Meucci Weight Bolt Question
- Thread starter DEGAMO88
- Start date
DEGAMO88 said:
Meucci, inconsistantly, glues in some weight bolts and doesn't on others. I have had luck removing most by chucking the butt firmly in the lathe and then taking a large screw driver that I have cut off very short and by mounting the screwdriver in the tail stock chuck I can put a lot of forward pressure on the screwdriver preventing it from popping out of the slotted weight bolt.I rock the lathe chuck back and forth and this will usually break it loose.
If this doesn't work then you have a much larger job to look forward to. You must center drill the weight bolt, drill into the weight bolt with a 1/4" or so drill bit and then using a boring bar, open the drilled hole up to slightly under 3/8 to a 1/2" depending on what weight bolt Meucci was using at that time. Once this is completed you can take a cheap 3/8 or 1/2" drill bit and bore a hole about 1" deep into the hole you had bored slightly undersize. The next step is to take your drill bit and turn it around in the tailstock chuck so that the stem is protruding. Slide this stem into the hole you just drilled, put your lathe in reverse and without locking your tailstock to the rails put hand pressure to the back of the tailstock and try pushing the stem of the drill into the weight bolt. This will cause a tremendous amount of friction between the drill stem and the weight bolt causing enough heat to break the glue down but not damage the cue. When you see the weight bolt get red, quit putting pressure on the back of the tailstock. When the pressure stops so does the friction and the drill bit and weight bolt will cool down and weld themseves to each other. Since the lathe is running in reverse and the tailstock is not locked down the weight bolt will now screw itself out of the cue.
I got this idea from Thomas Wayne a number of years ago for removing joint pins and it has worked succesfully a number of times for me. In fact, if it is a plastic jointed cue that needs a pin replaced, the first thing I do is cut the pin off almost flush with the joint. This way the finish doesn't get messed up from using a torch or heat gun to remove the pin.
Dick
meucci weight bolt
Try holding a soldering iron on the bolt. long enough to melt the glue. Then unscrew it...JERDEGAMO88 said:
Just a word to the wise, Sure some people know this, Most of the newer Meuccis I have worked on recently are full sleeved butt caps, but some of the originals have the weight bolt going through the butt cap. Sometimes the butt caps can spin off depending on the situation with some cues. I like to put some painters masking tape at the seams where the butt cap meets the buttsleeve/trim rings, and so on, just to be safe when removing a stuborn weight bolt.