Keeping the Maple clean

Slasher

Slasher

KE = 0.5 • m • v2
Silver Member
My question is how do you keep the maple clean when you are final sanding the cue, the darker wood and phenolics tend to stain the maple somewhat, any tips would be much appreciated, thanks.
 
I sand towards the phenolic and not back over the maple, using a different section of the sandpaper with each pass. I only sand the wood to 320 anyway and the coarser sandpapers won't trap the dust like the fine ones will.

I go back and resand my rings only because of the silver to 600. Any inlays that have silver, I'll also sand to 600 or 1000 without the cue spinning.

You can also blow air while sanding, but I don't have enough hands to hold the air hose and the sandpaper. Denatured Alcohol will clean some out too.
 
Thanks Tony, good tips. I have been careful as you say sanding away from the maple and using clean pieces. Will the alcohol effect any of the glues ?
 
I've never had a problem, but the only glue I have that the alcohol will come in contact with is Two Ton Epoxy. It's not as strong as Acetone, which will eat some glues.
 
Acetone and West System is a pretty fair fight, but the West System usually wins.

West System also holds up to Parks Pro Strip paint stripper.

Can you guess which glue I prefer to use?:D

Anyway, good tips! Alcohol is typically safe for everything, but ALWAYS test, as it might pull stain from veneers for example...
 
Tony Zinzola said:
I sand towards the phenolic and not back over the maple, using a different section of the sandpaper with each pass. I only sand the wood to 320 anyway and the coarser sandpapers won't trap the dust like the fine ones will.

I go back and resand my rings only because of the silver to 600. Any inlays that have silver, I'll also sand to 600 or 1000 without the cue spinning.

You can also blow air while sanding, but I don't have enough hands to hold the air hose and the sandpaper. Denatured Alcohol will clean some out too.
Click to expand...

i crank my air comp up to 120 and wedge the nozzle into my toolpost holder
like tony said, i didnt have enough hands to sand properly AND work the air :D
 
Slasher said:
My question is how do you keep the maple clean when you are final sanding the cue, the darker wood and phenolics tend to stain the maple somewhat, any tips would be much appreciated, thanks.
Click to expand...

Don't do what some newbies do. NEVER WET SAND BARE WOOD. Only wet sand PAINT. The clearcoat can & should be wet sanded, but the water only carries dirt into the open pores, with unpainted bare wood...JER
 
I use a sanding sealer in between grits as I prep the cue for clearcoat . Also as Tony stated go towards the rings , especially if black linen is used ... I put many coats of sealer and progressively sand them until I know the surface is level . This insures an easy application of clearcoat with no surprises . Some of the guys have seen the cues as I remove from spray booth and they wonder why I wetsand and buff out at all ... You may not see the hi - lo spots , but they are there ... Also when you look down the cue it is smooth and level , not like water on a windy day ...:cool:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top