Cue Shaft Cleaners
- Thread starter REH
- Start date
Mr CLean Magic Eraser does a good job. It will raise the grain a little but it can be burnished back with leather and paper. I have tried it on different shafts with great results. After I got them clean I have just been using a damp cloth and then burnishing.
I've been thinking of trying dry erase board cleaner
Has anyone tried this stuff? The one I have (expo white board cleaner) has 2-butoxy ethanol/acetate (BEA from here on out) , and isopropyl acohol. The BEA is supposed to be pretty toxic in large quantities (over 100ppm exposure daily for 4-8 hours), but I can hardly see the problem with a minor exposure while cleaning a shaft. The only thing I'm worried about is that it is used in some solvents for various materials. I'm concerned that it may eat at the adhesives, and/or finish on the shaft. I'm no chemical expert, so maybe someone else can fill us in on the effects.
~Shakes
Has anyone tried this stuff? The one I have (expo white board cleaner) has 2-butoxy ethanol/acetate (BEA from here on out) , and isopropyl acohol. The BEA is supposed to be pretty toxic in large quantities (over 100ppm exposure daily for 4-8 hours), but I can hardly see the problem with a minor exposure while cleaning a shaft. The only thing I'm worried about is that it is used in some solvents for various materials. I'm concerned that it may eat at the adhesives, and/or finish on the shaft. I'm no chemical expert, so maybe someone else can fill us in on the effects.
~Shakes
Solvents can do bad things to some ferrules. Magic Eraser combined with denatured alcohol, works so well, that I would not even look for something better.shakes said:
Tracy <~~~If it ain't broke...
REH said:
I used the Magic Eraser a couple of times and it works very well, but does raise the grain a bit. I use a hardwood floor cleaner called "Bona" each time after I play and it does a great job. Just a couple of spritz's on a cotton cloth and it doesn't raise the grain.
> I use the Eraser with a citrus based general cleaner called Orange Clean,easily found at Wal-Mart. It's a good light cleaner by itself,and works way better than straight water with the Eraser. I only spray the sponge 2-3 times,just enough to lubricate it. I have also found the Eraser to work pretty well by hand as well as in the lathe. Tommy D.
I also aggree running with the grain works better. Just think of the grain as tiny little slots/grooves. If the piece is spinning, you are only hitting the tops, so it does'nt get down in there, and pull as much dirt up, but going in the same direction as the grain gets down in there alittle better, and pulls dirt out better.
I have used orange cleaners also, well years ago anyway, and they worked well, though I don't really use them now. I have also used butcher block cleaner. Don't know If I have ever heard of anyone using that on shafts, but it cleans alright also, however I do not use it anymore either. The issue with me is- the amount of water it takes to clean these products out of the shaft does'nt sit well with Me, but that's just personal preference on My part. I have never had a shaft warp from using them, but I was always carefull to use the least amount of water needed to get the stuff all out anyway, and even sometimes used a hair dryer to dry them well afterwards (not something I do anymore, but never had a shaft warp from It back when I did).
If using a product that foams, and lifts the dirt that way, the magic erasers are also good for that, because By sqeezing the pads, they foam up well, and makes It easier to keep mostly foam on the shaft and not pure water, or solvet. I would be very carefull using the pads wet while spinning in the lathe though, because I have had them grab & stick to the shaft before, and if it had a hold of a finger when that happened, might not be a good thing
There are many ways to clean a shaft, some shafts require more drastic measures then others to clean, and some of the ones I've done were basically restorations, so for me It just depends on what It takes to get any given shaft clean, as to what product i use on it, and how I go about it. It seems like each shaft can almost have a life of It's own sometimes, as far as having different grain characteristics go & what type of grime you need to get out when it comes to cleaning. They might all be the same type wood, but they all sure don't clean up the same from My experiences.
I have a customer that owns a place with a kitchen in It, he would sit his cue in there in between matches while he worked, so the thing was covered in grease. In fact I even had to re-attatch his forearm to the handle of his cue, because it seems the grease soaked in and loosened the glue, then the forearm screwed right off the handle, and the glue was melted And sticky. what a mess that was to clean off.
Honestly what I did was just try different products out on My personal shafts at first, and picked up different methods of cleaning that way. There's no telling what's out there now that none of us have even tried on shafts yet.
Greg
I have used orange cleaners also, well years ago anyway, and they worked well, though I don't really use them now. I have also used butcher block cleaner. Don't know If I have ever heard of anyone using that on shafts, but it cleans alright also, however I do not use it anymore either. The issue with me is- the amount of water it takes to clean these products out of the shaft does'nt sit well with Me, but that's just personal preference on My part. I have never had a shaft warp from using them, but I was always carefull to use the least amount of water needed to get the stuff all out anyway, and even sometimes used a hair dryer to dry them well afterwards (not something I do anymore, but never had a shaft warp from It back when I did).
If using a product that foams, and lifts the dirt that way, the magic erasers are also good for that, because By sqeezing the pads, they foam up well, and makes It easier to keep mostly foam on the shaft and not pure water, or solvet. I would be very carefull using the pads wet while spinning in the lathe though, because I have had them grab & stick to the shaft before, and if it had a hold of a finger when that happened, might not be a good thing
There are many ways to clean a shaft, some shafts require more drastic measures then others to clean, and some of the ones I've done were basically restorations, so for me It just depends on what It takes to get any given shaft clean, as to what product i use on it, and how I go about it. It seems like each shaft can almost have a life of It's own sometimes, as far as having different grain characteristics go & what type of grime you need to get out when it comes to cleaning. They might all be the same type wood, but they all sure don't clean up the same from My experiences.
I have a customer that owns a place with a kitchen in It, he would sit his cue in there in between matches while he worked, so the thing was covered in grease. In fact I even had to re-attatch his forearm to the handle of his cue, because it seems the grease soaked in and loosened the glue, then the forearm screwed right off the handle, and the glue was melted And sticky. what a mess that was to clean off.
Honestly what I did was just try different products out on My personal shafts at first, and picked up different methods of cleaning that way. There's no telling what's out there now that none of us have even tried on shafts yet.
Greg