Best way to clean shaft blueing?

S

SpinDoctor

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi all,

I figured I'd come here and ask the experts instead of fumbling through a bunch of stuff on my own. What is the best way to remove or reduce shaft blueing without the use of a lathe? I've got an old Schon that has seen considerable use and both shafts show their age with a bit of blueing.

I don't have any cue makers/repair guys in my area at the moment so it will need to be something that I can do without the use of a lathe if possible.

Thanks a lot.
 
SpinDoctor said:
Hi all,

I figured I'd come here and ask the experts instead of fumbling through a bunch of stuff on my own. What is the best way to remove or reduce shaft blueing without the use of a lathe? I've got an old Schon that has seen considerable use and both shafts show their age with a bit of blueing.

I don't have any cue makers/repair guys in my area at the moment so it will need to be something that I can do without the use of a lathe if possible.

Thanks a lot.
Click to expand...
if you have no lathe use magic eraser
 
Shaft blueing

Without a lathe your options are very limited. Attach a shaft drive pin to an drillmotor. CAREFULLY using wet/dry, start w/ 400 w/ some dilluted Simple Green & work your way up the grit level to 1000. Once you get them as close to clean as you can....
Immediately quit using blue chalk & use tan/gold. There is NO DIFFERENCE!!
Paul
 
cleaning with out drastically sanding and no lathe

i would use GOJO the hand cleaner it has some gritty stuff in it that will clean the pores out then use a magic eraser let the shaft dry and hit it with a piece off 800 and 1000 to smooth it up and throw some wax on a rag and slick it up real quick.
 
I use a magic eraser and some alcohol instead of water. Works great, don't need to sand, shafts look like new. Now the magic eraser has a bit of abrasive, but not as much in my opinion, as even 2000 grit. I then use a old piece of deer skin I have and burnish the shaft. All by hand.

Sanding by hand, and can't say I've never done it, can leave the shaft in weird shapes when you sand on one side more than the other, or in the middle more than anywhere else. I try to avoid sanding, and if I do its with 1500+ sand paper.

Keep in mind, I'm no cuemaker, but have been doing much the same thing (paper towel with alcohol before magic eraser was invented) for about 25 years and haven't hurt anything that I can notice.
 
turn drill into lathe-So simple you can do it on your tailgate or kitchen ta e

by a Pin,and insert, from the internet,az .-that fits your shaft-10 bucks -insert it in your 24 volt, 36 volt cordless drill- spin shaft (holding loose end ) use magic er- and alcohol. Most drills have a movable handle,(set to like 120 degrees , use a clamp on the trigger- just make sure which way the shaft turns -so it does not unscrew while spinning. Most drills have speeds of 800,600 and that is perfect to do the shaft Cleaning and burnishing and shaping the tip. mark
 
As a user of this method, not a cue maker/repairer, I have also gotten good results with the magic eraser thing. Although in my case, I had to buff the shaft a bit as it ended up feeling a bit gritty, but I'm thinking that was because I used water instead of alchohol. You may want to get a wood sealer after you clean so you can buff it out and seal the wood again against more dirt.
 
Edit-On second thought, taking it to a qualified professional is a safe bet and sound advise. However if you want to try it on your own, heres how I do it.

1.soak a magic eraser with water(no advantage to alcohol) 2, wring out magic eraser . 3. scrub shaft buy hand going with the grain. 4. rinse out magic eraser with water in sink when it gets real dirty. 5. repeat steps 2 and 3. 6. dry shaft with towel.

Youll need to sand and burnish the shaft because the above process will leave the shaft clean but a little rough because the water raises the grain in the wood and opens the pours. There are 2 pretty good, non lathe ways, to sand and burnish the shaft.

first is to lightly sand, by hand, with the grain until smooth with 800-1000 grit sandpaper then burnish with brown paper bag or leather-you have to stroke it fast enough to generate some heat . Burnish until the shaft has a little luster to it.

2nd is the drill methed-btw I did hundreds of tips and shaft reconds with this methed before buying a lathe. you will need to get either a pin for your shaft or a 7/8" crutch tip(drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the crutch tip and put a 2' long 1/4" bolt through it,install a washer and nut on it) I do not recommend using a clamp on the trigger-instead- sit in a chair with the drill on the floor and the shaft in your hand standing up vertically. Use your foot to engage the trigger( this is much safer IMHO and very controllable with little practice)
good luck -jeff
 
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cubswin said:
probably the best advice in the whole thread
Click to expand...

I agree, however my area has a real shortage of professional cuesmiths/repair guys and the ones we do have I'd prefer to not have working on my cue. I could make the trip to calgary but for something this trivial it's tough to consider a 3 hour drive each way.
 
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