cleaning shaft

I use a slightly damp cloth, maybe every other session of pool, or when it gets dirty enough to feel the chalk grit. Usually the towel that I just dried my wet hands. After a season, I may use magic eraser with rubbing alcohol and then follow up with 2000,4000, & 8000 grit shaft paper. If the local cue repair guy offers free shaft cleaning, then I take up that offer instead.

My philosophy is to touch the cue as minimally as possible, meaning avoid sandpapering the shaft, or re-profiling the tip.
 
Clean shaft!

I use fast orange pumice hand cleaner,works great,$2.00 16 oz.i have been for ever,smooth with leather.no problems with shaft!
 
LAlouie said:

Everything has moisture...I didn't say "moist". Phoenix has 10% humidity. That's STILL moisture. The air you breathe has humidity,,,that's moisture. And shaft woods go through a long process of STABILIZATION, not drying, because they hang in a cuemaker's shop where there's AIR,,,that's moisture. You can pick up a shaft that's as dry as styrofoam, and it'll still pick moisture from the air.
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Go ahead and put water on your shaft if you want to. Be my guest. LOL.
 
risky biz said:
Go ahead and put water on your shaft if you want to. Be my guest. LOL.
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How incredibly stupid you are. Keep talking. You get more stupid with each worthless word you blab. And you wonder why I rail against the nature of pool? It's ignorant people like you.
 
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LAlouie said:
How incredibly stupid you are. Keep talking. You get more stupid with each worthless word you blab. And you wonder why I rail against the nature of pool? It's ignorant people like you.
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OK. I'm ignorant and you know what you're talking about. Except that very experienced and knowledgeable people who sell a lot of expensive custom shafts will tell someone the same thing I did about cleaning a shaft and NOT to use water.

But go ahead and use water on your shaft if you want to. Be my guest. LOL.
 
risky biz said:
OK. I'm ignorant and you know what you're talking about. Except that very experienced and knowledgeable people who sell a lot of expensive custom shafts will tell someone the same thing I did about cleaning a shaft and NOT to use water.

But go ahead and use water on your shaft if you want to. Be my guest. LOL.
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They're telling YOU that because they expect YOU to do something really stupid like put your shaft in the bathtub.
 
Ive always used Cue Silk an Sil kleen. I ran out of both the other day an while waiting for a new order to come in i decided to try something. I took my microfiber towel wet it lightly squeezed excess out an let it dry out for a bit. It was just barely moist too the touch. I was surprised how much dirt/gunk came off. I had just cleaned it with the Sil Kleen 3 days before an shot maybe 3 hours of pool with it. I think took my leather an burnish it an looks almost new again. I was always told not to use alcohol by other people so i have never tried it.
 
risky biz said:
You really strike me as being a dimwitted baby. Sorry, but you keep asking for it.
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If calling other people dimwitted makes you feel smarter, then go ahead, it's what dimwits do. LOL...I'll bet you really were thinking of giving you shaft a shampoo.:p
 
RackemBilliards said:
I've used only a damp cloth and nothing else on the same South West shaft for many years with no problems. I use a half dry and half slightly damp cloth every time I play to keep my hands and cue clean so it never gets really dirty. I wipe the cue frequently with the damp end and immediately after with the dry end. It stays clean and smooth, and the same size, which it won't do over time if you use anything with any abrasive at all.
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I've been doing exactly the same thing for years. The trick is only slightly damp and immediately wipe it down with a dry clean terry cloth. Keeps the shaft clean and smooth.
 
OneIron said:
I've been doing exactly the same thing for years. The trick is only slightly damp and immediately wipe it down with a dry clean terry cloth. Keeps the shaft clean and smooth.
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When I go to wash my hands, I use the damp paper towel I dried off with. The paper both cleans and burnishes.
 
i think the best way to put it is, one should probably expose his shaft to the least amount of moisture (water) as possible. i use the 99% alcohol you can buy. the guy from predator came on here and said they literally poured alcohol oh shafts with no ill effects. i even go as far as to try to close the zipper on my case on moist nights, and when dry santa ana winds come ill leave my case open for a while. i really dont think purposefully putting straight water on your shaft is ever a good idea.
 
If your shafts have ever been professionally cleaned,sanded on,or used for long periods of time,you are more than likely covered already if just using 99%or referred to as denatured alcohol.

The only time I've ever had alcohol hurt a shaft was using it on a brand-new one. What it does in that case,at least with Schon shafts is takes the sealer off,and the grain raises a little. Which is no big deal really,until you notice that your perfectly flat ferrule seam now has a noticable ridge,which has to be sanded back flat,and you only get one shot at this. Sand too much,and you either just ruined a new shaft,or it has to be re-tapered,then you hate it LOL.

The mistake I made back then wasn't as much as using alcohol,as it was the wrong type.
I used standard drugstore 70% isopropyl back then.

Use the denatured for that,but as a precautionary measure take your driver's license if you go get some. My local Lowe's checked mine,and made me sign for it because it is used by morons that cook meth,so be aware of it.

I rarely sand mine these days,and keep them slicker than anyone I've ever met. For maintenance during play,all I do is wipe them down with a wax/polishing compound treated rag I made. Tommy D.
 
enzo said:
i think the best way to put it is, one should probably expose his shaft to the least amount of moisture (water) as possible. i use the 99% alcohol you can buy. the guy from predator came on here and said they literally poured alcohol oh shafts with no ill effects. i even go as far as to try to close the zipper on my case on moist nights, and when dry santa ana winds come ill leave my case open for a while. i really dont think purposefully putting straight water on your shaft is ever a good idea.
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Sir,,,thx for your(and tommy d's) responses. However if you've ever placed a drop of water on a shaft, you know that it takes a long long long time before it even starts to soak. For all intents and purposes the water drop just sits on the shaft, especially if the cues have aged with continual polishing to a hard shine and one's own hand oils over their life time, there's already a certain amount of protection on the shaft surface. And also we're talking hard maple, not soft pine. There is no adding of water to the shaft when one uses a damp paper towel followed immediately by a hard burnish that heats the shaft.

Otherwise, all my expensive cues(2 tads, 1 gina, 1 schick, 2 kershenbrock SW's) would have been ruined long ago. :)
 
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Originally Posted by enzo
i think the best way to put it is, one should probably expose his shaft to the least amount of moisture (water) as possible. i use the 99% alcohol you can buy. the guy from predator came on here and said they literally poured alcohol oh shafts with no ill effects. i even go as far as to try to close the zipper on my case on moist nights, and when dry santa ana winds come ill leave my case open for a while. i really dont think purposefully putting straight water on your shaft is ever a good idea.

LAlouie said:
Sir,,,thx for your(and tommy d's) responses. However if you've ever placed a drop of water on a shaft, you know that it takes a long long long time before it even starts to soak. For all intents and purposes the water drop just sits on the shaft, especially if the cues have aged with continual polishing to a hard shine and one's own hand oils over their life time, there's already a certain amount of protection on the shaft surface. And also we're talking hard maple, not soft pine. There is no adding of water to the shaft when one uses a damp paper towel followed immediately by a hard burnish that heats the shaft.

Otherwise, all my expensive cues(2 tads, 1 gina, 1 schick, 2 kershenbrock SW's) would have been ruined long ago. :)
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Maybe you should e-mail Predator to let them know they're ignorant, that denatured wood alcohol damages shafts and that water works great if you just grease up the shaft for about 10 years with hand oil.
 
I'm with LAlouie on this one. I use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe down my shafts, followed by burnishing till it gets hot. It leaves the shaft smooth and slick. If there were any problem doing this, I'm sure that over the decades I've been doing it, I'd have noticed some ramification. But I have not.

I will say, however, I would not do this with a raw shaft that has been freshly sanded and not treated with wax or sealer. The moisture will not warp the shaft, but it will raise the grain slightly.

My favorite shaft treatment is pure tung oil (not tung oil with varnish). On a brand new shaft, I will lightly sand it to open the pores. Wipe it down to remove all wood particles. Then apply a very thin layer of tung oil. Let it dry overnight. Then rub it down hard to remove all the excess and until the shaft is perfectly smooth. This, I caution you, takes some effort. Let it sit another day to fully harden. Once this is complete, the finish is hard and durable and you will never have to do another thing but damp wipe and burnish to clean the surface.
 
The problem I've had with using alcohol is that it tends to raise the grain slightly. I haven't tried a lower water content.
 
tedkaufman said:
I'm with LAlouie on this one. I use a damp cloth or paper towel to wipe down my shafts, followed by burnishing till it gets hot. It leaves the shaft smooth and slick. If there were any problem doing this, I'm sure that over the decades I've been doing it, I'd have noticed some ramification. But I have not.

I will say, however, I would not do this with a raw shaft that has been freshly sanded and not treated with wax or sealer. The moisture will not warp the shaft, but it will raise the grain slightly.

My favorite shaft treatment is pure tung oil (not tung oil with varnish). On a brand new shaft, I will lightly sand it to open the pores. Wipe it down to remove all wood particles. Then apply a very thin layer of tung oil. Let it dry overnight. Then rub it down hard to remove all the excess and until the shaft is perfectly smooth. This, I caution you, takes some effort. Let it sit another day to fully harden. Once this is complete, the finish is hard and durable and you will never have to do another thing but damp wipe and burnish to clean the surface.
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I'll have to try the tung oil.

When I have the shaft on my lathe, I gently clean the shaft. Then burnish it with a paper towel. I then use a shaft sealer from Chris Hightower followed by a very light sanding with 800 grit (just enough to remove the top layer of sealer). I then burnish again and use wax. This helps keeps the chalk and dirt out of the pores.

During play, I use a slightly moistened terry cloth towel and immediately wipe off the moisture with the dry end. Been using this procedure on my personal Mezz for about 8 years and it's still like new.
 
OneIron said:
The problem I've had with using alcohol is that it tends to raise the grain slightly. I haven't tried a lower water content.
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It's the water that's raising the grain. That's why you should use denatured wood alcohol. There's very little water content but it still raises the grain very slightly. A Q-wiz or 0000 synthetic steel wool to smooth it down would have to be used every day for twenty thousand years before it noticeably reduced the diameter of your shaft.

Denatured wood alcohol costs about 59c a gallon so it's not a conspiracy to trick you into spending more money.

If you choose to play with a shaft that has a wax job on it you can use anything that isn't outright caustic. But if there's a wax job on it there isn't much need to clean it very often anyway.
 
risky biz said:
It's the water that's raising the grain. That's why you should use denatured wood alcohol. There's very little water content but it still raises the grain very slightly. A Q-wiz or 0000 synthetic steel wool to smooth it down would have to be used every day for twenty thousand years before it noticeably reduced the diameter of your shaft.

Denatured wood alcohol costs about 59c a gallon so it's not a conspiracy to trick you into spending more money.

If you choose to play with a shaft that has a wax job on it you can use anything that isn't outright caustic. But if there's a wax job on it there isn't much need to clean it very often anyway.
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I'll give it a try. I'm always looking for better ways to maintain the cues.
 
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