Dent in my shaft!

[8ball-alex]

Hi, I have this ugly dent in my shaft, not a big one, but really annoying.
Somebody told me to buff it down, and somebody told me to have one drop of water on it and let it dry for 4-5 hours..

Could anybody give me like a tutorial for how to fix it?

ATM, I dont have sandpaper, or I have, but its so rough and i dont want to buff it thinner..

Sorry for bad english!

Tnx!

 

[conetip]

Can you post a picture to show what type of dent it is?
Thankyou.
Neil

 

[8ball-alex]

Not now, sory, my cue is down in the pool hall.. It have to be later then..

But i can try di descrive it.
My cueshaft crashed in to a tableside (clumsy me..), so it is not a ball that have done it. Its like a knife have cutted it.

 

[JimS]

Hi, I have this ugly dent in my shaft, not a big one, but really annoying.
Somebody told me to buff it down, and somebody told me to have one drop of water on it and let it dry for 4-5 hours..

Could anybody give me like a tutorial for how to fix it?

ATM, I dont have sandpaper, or I have, but its so rough and i dont want to buff it thinner..

Sorry for bad english!

Tnx!

A drop of water for a few hours will raise it back up somewhat, maybe enough. You'll need to get some very fine sandpaper, 800 to 1500 grit will work, so you can smooth it back down after. A little sanding with very fine paper will take very little wood off the shaft.

You could try rubbing up and down the shaft, over the dent, and all around the dent, with a round glass object such as a shot glass. Several swipes this way will usually take care of a small dent by pushing the wood fibers back up. Some may worry that you are also pushing fibers down but I've never had a problem and this is the method I try first because I lack patience.

I've used both methods several times and for very small dents I like the round glass method. It's very quick and easy. You may still want/need to use a little very fine sandpaper to smooth the shaft followed by burnishing the shaft (rubbing vigorously for perhaps 100 strokes until the shaft is warm/hot) with plain leather.. undyed, or a piece of brown paper bag paper.

 

[Mase]

Hi, I have this ugly dent in my shaft, not a big one, but really annoying.
Somebody told me to buff it down, and somebody told me to have one drop of water on it and let it dry for 4-5 hours..

Could anybody give me like a tutorial for how to fix it?

ATM, I dont have sandpaper, or I have, but its so rough and i dont want to buff it thinner..

Sorry for bad english!

Tnx!

What I do is take a small piece of paper towel and fold it a number of times until I have a 1/2" x 3/4" pad. Wet this pad with water (preferably distilled) and place it on the dent. Check ever 15 minutes to see when the dent is removed. Finish by going over it with fine (1500) sand paper.

I would not use the smooth glass object method. What it does is dent all of the wood around the problem area the same amount. You end up with a much bigger dent and can no longer feel the small one.

 

[dave sutton]

i microwave a cup of water for 2-3 mins

find the dent

put face up on the counter with something under it so it doesnt roll off

dip a piece of paper tower (NOT ENTIRE POWER) in the hot water

place on the dent for 2 mins.

sand smooth with 600

gone...

the idea is to use as little water as possible. hot water with raise the dent

 

[BarenbruggeCues]

Hi, I have this ugly dent in my shaft, not a big one, but really annoying.
Somebody told me to buff it down, and somebody told me to have one drop of water on it and let it dry for 4-5 hours..

Could anybody give me like a tutorial for how to fix it?

ATM, I dont have sandpaper, or I have, but its so rough and i dont want to buff it thinner..

Sorry for bad english!

Tnx!

It is going to depend on how bad the dent/ding is. For me, this will determine how you may have to go about repairing it.
Are the wood fibers just "pushed in" past the circumference? or are the fibers actually broken and dented in?
For me, it would make a difference how I go about with the repair.
It would be best to let someone that has experience handle it unless your not concerned with the exact results.
The hot water droplet has worked in most cases for me but not in all. Again this depends on the degree of damage to the wood fibers. It may require some type of "filler" to bring the depression back out to surface level. One thing you don't want to obviously attempt is trying to sand it out because this will alter your diameter and roundness.

 

[jayman]

Hi, I have this ugly dent in my shaft, not a big one, but really annoying.
Somebody told me to buff it down, and somebody told me to have one drop of water on it and let it dry for 4-5 hours..

Could anybody give me like a tutorial for how to fix it?

ATM, I don't have sandpaper, or I have, but its so rough and i don't want to buff it thinner..

Sorry for bad english!

Tnx!

The way i do this will not make you're shaft smaller or out of round. theway just sanding it out does.
Using steam or hat water of some sort leaves a soft spot in you're shaft although it will often get the grain raised enough to not feel the damage, it is no longer the same structurally.

I take a piece of 400 grit sand paper, fold it over to give me a sharp edge. use it to rough up the bottom of the dent. I then fill in the dent with either epoxy (best in my opinion) or locktite professional.

After it is fully cured, I very carefully us a fine cut single cut file layed along the grain of the shaft NEVER ACROSS THE GRAIN! and work the patch down even with the wood.

At the point i can no longer really feel it, i then spin it and touch it up for about a second with 600 grit to be sure its perfectly smooth then polish it with some 2000 grit. burnish for a secend with leather, then a touch of wax an wow!

At this point you cant tell it was ever there, and its stronger than the wood.

Jayman.

 

[tsp&b]

Good advice!!

It is going to depend on how bad the dent/ding is. For me, this will determine how you may have to go about repairing it.
Are the wood fibers just "pushed in" past the circumference? or are the fibers actually broken and dented in?
For me, it would make a difference how I go about with the repair.
It would be best to let someone that has experience handle it unless your not concerned with the exact results.
The hot water droplet has worked in most cases for me but not in all. Again this depends on the degree of damage to the wood fibers. It may require some type of "filler" to bring the depression back out to surface level. One thing you don't want to obviously attempt is trying to sand it out because this will alter your diameter and roundness.

Tap, Tap, Tap!! Excelent advice. I like to completely clean the shaft before I start to work on any dent removal.

 

[swest]

(8ball-alex, I followed you over from the main forum)

Assuming a ding (or dent) that is less than 1/2" long:

1. Take a 2"x2" piece of paper towel, fold it 3 times, so that it is 1/2"x1" (give or take) and has 8 layers.
2. Dip it in water (so it's completely soaked).
3. Wrap it partially around the shaft, centered on the ding, holding it in place with your thumb and forefinger from the other side of the shaft.
4. Take a 25-watt soldering iron (completely heated), and roll it back and forth across the paper towel at exactly the point where the ding is.
5. When you start heating the paper towel, let go with your fingers (because the steam will be really hot and will burn you) and let the rolling soldering iron hold it in place.
6. Also, take care to a) not touch the unprotected shaft with the soldering iron, and b) not let the paper towel dry completely and start to burn, or even singe.

Visually examine the ding to see if it has swelled back to the surface. Repeat the procedure until you are satisfied.

When you have completely raised the ding, the grain will also have been raised considerably on the shaft. Using 1500 grit sandpaper (or 3M polishing film - see above) smooth the grain back down, and then burnish the shaft with your favorite burnisher.

The good things about this technique is that the locale of the treatment can be made as small as you like, just depending on how small you fold the paper towel, and the 25-watt soldering iron can deliver a very controllable quantity of heat.

Obviously, practice this on something that's not precious to you before doing it to your cue stick.:grin:

Good luck.