Stupid me brought my good shaft out last Friday and I somehow dinged it. It is super annoying. I know I can bring it to a shop but I seem to recall something about putting water on the ding mark overnight. It is a OB2. Any advice is appreciated!
I got drunk and dinged my shaft. What was the water trick?
- Thread starter TheNewSharkster
- Start date
You want to steam it out. That's the best way. If you have a tea kettle they work best, if not, put water in a normal pot and pot tin foil over the top with a hole poked in the middle. Let the steam go directly at the dent. As long as there isn't a crease in the dent it should come out without much of a problem. The deeper it is the more times you may have to do the steam trick. If there is a crease in the dent, still do the steam trick, but you will most likely have to follow that up with the super-glue trick. Get it out as much as you can with steam, and then use a small dab of super glue in the crease, let it dry, then sand it down even.
Brian
Brian
Can you expand on this super glue trick. I have a small gouch in a good shaft where wood is actually missing! Also is this the best way?
This is what I do and it works every time and in seconds. Put a small piece of paper towel over the ding. Put water over the paper towel. Take a hot clothes iron and lightly press the wet paper towel were the ding is. It should steam for a second. PRESTO NO DING. Repeat if the ding is really deep but it will work.
Soak a very small bit of Kleenex or toilet paper. Place on the shaft and leave over night. I've never, repeat, never sanded the shaft after doing this. Sanding will remove wood fibers, which you do not want to do. Buffing with a piece of stiff, white paper {inside of a paperback book cover works well} or a piece of leather is all I've ever done. Playing with it a while will make it so that portion of the shaft will become like the rest of the shaft. I did this just last week.
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I wouldn't recomend using an iron or steam at all...to much chance to warp the shaft. water evaporates, let nature do it, you can't mess it up.
Can you do the steam trick with ob2 shaft ? I know they have some kind of glue that holds them together and i dont want to mess it up... Thanks
A heat-controlled soldering iron works better than a clothes iron
Personally, I wouldn't recommend using a clothes iron for this precision task. This is like using a machete for a scalpel. Rather, a fine tipped soldering iron, set to low heat (with the aid of a electric light dimmer, if the soldering iron itself doesn't have a variable heat setting) will allow you to focus the heat onto just the dented area, and no more. Even here, you'll want to use as small a piece of moistened paper towel as you can, folded over a couple of times to insulate the shaft from the intense focused heat of the soldering iron. Needle-nose pliers (or medical hemostats) are great for holding onto that folded moistened paper towel without burning your fingers.
I got this idea from a cue luthier, when I dumbfoundedly asked him how in the h*ll he was able to so-quickly remove a deep ding that'd just happened to one of my shafts. (When I presented the shaft to him in a pool room, he put his glasses on, analyzed the damaged area, turned around and went into his back room, came out a few moments later, and the ding was GONE! Yes, it was absolutely the same shaft, because of the unique grain pattern that I knew like the back of my hand, and the fact that the outline of the ding was still there, but the depression was gone, and he burnished it nicely.)
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
Personally, I wouldn't recommend using a clothes iron for this precision task. This is like using a machete for a scalpel. Rather, a fine tipped soldering iron, set to low heat (with the aid of a electric light dimmer, if the soldering iron itself doesn't have a variable heat setting) will allow you to focus the heat onto just the dented area, and no more. Even here, you'll want to use as small a piece of moistened paper towel as you can, folded over a couple of times to insulate the shaft from the intense focused heat of the soldering iron. Needle-nose pliers (or medical hemostats) are great for holding onto that folded moistened paper towel without burning your fingers.
I got this idea from a cue luthier, when I dumbfoundedly asked him how in the h*ll he was able to so-quickly remove a deep ding that'd just happened to one of my shafts. (When I presented the shaft to him in a pool room, he put his glasses on, analyzed the damaged area, turned around and went into his back room, came out a few moments later, and the ding was GONE! Yes, it was absolutely the same shaft, because of the unique grain pattern that I knew like the back of my hand, and the fact that the outline of the ding was still there, but the depression was gone, and he burnished it nicely.)
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the conservative action would be to let a drop of water on the ding overnight without the steam.
I think the drunk water trick is where they take the drunk's- yours:grin:- hand and put it in warm water. It is supposed to make the drunk- you:grin:- pee yourself.
I dunno about shaft dinging, that just sounds like a mean thing to do to a drunk, you!:grin::grin:
I dunno about shaft dinging, that just sounds like a mean thing to do to a drunk, you!:grin::grin:
You can buy a rounded piece of glass at any pool supply store. This is used to bring dents out of shafts. Put a drop of water on the dent and rub the glass back and forth as fast as you can. The friction will remove the dent. I did this on my predator shaft last nite. The dent was a real bad one from someone walking by and kicking my cue and it fell and hit the edge of the table. The dent is completely gone.
I wouldn't suggest that, since all you are doing is flattening the other parts of the cue to match the dent. Water is a much better idea.
I'm still not sure how that glass rod thing works, they sell one specifically for taking dents out of shafts. I don't think it be the right way to fix it.
I think I seen some videos on this on Youtube, just look for removing dents from wood.
I use to put a drop of water on the shaft once in awhile but it didn't work well. I tried it with a paper towel too. But I guess some people have had goo luck with it.
I did what someone else did and wrap the shaft with foil, but make a small hole where the dent is, then I steamed it with an Iron, I just pushed the steam button on my iron a few times. I let it dry for at least 24 hours before I use some 2000 grit sandpaper on the whole shaft. This has worked well for me. I read another thread where someone put a wet paper towel on the dent area, then he used a soldering iron and put the soldering iron on the paper towel where the dent was, this sounds like a good idea, I'll try it next time.
I think I seen some videos on this on Youtube, just look for removing dents from wood.
I use to put a drop of water on the shaft once in awhile but it didn't work well. I tried it with a paper towel too. But I guess some people have had goo luck with it.
I did what someone else did and wrap the shaft with foil, but make a small hole where the dent is, then I steamed it with an Iron, I just pushed the steam button on my iron a few times. I let it dry for at least 24 hours before I use some 2000 grit sandpaper on the whole shaft. This has worked well for me. I read another thread where someone put a wet paper towel on the dent area, then he used a soldering iron and put the soldering iron on the paper towel where the dent was, this sounds like a good idea, I'll try it next time.
Well some people may not believe that the glass works but like I said I did it on my predator shaft the other nite and it feels like brand new. So all Im saying is dont knock it until you try it.
The edge of a Bic lighter does the same thing as the borosilicate glass rod.
Its not a cool thing to do but it works as a quick fix in the pool hall.
Its not a cool thing to do but it works as a quick fix in the pool hall.
