Sand Your Shaft Or Not?

Pangit

Pangit

Banned
Granted, I'm not playing with some high priced Low Deflection shaft, but I sand both my playing/break cue shafts about once a week with a small piece of 2000 grit sandpaper...that fine of a sandpaper, the pores fill up quickly. Cleans it up nice, burnish it with the paper on the backside. It's as slick as bat crap.

Some say the shaft gets smaller. I'm sure it does, but it's sooo gradual...won't notice it.
 
when i played all the time ( between 300-365 days a yr) I would buy a good sneaky pete and I would play with it, break with it, use very fine sand paper (dollar bills) on my shaft, leave it in my car and so forth. I would replace the cue every 3-4 yrs with another such stick and either sell it or have it refurbish it and keep it if it was a favorite. I never had to replace a tip or ferrule or have any serious maintenance problems. Just one man's perspective.
 
Sanding definitely changes the taper and diameter of the shaft.

How much and how often you sand combined with how long you keep the cue will be the deciding factors.

After I get a shaft back from tip replacement/cleaning I seal it with wax then burnish.

When I'm out shooting if my hands feel sticky I wash them.
If its an all day tournament I may have to wash them several times.
With this combination I don't need to sand or use powder.

Hope this helps
 
Did as you wish but I can't imagine any reason you should need to sand a shaft weekly.
 
MoonshineMattK said:
Sanding definitely changes the taper and diameter of the shaft.

How much and how often you sand combined with how long you keep the cue will be the deciding factors.

After I get a shaft back from tip replacement/cleaning I seal it with wax then burnish.

When I'm out shooting if my hands feel sticky I wash them.
If its an all day tournament I may have to wash them several times.
With this combination I don't need to sand or use powder.

Hope this helps
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Just like he said, wash your hands if they get sticky, very good option and your shaft isn't getting sanded or the taper getting changed, also just buy a leather burnisher from seyberts.com, its like 3 bucks and does wonders to your shaft without taking wood off.
Jake​
 
Sanding your shaft this often is removing the sealer from it and exposing the bare wood to moisture in the air. If you are in a damp environment like PI, this could warp your shaft over time. IMO, there is no reason to sand your shaft on a weekly basis. Keep it sealed, keep it clean, and if it's not "slick" enough for you, try one of the "shaft slicker" or Shaft Ice type of wipe on products.
 
I use a Nowex Enviro cloth. It's one of the best microfiber cloths on the market and does wonders for my cue.

Just wipe it with the slightly damp cloth and all the chalk and grime come off in less than a minute.

Norwex-Enviro-Cleaning-Cloth-7137_image.jpg


My better half sells them and was quite amused when she found out where her supply was going.
 
I can't say what the best method for maintaining a shaft is, but I'd think sanding a shaft with sandpaper is pretty far down on the list. If you're gonna go that route the dollar bill method may be better, or perhaps some type of wood based paper might speed things up ("paper" currency is actually cloth not paper). But for me... I prefer to just clean the shaft and burnish it with glass.

In the past I would use a lightly damp soft cloth to clean it and then quickly dry the shaft surface by rubbing it with a clean dry microfiber cloth to generate a little heat, but then recently I took a hint from Az'ers and tried a dry or very slightly moist Magic Eraser and that works well to clean the shaft. Then I use an old shot glass or beer bottle to burnish the shaft. It feels pretty darn good when all is said and done, at least to me.

The glass is abrasive at a microscopic level, as might be the Magic Eraser. If you want to preserve a sealer that's on the shaft, those are probably a bad idea but I'm running bare wood... No sealer or wax. I'm not sure how much impact this has in wearing the shaft wood down over the long run, but I imagine it can't be much worse than talc powder or chalk. It's definitely not going to be as bad as sandpaper.
 
Sand Your Shaft Or Not?
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Mine? Not.

Hey, feel free to sand your shafts. If you sand mine you'll buy me a new one. :D

But seriously, 2000 grit is more like polishing than sanding. But even still, in general regular maintenance does not include abrasives in my mind.


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That's because its 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 grit sandpaper. My weekly cleaning routine was simply wipe the cue down with a damp cloth. Maybe once every 6 months clean off the built up grime with Magic Eraser, and then use the shaft paper to clean and polish.

Nowadays I just wait until the local cue repair guy runs a shaft cleaning special, usually at the beginning of the season, and let him do all the work. Plus he seals it, which stays cleaner than if I did it myself.

TheNewSharkster said:
Q-wiz is the best hands down

http://www.pooldawg.com/product/q-wiz-shaft-cleaner-and-polisher
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shaft maintance

scary sanding a shaft once a week or once a month.
i have clamy hands so i wear a glove half the time.
im right handed ,i only chalk with my right hand.
i use a pocket chalker it stays in my right front pants pocket.
i never want chalk on my bridge hand....................................................
and i try to use a straw in my drink.

when i re-tip a customers cue cleaning and resealing the shaft is part of the job.
solid maple shafts when cleaning the shaft its not about sanding the chalk off the shaft. its about cleaning the chalk out of shaft.
the best is not to let the chalk get embeddied in the wood to begin with.

A dollar bill is to coarse. dont sand !!!!!!!!!!!

i have the shaft in my lathe i use a shaft cleaning soap (dish soap)
then i use a fine cut polishing compuond on the shaft stipping the sealer or wax and smoothing the surface of the shaft.
i clean with soap then alcohol
then i reseal the shaft with hard yellow carnuba wax i really work the wax in to the wood after 10 min i spin the shaft to buff .
i tell me customers to wax about once a month and will even give the customer free wax.
as lond as the cue is sealed no chalk can get into the wood.

no wounder you are sanding so much. you opened the wood up you clean out the grain and you are filling the shaft full of gritty chalk.
if you dont have a lathe
buy a can of wax from the auto part store.
this what i use http://www.prowax.com/waxes/W-41_Yellow_Wax_Paste.html
this is the wax i use and it was pass down to me by the person i bought my lathe from .
MMike
 
ctyhntr said:
That's because its 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 grit sandpaper. My weekly cleaning routine was simply wipe the cue down with a damp cloth. Maybe once every 6 months clean off the built up grime with Magic Eraser, and then use the shaft paper to clean and polish.

Nowadays I just wait until the local cue repair guy runs a shaft cleaning special, usually at the beginning of the season, and let him do all the work. Plus he seals it, which stays cleaner than if I did it myself.
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4000, 6000, 8000 generally come as polishing sheets, not sandpaper.
Simple damp cloth followed by a dry one after playing will keep the shaft clean enough, no need to ever sand with 2000.

Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
 
Makes me wonder

What is the standard of smooth shaft for some of the posters here? Clean the shaft twice a year? Kidding right? I find that no matter how careful I am, my shaft ends up with some little dings after just a few hours of play. I am much like the princess and the pea. I have zero tolerance for feeling imperfections with my closed bridge fingers. And it doesn't take much of a divot to feel. I remove these with steam of some kind and smoothing the shaft again before sealing or burnishing requires some kind of abrasive. I don't see any way around it. I think I could sand on my shaft with worn 1500 grit for the rest of my natural life 24 hours a day 7 days a week and not wear it down enough to notice. If I'm wrong then so be it. I'll buy a new one. I simply cannot tolerate anything not like glass sliding through my fingers. And another observation, I don't think shafts laminated together from a bunch of scrap wood are as hard as solid shafts. Seems like my preds gather dings a lot easier than my solid ones.
 
metmot said:
I find that no matter how careful I am, my shaft ends up with some little dings after just a few hours of play.
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What the heck are you doing that you ding your shaft after just a few hours of play? You whack the side of your shaft into the rail or another ball every few hours? I don't want to sound like a complete jerk, but you might need some lessons if you can't go a few hours without banging the side of your cue shaft into something so hard that it creates a divot.

To the OP, sanding that often is bad, although at least you are using 2000 grit instead of 600, heh. Even so, constantly stripping the cue will expose the wood grain, it will suck in future chalk dust and feel very dry. Getting a pro to seal and condition it and then just keeping it clean after every play session would be a better plan.
 
PaulieB said:
What the heck are you doing that you ding your shaft after just a few hours of play? You whack the side of your shaft into the rail or another ball every few hours? I don't want to sound like a complete jerk, but you might need some lessons if you can't go a few hours without banging the side of your cue shaft into something so hard that it creates a divot.
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My guess is your smooth is not my smooth. I've checked out a lot of folks players over the years and almost never run one through my fingers that meets my standards. It amazes me what some people think is smooth. I think my wedding band may create some of them but it's staying put. Some thing are worth more than pool shafts.
 
Even 2000 grit removes wood. Use a slightly damp paper towel instead and keep your hands clean.
 
PaulieB said:
What the heck are you doing that you ding your shaft after just a few hours of play? You whack the side of your shaft into the rail or another ball every few hours? I don't want to sound like a complete jerk, but you might need some lessons if you can't go a few hours without banging the side of your cue shaft into something so hard that it creates a divot.

To the OP, sanding that often is bad, although at least you are using 2000 grit instead of 600, heh. Even so, constantly stripping the cue will expose the wood grain, it will suck in future chalk dust and feel very dry. Getting a pro to seal and condition it and then just keeping it clean after every play session would be a better plan.
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I agree somewhat. I never get ding's in my cue. If I'm not playing with it...it's in my case. I NEVER lean it against the wall or anything else. It's far easier and less heartache to screw and unscrew and keep your baby protected. I see "high priced" cues hit the floor frequently at closing time. After one has indulged for the evening.

Sandpaper, 2000 grit. the pores are so small in the sandpaper, fills up quickly, and likewise fills the pores in the shaft quickly, all the while polishing. Burnish with the paper on the reverse.... No need to re-invent the wheel.
 
ctyhntr said:
That's because its 2000, 4000, 6000 and 8000 grit sandpaper. My weekly cleaning routine was simply wipe the cue down with a damp cloth. Maybe once every 6 months clean off the built up grime with Magic Eraser, and then use the shaft paper to clean and polish.

Nowadays I just wait until the local cue repair guy runs a shaft cleaning special, usually at the beginning of the season, and let him do all the work. Plus he seals it, which stays cleaner than if I did it myself.
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Its not sand paper and from what I can tell after years of use it hasn't changed the width of my cue. Granted you need to use it properly (i.e. don't use lots of pressure. Just try and create friction).
 
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