Gash repair - Please help

K

killerstroke

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Good afternoon,
I was buffing this cue when it grabbed the wheel and threw it into the chuck. I see 2 issues, the finish lifting and repairing the gash. My thoughts were I'm going to need to remove the finish so no lifting is present. Can I use some super glue and some purpleheart sawdust or some type of sliver of purpleheart in to the gash.
This was a cue bought as a sneaky pete and all I did were the rings, butt cap & inlay. I did not do any finish work down to the wood up that high. I may have blended it when sanding etc.

Thanks in advance
 

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I think you need to bite the bullet and refinish it........ chances are ... it will look like hell if you try to blend it................

Kim
 
If you can find a piece of Purpleheart to match that damaged wood you can repair that so that it's invisible (or nearly so). One of my early mentors in furniture making, an old-time Scandinavian Master woodworker, would have simply told you to "make a louse!" - but I'm sure you don't know what that means - and neither did I until he taught me.

A "louse" is a small chip of matching wood that is inlaid to cover a defect, but the pocket and part are cut in a very unusual way that would be pretty hard to describe in a manner you would understand - you kind of have to see it done to understand the process. Properly executed you have to know it's there to find it. And it requires a specific tool known as a "louse chisel" that you don't own, and they don't seem to make anymore.

Veritas in England used to make a very suitable substitute, called a "blind nail chisel" - unfortunately it is no longer in their catalog. Fortunately for you I found one on eBay for a decent price:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Veritas-sma...224?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ace580e48
The seller has no idea what he's actually got here.

Unfortunately, as I write this, you've got less than 2 hours to snatch it up before the listing expires. If you buy I'll teach you how to use it via PM, and you'll still have to refinish the butt afterwards. . If not... well, good luck with your project anyway.

TW
(PS: Sawdust mixed with glue will only look like shit if you're lucky... otherwise it'll look worse.)
 
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One of my ideas for this fix was to run a 'V' cutter through the gash to clean it up (not deeper or wider) and insert a peice kind of like a point.
What is the best way to fix the finish? Am I correct to think I need to remove all the finish around the cue in this area. I am thinking to tape off on either side of the gash, add tape to the exposed wood area to prevent sanding the wood. Or do I put super glue on the exposed wood to protect it during sanding. Sand down to the wood. I think if I use a cutter to remove the finish I might get lift where the cutter stopped. Repair the gash and refinish.
By the way the butt cap and ring are purple heart but look much browner, this color match is also a concern.
 
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There may be an opportunity here that hasn't yet been considered.
How 'cast in stone' is your client on a wrap-less cue?
If an option, the perfect divot repair becomes a non-issue.

KJ
 
To my old eyes, the gash runs right through a lighter (almost yellow) streak in the wood - sap wood?
It seems to me that any filler piece is going to have to be darker on the ends than in the middle - pretty tough to come up with.
I think KJ has a possible solution.
Good luck with that repair.
Gary
 
GBCues said:
To my old eyes, the gash runs right through a lighter (almost yellow) streak in the wood - sap wood?
It seems to me that any filler piece is going to have to be darker on the ends than in the middle - pretty tough to come up with.
I think KJ has a possible solution.
Good luck with that repair.
Gary
Click to expand...

I thought that as well then I realized it was a reflection from the table cloth.
With the cue rolled several degrees, the streak is now at a different postion.
Same table cloth reflection.
 
You don't actually know what you've done. Water will reverse most of the damage. Put a folded up wet paper towel over the area for a day or two, keeping the towel wet then remove the towel and give the wood time to dry. A heat gun or hair dryer would speed things along. Most, or all, of the dents will be gone and what will remain is a good (bad) scratch in the middle of the deep dent. The odds of your being able to match the purple heart with an inlay are pretty slim. Mixing some epoxy with sawdust from the butt plus some sort of filler such as Cab-0-sil can produce a final mix that is the same color as the wood itself. No filler will produce a glue mix that is way too dark. You will only have to fill the bad scratch.
 
The first thing I would do is try to steam the gash out. If I could not get it closed up enough to sand smooth and refinish, I would then try Thomas or Paul's options.
 
You might try the steam/water method since you've got nothing to lose
but my experience is that if the wood cells are damaged or cut, they won't swell.
You might raise some of the divot but I don't see it all coming out.
I could be wrong.

KJ
 
KJ Cues said:
...but my experience is that if the wood cells are damaged or cut, they won't swell. You might raise some of the divot but I don't see it all coming out.
I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

This is what I was thinking. Once you tear the wood fibers, it is difficult to repair them in a way that will go unnoticed.
 
The cut fibers are going to be there at the center of the deep gash but the other dents will probably be fine. Clean out the torn fiber ends with a razor blade, chisel or Xacto knife and use the sawdust mix to fill the void. Steam will probably work but take a long time with hands on work. The wet paper towel will work 24-7 with 2 minutes work.
 
Even with small gashes steaming will often raise everything up enough to sand flush.
 
killerstroke said:
Good afternoon,
I was buffing this cue when it grabbed the wheel and threw it into the chuck. I see 2 issues, the finish lifting and repairing the gash. My thoughts were I'm going to need to remove the finish so no lifting is present. Can I use some super glue and some purpleheart sawdust or some type of sliver of purpleheart in to the gash.
This was a cue bought as a sneaky pete and all I did were the rings, butt cap & inlay. I did not do any finish work down to the wood up that high. I may have blended it when sanding etc.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Killer,

Here is my procedure for a cosmetic repair like you are facing:

Sand the finish down a bit with 220 ( not to bare wood ) and blend out the bad area.

Clean out and scrape the dent with a knife to remove dented fiber then 100 grit sand and fill it with high modulus slow set epoxy.

Block sand the entire cue flat with 220.

Apply epoxy substrate to entire cue, let cure and sand flat with block sanding at 220. Wipe clean with isopropyl alcohol.

Using translucent acrylic paint, mix colors to match base color of wood, carefully air brush to blend the base color with very light paint whisking on to the surface. Do not apply it thick.

Using slightly other darker colors overlay very light streaks to simulate grain imperfection patterns. If it don't look good, wipe it off with lacquer thinner and start over. When it looks the way you want take black and brown India ink and apply tiny wood grain small marks with a tooth pic to match imperfections in the parent wood pattern if required.

Let dry and whisk spray 3 very light coats of rattle can lacquer over the area from about 1 foot away. Let each coat dry for 20 minutes before re coat. Do not use polyurethane. It must be lacquer and very thin dusting each coat.

Wipe the entire cue down with a towel with just a little lacquer on it, do not soak the rag. At this point you can epoxy again or go straight to clear coat.

Before adding additional epoxy or spraying your clear coat take a brand new scotch bright pad and lightly wipe the repaired surface north and south to scuff the lacquer. Do not spin the cue to do this.

Blow off the cue with air, tac cloth and apply your clear coat as usual.

This sounds like a lot of work but other that the waiting between the lacquer coat you would be surprised how easy this is to do and how fast you can do it. As I said if it don't look good wipe it off and start over.

I have repaired many big clunks this way and like everything in cue making the more you do, the better a faster you get at a skill set.

Nature creates hap hazard patterns in wood grain. It is not hard at all to do hap hazard.

Go for it and you will find it very easy to do most any thing once you get the base color mixed right.

When faced with a problem like this you must be resourceful and go for it and jump in with both feet. With a little practice on a scrap house cue, I am sure you will figure it out within a few sample experiments. It is a very easy thing to do.

Good luck,

Rick
 
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Gash Repair Results

First off, Thank you to everyone for all the ideas and help, I can't thank you enough. I started with a wet rag on the gash for about a day. I then used steam to pull out the gash. Then back to the water for another day. Due to the water, steam or to much heat from the iron it discolored the purpleheart to the brown color that shows on the butt cap. I think it was from the water cuse the spot is much bigger than the area I steamed. Should have taped it off. I do not have spraying capability so unfortunately that was out of the question. At this point the middle of the gash at its deepest point was still visible but only half the original size. I faced of a peice of purpleheart to make some fine shavings. I then use water and the shavings to make a paste and pressed this into the gash. Once I was left with a few minor voids I put a drop of super glue down and pressed these into the voids. As expected the gash was now black. If it wasn't for the discoloration these methods I thought worked out fairly well. I did put a coat of clear coat on it but the large brown spot will show up like a sore thumb. Long story short I have decided to go purchase a new sneaky pete for the guy and redo the cue. I will add a wrap to this one maybe some more inlays so it soesn't mimic this cue and sell it. This was a great learning experience I hope I was able to shed some light and teach a few things to all from my experience

Thanks again to everyone.
 
Gash Repair Pics

It was spinning on the lathe and I didn't want to stop it. I apologize for the quality of the pic. The area in the center of the black ring and the ring are nice and flush with the cue. So, in that sense I think all the ideas worked fairly well to eliminate the gash. The color match is whole different story.
 

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I'm shocked. So the quick and dirty way of trying to steam it out, and then gluing in shavings and dust didn't come out perfect? Will wonders never cease...

TW
 
Does purple heart always turn colors like this when steaming?

Sent from my XT901 using Tapatalk
 
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