You neglected to state what brand/type of cue you're wanting to remove the Uni pin from. It makes a difference because if the pin is set in phenolic, such as with a newer Predator, my recommendation is to bore it out with carbide tooling. Good equipment and extreme caution are necessary.
If the pin is set into wood, heat alone will get the job done. Again, extreme caution is necessary.
The hole does not necessarily need to be plugged. The pin that is going back in is larger the the one coming out. Just re-drill/tap the hole for the new pin.
Oh, I almost forgot about the SS collar.
The Uni pin joint is of the piloted type. Removing the collar in favor of phenolic or whatever will shorten the cue by the amount of depth of the pilot recess.
In this case, approx. .250". You'll also lose approx. 1oz in wght. from the joint.
Hope this helps.
