cueman said:
I have not tried the nail polish yet, but it sounds like to should work. But I have used the super glue repairs many times. If it is compatible putting a drop of the thin super glue and allowing it to go up under the surrounding edges of finish will help the bond. Then after that is dry I would use the super glue gel and fill the hole up. Let that dry. Sand and buff. It is risky using super glue as it can frost and turn the old finish white around those edges.
This is how I do It It also, It's not fool proof by a long shot. but the thin CA has a better chance of getting under the lifted part of the finish, re-bonding it to the cue, and blending It in then the thicker stuff does, so I always start with thin, and try to get it wet with CA under those areas on the first shot, although if It needs a lot of fill, then I'll come behind that with something thicker or a gel to speed the filling process up some.
The frosting/whitening/hazing is what can cause problems, especially If it happens early on during the fill process. That's one reason I Don't recommend people trying It Themselves. If It happens on one of the first applications, then It can open up a huge can of worms, and continuing to fill over top of It only locks It into the finish. If It happens near the top of the fill then It's much easier to deal with.
Sanding is a whole other set of circumstances. It's very easy to sand through some finishes trying to level the filled area out. The last One I did was in the forearm of a black cue, It was chipped out in 2 placing on a brand new cue, and the paint came out too, so you could see the maple, and had to re-dye those spots black again, then fill over. Well after doing that, and getting It leveled out, I ended up not getting the last coat on as smooth as I usually do, and had 2 little lumps. I started to sand the tops, and the thought came to mind that if I just continued doing this, I'm more then likely gonna run into trouble when I start hitting the good part of the finish, as It had become obvious If I kept going the way I was that I would end up getting into the good part of the finish before getting the edges of the lumps leveled out. That was more sanding then I wanted to do, So I used a razor blade in a pull stroke motion that's kind of hard to explain, but I have a lot of control over the blade that way, and was able to shave the edges flush without touching the good part of the finish. I just took My time with that part, and It came out so good, that I was able to blend the filled areas with the finish very easily by only using 600g and up. Then just touched the spot up with 2 different scratch compounds, buffed and polished.
There's several things to watch out for, the one's already mentioned, but I don't recommend anyone doing what I did with that razor, I use them like that all the time for many different things, so I have some what of an acquired feel and control over them that maybe not everyone would have. Therefore I would never suggest someone trying that on a new cue. Especially without ever seeing it done in person. Heck It's not even smart for Me to being doing It even though It works for me, because One slip, or not having the blade pitched perfectly is all It takes to dig in, and that could happen to even the best of them I imagine.
Another thing to beware of, and a questionable thought, Is do I have the ability to buff the finish out correctly? Some finishes are easily buffed with a couple of compounds on hand, others require a little more to get completely buffed back out. Some are flat out a pain in the Butt. Also some finishes are not as clear as CA to begin with, so although It's still a close match, and You may have to look hard to see It, You can still see where there's a spot clearer then the rest of the cue.
I guess what I'm getting at is, Yes It can be done rather easily if everything goes Your way, but things can also get really bad, really quickly if You don't see the trouble coming round the bend ahead of time.:wink:
