Pia Filler hates wood shafts

You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.
 
… for a really bad, sharp edge ding I use a little light sandpapering to expose the wood cells, then hit it repeatedly with a Q-tip that's just been dipped in boiling water -- dant't take but a few minutes.
While we're sharing techniques, here's mine.

I tear a small piece from a paper towel, wet it, and ball it up to about the size of a BB, but not so much that all of the water is squeezed out. I place that in the ding of the shaft, with the shaft laid on a table. I wait 30+ minutes for the shaft to absorb water from the paper towel. The goal is for the ding's surface to swell to a level slightly higher than the surrounding wood. For most dings, one session with a "paper towel BB" is enough, but for bigger dings, it might take another session or two. Once the ding is raised and the shaft is dry, I use a smooth shot glass to knock the wood at the ding back down to match that which surrounds it. Finally, I use a square of leather to burnish the shaft. The end result is a shaft that looks, feels, and measures like brand new. Total labor is typically five minutes or less, but the whole process, including wait times, is about an hour.

I don't use heat or sandpaper.

I don't know if the method I use would work with a torrefied wood shaft. I have my doubts, but it might.
 
You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.

At one time or another I have dinged almost every shaft I own and I guarantee you would not be able to tell nor spot where I've removed a ding.

Lou Figueroa
 
I see about as many CF shafts and wood shafts in my shop, so they are far from indestructible. If you go back and listen to the original promo video Predator made for the Revo line of shafts, Pia is basically just parroting those claims, so this is nothing more than marketing in a more personal form. The constant comparison to tennis rackets, golf clubs and hockey sticks is a bit dishonest, as none of these pieces of sports equipment have a high focus on feel and feedback. I think a more fair comparison would be instruments where feel is essential and if you have a look there, Carbon fiber has made very little inroads in the music instrument market..
If you prefer wood or carbon fiber, they both have advantages and disadvantages, saying categorically that one is better like Pia (and Predator) does is just not true. It really depends on what features you emphasis.
 
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Wood is not advertised as being indestructable
never heard cf shafts advertised as 'indestructible'. love to see that ad. are you really so gullible? who told you this? Even Pred has never been so stupid to say that. 'Significantly more durable than wood' That's on their site pard. Please.
 
You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.
i've fixed a few 'craters' by sanding some maple into epoxy and then fill the mark. its visible but they never came apart. for regular dings i prefer using spit and a toothpick. put a dab in the dent, wait, repeat til level. slower than steam but in my experience a better fix. this way you only pull the dent, steam can pull the wood around the dent, making the fix even harder.
 
Nobody claimed otherwise.

What was said was that carbon fiber shafts are not impervious to damage, and repairing that damage is not trivial. It was also stated that removing dings from wood shafts in a non-destructive way (e.g., no sanding) is very easy and requires very little time. (The method I use is probably the slowest, and even it usually only requires about an hour, the overwhelming majority of that time spent waiting.)
Stop it. They aren't even in the same category for durability.
Screenshot_20260727-113016.jpg
 
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