4 cues dinged up by visitors - repair?

J

Junction

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Had family over for a gathering and later that night one of the kids posted a video to social media showing them "lightsaber dueling" with pool cues at our house. I discovered 4 previously mint cues with dings in them from the ordeal. Thankfully I don't leave our best custom cues out, so those were safe.

In all the years of having my own kids grow up, their friends and countless guests over, a light saber sword duel with my pool cues had never occurred. The 2 McDermotts had not even been chalked yet.

One of the boys felt bad and bought me a cheap replacement cue off of amazon, which I appreciated the gesture. His parents have no idea that it was $1000 of cues damaged, and I'm ok with that. It's a game room and I know the risks, this is just one I didn't expect to have happen.

>>>Are they worth fixing or just chalk it up to experience and let guests play with dinged up cues? Any shops you can just mail the shafts to and have them work magic with steam as I've read is possible? This happened 6 months ago, so I don't know if that makes it harder to remove dents or not.

1x Meucci break cue ($300-400) - 1-2 dings in shaft. Usable but annoying and it was a gift.
2x brand new McDermott Star Hustler S67 and S69 (Red and blue sneaky pete styles) $200 each - Many dings in shafts
1x Dufferin sneaky pete that I've owned and used since the 1990's - Sentimental value - Many dings in shaft

I don't mind sharing this entertaining video since it's blurry enough to be anonymized.
 
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Depends on how many and how bad they are. Dents can be lifted out of shafts with a damp cloth and an iron. Lots of threads on here about various ways to do that, just have to search a little. Sounds like the break cue might be salvageable and worth the time. Some dings can be filled with super glue and sanded down, and that might work if you have some "cuts" in the wood and its lower end stuff.
 
And seemingly some adult stood there and not only watched that happened but recorded it as well without stepping in and saying maybe don't bash other peoples things??? That's so incredibly inconsiderate, wow. I would have words for that family member to educate them on respecting other peoples things.

With regards to the cues and shafts, I would see if you can find someone local to take a look, asses, and do what they can. I would imagine they could be improved from their current state at the very least.
 
First thing: make sure these "visitors" never enter your home again.

Second: Apparently an adult made the video of this willful damaging of your personal property. I would be contacting the children's parents for an explanation of why they thought this was acceptable behavior and to let them know you will be charging them for the damages.

Third: Remove these people from your life. They don't respect your property so they don't respect you.

Good luck with the repairs. I hope the cues can be brought back into good shape.
 
slide13 said:
And seemingly some adult stood there and not only watched that happened but recorded it as well without stepping in and saying maybe don't bash other peoples things??? That's so incredibly inconsiderate, wow. I would have words for that family member to educate them on respecting other peoples things.
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I updated the post above, it was all kids in the basement including one that filmed and posted online. I will take responsibility for not assuring an adult was present downstairs and will do that going forward. I just never had anything like this happen before, so it didn't occur to me.

One of the boys actually bought a cue off of amazon with his allowance and wrote a sincere apology letter. It's a cheap $18 cue but it was a very nice gesture that I appreciated it a lot.
 
Renegade4006 said:
First thing: make sure these "visitors" never enter your home again.

Second: Apparently an adult made the video of this willful damaging of your personal property. I would be contacting the children's parents for an explanation of why they thought this was acceptable behavior and to let them know you will be charging them for the damages.

Third: Remove these people from your life. They don't respect your property so they don't respect you.

Good luck with the repairs. I hope the cues can be brought back into good shape.
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It was another kid that filmed it and posted it online. They did need a "respect others property" lesson, which one of them got and bought me a cheap amazon cue to make things better, which I appreciated.

Also, on subsequent visits, the cues and pool balls were all locked up before their arrival ;)
 
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Okay, that helps at least, glad there weren't adults that let that happen. Kids will be kids. Lessons were learned I'm sure and definitely a nice gesture by the one!!

Hope you can find somebody to fix them up so the dings aren't too noticeable. If they're 13mm shafts you could always have them taken down a little if that would help. I prefer a 12.25-12.5mm shaft myself anyway
 
Junction said:
Had family over for a gathering and later that night one of the kids posted a video to social media of kids "lightsaber dueling" with pool cues at our house.
I went downstairs to check and found 4 previously mint cues with dings in them. Thankfully I don't leave our best custom cues out, so they were safe.
In all the years of having my own kids grow up, their friends and countless guests over, a light saber sword duel with my pool cues had never occurred. The 2 McDermotts had not even been chalked yet.

Are they worth fixing or just chalk it up to experience and let guests play with dinged up cues? Any shops you can just mail the shafts to and have them work magic with steam as I've read is possible? This happened 6 months ago, so I don't know if that makes it harder to remove dents or not.

1x Meucci break cue ($300-400) - 1-2 dings in shaft. Usable but annoying and it was a gift.
2x brand new McDermott Star Hustler S67 and S69 (Red and blue sneaky pete styles) $200 each - Many dings in shafts
1x Dufferin sneaky pete that I've owned and used since the 1990's - Sentimental value - Many dings in shaft

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Cue Doctor Dent Buffer can do wonders on small dents. For larger dents wet a small corner of a paper towel and place on dent for a couple of minutes & then try dent buffer. I would go to steam as a last resort.
 
StrokeofLuck said:
Depends on how many and how bad they are. Dents can be lifted out of shafts with a damp cloth and an iron. Lots of threads on here about various ways to do that, just have to search a little. Sounds like the break cue might be salvageable and worth the time. Some dings can be filled with super glue and sanded down, and that might work if you have some "cuts" in the wood and its lower end stuff.
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I have successfully raised dents with the damp cloth and iron. I also used an electric fry pan that had a small vent in the lid, that allowed directing steam to a small spot. The bad dents would get a few small incisions with the grain using a razor knife. To allow the steam a quicker deep penetration. Once the dents are raised 400 grit paper finishes the repair.
I once told a friend of my method. He had been beating his shaft for a while and it had numerous dents. It had so many that he decided to just soak the whole shaft in his bath tub. Yikes! Don't try this at home!!!!! It became an interesting conversation piece and led to him taking better care of his New cue.
 
I moved your thread to this forum. Hopefully your issues are/get resolved.
 
gregcantrall said:
NO!!!!! Raising the dents is the answer . The only viable answer. Unless you want an interesting conversation piece.
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Any chance those dents could be filled with wood putty, sawdust/epoxy, etc, and sanded smooth?
 
j2pac said:
Any chance those dents could be filled with wood putty, sawdust/epoxy, etc, and sanded smooth?
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They won't be lifted with a filler. A dent that is filled still has compressed wood grain underneath the patch job. So a change in humidity could possibly lead to it raising a little after the patch is applied and finished.
I would first raise the dent with steam. If the damage is such that the grain is broken epoxy glue or filler would be used after the dent is steamed and dried completely.
An amateur bondo job on a car fender comes to mind. Always raise the dent first!
 
Junction said:
Had family over for a gathering and later that night one of the kids posted a video to social media showing them "lightsaber dueling" with pool cues at our house. I discovered 4 previously mint cues with dings in them from the ordeal. Thankfully I don't leave our best custom cues out, so those were safe.

In all the years of having my own kids grow up, their friends and countless guests over, a light saber sword duel with my pool cues had never occurred. The 2 McDermotts had not even been chalked yet.

One of the boys felt bad and bought me a cheap replacement cue off of amazon, which I appreciated the gesture. His parents have no idea that it was $1000 of cues damaged, and I'm ok with that. It's a game room and I know the risks, this is just one I didn't expect to have happen.

>>>Are they worth fixing or just chalk it up to experience and let guests play with dinged up cues? Any shops you can just mail the shafts to and have them work magic with steam as I've read is possible? This happened 6 months ago, so I don't know if that makes it harder to remove dents or not.

1x Meucci break cue ($300-400) - 1-2 dings in shaft. Usable but annoying and it was a gift.
2x brand new McDermott Star Hustler S67 and S69 (Red and blue sneaky pete styles) $200 each - Many dings in shafts
1x Dufferin sneaky pete that I've owned and used since the 1990's - Sentimental value - Many dings in shaft

I don't mind sharing this entertaining video since it's blurry enough to be anonymized.
Click to expand...
Send your shafts to a Cue Mechanic!
 
Here's what always worked. And kettle that has a blowing steam whistle letting you know it's ''at boil''. do this

Put the dented area directly over the steam hole/area where it's coming out.

bm
 
Junction said:
I think that's what I will consider doing. Then I know it will be done right. Is there a reputable forum recommendation for cue mechanics?
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Just checked your history. You might have to ship them.
Idk anyone in Utah personally.
But that doesn't mean there isn't one.
 
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