desperate grab at the air. Instead of the hopeful landing on the softer carpet it went straight for the edge of the table with a loud crack in the quiet bar. Red faced I picked up my cue to assess the damage. Those tables have a sharp 90 degree metal trim that is far less forgiving than my shaft. Not only did it badly dent the shaft, but because my foot was pushing against it double tapped a second dent.

The dents were around 6 inches from the ferrule, so they were right at the common bridge point and I didn't have a spare. I was pissed at myself for being so careless and was thinking that I probably permanently ruined the shaft. It was hard to push that out and focus on the game, especially when I would feel it hit my finger and have to rotate the cue.

The next day I looked up ways to fix a dent in the cue and found lots of suggestions. Many from AZB. Sorry I did not have the foresight to take before and after pictures. It would have been a great comparison because the first dent even broke the fibers somewhat. This is what I did to fix it. The shaft is a Pechauer Pro Plus shaft. I used Q-tips to apply water on the dents and left the wet Q-tips resting on the dents for an hour. It was noticeably better but still pretty bad. I repeated for a tiny improvement. To get the rest of the dents out I put a small piece of folded wet paper towel over the dents and rubbed a hot curling iron over the wet paper towel. After rewetting and repeating a few times the dents were gone. I then used an alcohol pad to help evaporate any residual moisture and let it sit for a couple hours. Then I used a Qwiz to smooth out any raised fibers and burnished it with the leather side. It's a miracle. I had my doubts because of how deep the dents were, but I saved my shaft to play another day.

 

[lfigueroa]

It was league night Tuesday and I managed to get there 30 minutes early to get warmed up. The place was nearly empty with no one on any of the eight 9 foot Gold Crowns in the place. Got a beer and started knocking the balls around. All was good until disaster struck.

They have a low plush industrial carpet on the floor and I let the cue bumper touch the floor just as I moved my foot forward. The cue's butt abruptly dug in the the carpet and my foot pushed the cue out of my hand. Then came the desperate grab at the air. Instead of the hopeful landing on the softer carpet it went straight for the edge of the table with a loud crack in the quiet bar. Red faced I picked up my cue to assess the damage. Those tables have a sharp 90 degree metal trim that is far less forgiving than my shaft. Not only did it badly dent the shaft, but because my foot was pushing against it double tapped a second dent.

The dents were around 6 inches from the ferrule, so they were right at the common bridge point and I didn't have a spare. I was pissed at myself for being so careless and was thinking that I probably permanently ruined the shaft. It was hard to push that out and focus on the game, especially when I would feel it hit my finger and have to rotate the cue.

The next day I looked up ways to fix a dent in the cue and found lots of suggestions. Many from AZB. Sorry I did not have the foresight to take before and after pictures. It would have been a great comparison because the first dent even broke the fibers somewhat. This is what I did to fix it. The shaft is a Pechauer Pro Plus shaft. I used Q-tips to apply water on the dents and left the wet Q-tips resting on the dents for an hour. It was noticeably better but still pretty bad. I repeated for a tiny improvement. To get the rest of the dents out I put a small piece of folded wet paper towel over the dents and rubbed a hot curling iron over the wet paper towel. After rewetting and repeating a few times the dents were gone. I then used an alcohol pad to help evaporate any residual moisture and let it sit for a couple hours. Then I used a Qwiz to smooth out any raised fibers and burnished it with the leather side. It's a miracle. I had my doubts because of how deep the dents were, but I saved my shaft to play another day.

In my experience, it will help speed the repair if you microwave some water to boiling and then dip the Q-tip in and apply to the dent.

I have gotten some world class dings out that way.

Lou Figueroa

 

[brigeton]

I've never dented mine but stuff happens. Last year I was at a bar tournament and a guy was swinging his cue back and forth as he walked holding the cue by the shaft. The butt hit the floor on the forward swing and snapped the shaft completely in half.

 

[David in FL]

In my experience, it will help speed the repair if you microwave some water to boiling and then dip the Q-tip in and apply to the dent.

I have gotten some world class dings out that way.

Lou Figueroa

This is my go to as well. Apply, wait 15 minutes, repeat as necessary.

 

[Ken_4fun]

If it is bad, I have learned to just buy another shaft. I dont know if you have a custom cue or a production one, but unless you have a super high end custom cue it is really cheaper and simpler just to get another shaft or have one made.

To me, the old Josswest cues owners were the worse as they widdled or sanded those shafts no almost nothing. I have had Rick Howard make several replacement shafts over the years.

Hope this helps, sometimes we cant see the forest for all of the damned trees.

Ken

 

[SSDiver2112]

If it is bad, I have learned to just buy another shaft. I dont know if you have a custom cue or a production one, but unless you have a super high end custom cue it is really cheaper and simpler just to get another shaft or have one made.

To me, the old Josswest cues owners were the worse as they widdled or sanded those shafts no almost nothing. I have had Rick Howard make several replacement shafts over the years.

Hope this helps, sometimes we cant see the forest for all of the damned trees.

Ken

Actually now that I know what to do it isn’t hard and I got unexpectedly good results. All in all a few minutes of actual work time saved me $250 plus shipping time. I will be getting a spare as soon as I can though.

 

[JC]

Soak a brown paper towel from the rest room in water and tear off a small piece. Wrap it around your shaft keeping track of the dent position. Hold a lighter flame under the dent, protected by the wet paper towel for about 3-4 seconds. Burnish with a new brown paper towel. Fixed some dents right on site of tourneys like this. May not get them perfect but close and sometimes better.

 

[pwd72s]

Good repair work! Hey if was carbon fiber it might have shattered.

Worst time? Don't think there's ever a good time to ding a shaft.

 

[MitchAlsup]

In my experience, it will help speed the repair if you microwave some water to boiling and then dip the Q-tip in and apply to the dent.

Without the microwave I have been doing this for years. Dip q-tip in water and allow tip to be in contact with dent in shaft for 20-odd minutes. Once dent has swelled above the shaft surface a shot glass is used to compress the wood back into smooth and round.

But, Lou, thanks for the microwave tip !!

 

[Quesports]

This is a win win for the OP. He learned to be more careful with his cue and he learned he can fix it when he does it again! J/K Nothing quite like the school of hard knocks for learning a lesson.. Good job!!

Do be careful boiling in your microwave:

 

[Cuebuddy]

I have had great success by using a cue tip swab with denatured alcohol, I remove any contaminates over the dent. Oils, and waxes can somewhat seal the wood from letting the water/steam into the area. Once clean I use a small piece of wet paper towel slightly larger than the dented area. I fold this piece so that it is four ply and touch a clean hot soldering pen on the spot. I hit it with the tip and check it and repeat. This will raise most dents but it may take a few attempts to get it back to flush.

 

[SSDiver2112]

Lots of great ideas. Variations on a theme. Learning from a mistake sucks but really solidifies the lesson learned

 

[jshaw]

I've used a wet rag and a soldering pencil to swell out a dent.

 

[Bavafongoul]

I’ve had good results with water and a hair dryer.
Lightly sand the area where the dent is so water
dampens the area better. I’ve used thin stripes of
cheese cloth (1/4-1/2” width) wrapping the shaft.

Wet the cloth over the dent and use the dryer on the
cloth covering the dent. Make the cloth dry and just
keep repeating the process slowly raising the dent.

I’ve had to do this on a buddy’s shaft and it took me
4x nightly for 4 nights & the dent was removed. The shaft
needs refinishing afterwards and I used 1500 and 2000
grit rubbing and rotating the shaft a couple of inches
above the dent and below. I finish with brisk rubbing and
rotating the shaft using 2000 grit. The shaft turned out great.

 

[Rimfirejunkie]

I have had great success by using a cue tip swab with denatured alcohol, I remove any contaminates over the dent. Oils, and waxes can somewhat seal the wood from letting the water/steam into the area. Once clean I use a small piece of wet paper towel slightly larger than the dented area. I fold this piece so that it is four ply and touch a clean hot soldering pen on the spot. I hit it with the tip and check it and repeat. This will raise most dents but it may take a few attempts to get it back to flush.

I’ve used similar technique on gun stocks. Cloth diaper and tip of clothes iron.

 

[mikemosconi]

I like using a teapot on the stove , moving the dented shaft area only; back and forth over the steam being released from the teapot. I follow this with rubbing down the dented wood with a hard, thick piece of glass rod ( they were once sold just for this purpose, and were also used by furniture repair folks). Large dents may need a repeated process. Once the dent is sufficiently gone, I will go over the entire shaft with 1500 to 2000 grit just to burnish that wood back to the right feel. I always begin this process by first cleaning the shaft with some 91% rubbing alcohol on a clean cloth so that no dirt is fused into the shaft during the process. My success rate has been 100%, thank goodness my attempts have only been few and far between - mostly on acquired cues found on the hunt.

 

[terpdad]

I've never dented mine but stuff happens. Last year I was at a bar tournament and a guy was swinging his cue back and forth as he walked holding the cue by the shaft. The butt hit the floor on the forward swing and snapped the shaft completely in half.

That sounds like a "so careless he deserved it" situation. Hope the guy wasn't a friend of yours

 

[garczar]

It was league night Tuesday and I managed to get there 30 minutes early to get warmed up. The place was nearly empty with no one on any of the eight 9 foot Gold Crowns in the place. Got a beer and started knocking the balls around. All was good until disaster struck.

They have a low plush industrial carpet on the floor and I let the cue bumper touch the floor just as I moved my foot forward. The cue's butt abruptly dug in the the carpet and my foot pushed the cue out of my hand. Then came the desperate grab at the air. Instead of the hopeful landing on the softer carpet it went straight for the edge of the table with a loud crack in the quiet bar. Red faced I picked up my cue to assess the damage. Those tables have a sharp 90 degree metal trim that is far less forgiving than my shaft. Not only did it badly dent the shaft, but because my foot was pushing against it double tapped a second dent.

The dents were around 6 inches from the ferrule, so they were right at the common bridge point and I didn't have a spare. I was pissed at myself for being so careless and was thinking that I probably permanently ruined the shaft. It was hard to push that out and focus on the game, especially when I would feel it hit my finger and have to rotate the cue.

The next day I looked up ways to fix a dent in the cue and found lots of suggestions. Many from AZB. Sorry I did not have the foresight to take before and after pictures. It would have been a great comparison because the first dent even broke the fibers somewhat. This is what I did to fix it. The shaft is a Pechauer Pro Plus shaft. I used Q-tips to apply water on the dents and left the wet Q-tips resting on the dents for an hour. It was noticeably better but still pretty bad. I repeated for a tiny improvement. To get the rest of the dents out I put a small piece of folded wet paper towel over the dents and rubbed a hot curling iron over the wet paper towel. After rewetting and repeating a few times the dents were gone. I then used an alcohol pad to help evaporate any residual moisture and let it sit for a couple hours. Then I used a Qwiz to smooth out any raised fibers and burnished it with the leather side. It's a miracle. I had my doubts because of how deep the dents were, but I saved my shaft to play another day.

Good work.

 

[SSDiver2112]

I've never dented mine but stuff happens. Last year I was at a bar tournament and a guy was swinging his cue back and forth as he walked holding the cue by the shaft. The butt hit the floor on the forward swing and snapped the shaft completely in half.

Was his name Vince?

 

[David in FL]

I've never dented mine but stuff happens. Last year I was at a bar tournament and a guy was swinging his cue back and forth as he walked holding the cue by the shaft. The butt hit the floor on the forward swing and snapped the shaft completely in half.

Stupid should hurt...