Shaft Cleaning, Sealing, & Waxing

rburgoyne

rburgoyne

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I know this topic has been discussed to death many times, and I don't really have any questions, although if I did anything wrong or could do something better, I'd be grateful for any pointers. I have read a lot about this topic and bought some stuff a while back so I decided to try the whole process last night.

I bought a 3/8x10 male adapter that fits into my cordless Dewalt drill. I used the drill on low speed and forward motion. The drill made things pretty simple once I got use to it.

I have shaft cleaner and sealer from Chris Hightower, but I was scared to follow his instructions with 400 & 600 grit, so I started with 800 grit to get the majority of the blue off, followed by a magic eraser. I used a piece of paper towel after each sanding step to ensure no dust was left on the shaft.

Once the majority was gone, I applied the shaft cleaner with a paper towel and followed it up with another pass of 800 grit.

Next I applied the shaft sealer and let it dry for about 30 seconds, then lightly sanded it with 1200 grit. The shaft was pretty smooth at this point. I was tempted to use a finer grit, but decided against it.

Lastly I applied two coats of Butchers Bowling alley wax, buffing it off with a cloth diaper after each coat.

I did about 4 shafts and all of them came out clean and slick when I was done. Only one had a lot of bluing when I started, and it’s not perfectly clean, but it’s close and feels the same thickness as when I started. By the 4th shaft I was able to do everything in 5-10 minutes. Hopefully my steps were accurate! :D
 
I dont use sand paper to remove the bluing... I rarely use sand paper at all.... I first use denatured alcohol to clean....
 
rburgoyne said:
I bought a 3/8x10 male adapter that fits into my cordless Dewalt drill. I used the drill on low speed and forward motion. The drill made things pretty simple once I got use to it.
Click to expand...

Where did you buy this adapter?

I have been meaning to buy one.

I saw a deal on e-Bay, but can't find it now. You could buy one of a particular type or buy a set of three...a 5/16-14, a 3/8-10, and another common size.

If I could find the link, I'd buy a complete set.

In edit: I found this set, but it isn't the one I'm looking for. The original link I found looked to be better designed.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-PIECE-ST...drill-or-lathe-pool-cue-repairs-/273593155404
 
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HawaiianEye said:
Where did you buy this adapter?

I have been meaning to buy one.

I saw a deal on e-Bay, but can't find it now. You could buy one of a particular type or buy a set of three...a 5/16-14, a 3/8-10, and another common size.

If I could find the link, I'd buy a complete set.
Click to expand...

I bought a couple on eBay, but they didn't fit my drill chuck, so I ended up buying some from Cue Man billiards. https://www.cuesmith.com/lathe-pins.html
 
IANACM (I am not a cue maker), but, I'm interested in this topic, and stumbled across this yesterday, on the Predator web site:


SHAFT MAINTENANCE. To clean your Predator shaft, use a towel slightly dampened with rubbing alcohol. After cleaning, use a leather burnisher or similar material to seal the shaft. Using a Carnuba wax may also help to seal the shaft and protect it from moisture. To avoid damage, do not sand the shaft; no abrasive is necessary. Do not expose the shaft to excessive moisture and do not steam it to remove dings. Importantly, do not use any water-based cleaner.
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The full page is here:

SPLICED MAPLE, BREAK, AND JUMP SHAFT CARE INSTRUCTIONS

I was thinking that for chalk, use of a clay, as is used in automotive paint detailing work, might work well.

Now, how to make, or where to get an appropriate leather burnisher?

I also need lathe adapters. @rburgoyne ones that don't fit your drill - available?
 
Clean, seal, wax.

I'd like to extend the discussion in this thread, if the OP doesn't mind. I just received the used Lucasi cue I bought, with three shafts; and I have a Schmelke R040 Cocobolo Sneaky Pete that I'd like to maintain.

The shafts I have that are a bit dirty seem to have dirt or chalk in the grain, embedded in the porous parts of the wood. Rubbing with a cloth wetted with alcohol didn't help a lot. I was thinking of using car paint detailing clay to pull the dirt out. Or maybe, coat it with Elmer's glue, let it dry, then peel it off - hopefully pulling the dirt out.

I don't want to burnish and wax until I have the dirt pulled out.

Thoughts?
 
HQueen said:
You coat your shaft with glue and you won’t be peeling it off.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it.

It there is chalk way down deep in the wood, I'm not sure you could ever get it out without sanding the shaft down to get to it. That makes the shaft thinner and a lot of people aren't going to do that if they like their shaft the way it is.

If it is really deep, I'm not sure you could ever get it totally clean without winding up with a toothpick.

There possibly is some sort of "chemical", like a bleaching agent, that would lighten it where it is less noticeable, but I don't know what that would do to your shaft.
 
You can get most of the blue out with steam.

Wet a hand towel or wash cloth in soapy dish water like you would wash dishes in and wring it out well.

Lay it flat on a counter top and lay your shaft on it.

Fold it over the shaft and then roll it with an iron set to the highest temp.

Do it quickly so it steams but doesn't have time to work the heat into the wood much.

If you do it right the wood will not feel wet after removing the cloth after a few seconds.

This will also steam out all your little dings.

Sand Lightly with 400 or 600 grit in a lathe or drill and then seal with sanding sealer. Very little wood will be removed.

Burnish and wax.

People will say this is crazy because you will warp the shaft.

I've done this a hundred times at least and no shaft has warped.

I don't think I would do this with a laminated shaft.

Your mileage may vary
 
Thanks guys. There's this green goopy stuff used to clean keyboards, and also for interior car detailing. It's kinda like playgough, but more translucent. I might try that - zero risk, and it might pull the dirt out. (If I can find it around the house.)
 
When you get a NEW SHAFT use Cue Wax on it, when is smoothness relax, Problem solved. Funny this was I do this like every two to three months, no problems. Heat the plastic container in Radar Range 5 minutes, apply when soft & cool, with old soft t-shirt, let sit 20 minutes, buff with clean old TSHIRT. Life is simple,.:wink:
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
When you get a NEW SHAFT use Cue Wax on it, when is smoothness relax, Problem solved. Funny this was I do this like every two to three months, no problems. Heat the plastic container in Radar Range 5 minutes, apply when soft & cool, with old soft t-shirt, let sit 20 minutes, buff with clean old TSHIRT. Life is simple,.:wink:
Click to expand...

I really don't understand that message. How does advising me how to treat a new shaft help cleaning these used ones?

And, what is "cue wax?" Is it like someone re-packaging, in a tiny container, some Carnuba wax and charging 100 times what it normally costs?

For new I would follow Predator's instructions - burnish and wax, with Carnuba wax.
 
The gooey stuff I was thinking of is Cyber Clean. My supply was all dried up, so I made some home-made stuff. It didn't pull the dirt out.

Next thing I'll try, I think, is oxalic acid. Just enough water with the crystals to make a paste, apply, let it sit a few minutes, clean it off. Damp cloth to rinse, then some backing soda solution to neutralize, dry with cloth, then alcohol to take up the moisture; burnish, wax done.
 
rburgoyne said:
I know this topic has been discussed to death many times, and I don't really have any questions, although if I did anything wrong or could do something better, I'd be grateful for any pointers. I have read a lot about this topic and bought some stuff a while back so I decided to try the whole process last night.

I bought a 3/8x10 male adapter that fits into my cordless Dewalt drill. I used the drill on low speed and forward motion. The drill made things pretty simple once I got use to it.

I have shaft cleaner and sealer from Chris Hightower, but I was scared to follow his instructions with 400 & 600 grit, so I started with 800 grit to get the majority of the blue off, followed by a magic eraser. I used a piece of paper towel after each sanding step to ensure no dust was left on the shaft.

Once the majority was gone, I applied the shaft cleaner with a paper towel and followed it up with another pass of 800 grit.

Next I applied the shaft sealer and let it dry for about 30 seconds, then lightly sanded it with 1200 grit. The shaft was pretty smooth at this point. I was tempted to use a finer grit, but decided against it.

Lastly I applied two coats of Butchers Bowling alley wax, buffing it off with a cloth diaper after each coat.

I did about 4 shafts and all of them came out clean and slick when I was done. Only one had a lot of bluing when I started, and it’s not perfectly clean, but it’s close and feels the same thickness as when I started. By the 4th shaft I was able to do everything in 5-10 minutes. Hopefully my steps were accurate! :D
Click to expand...
I feel like some clarification needs made on sandpaper grits. My suggestions for 400 and 600 grit are for the old style 3M black wet dry sand paper and not these new fast cut sandpapers made for wood. A modern 400 grit purple sandpaper cuts more like 220 in the older 3M wet dry paper. I have some 1000 grit that feels more like the old wet dry 400. I do not know why this is happening but things have changed.
 
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cueman said:
I feel like some clarification needs made on sandpaper grits. My suggestions for 400 and 600 grit are for the old style 3M black wet dry sand paper and not these new fast cut sandpapers made for wood. A modern 400 grit purple sandpaper cuts more like 220 in the older 3M wet dry paper. I have some 1000 grit that feels more like the old wet dry 400. I do not know why this is happening but things have changed.
Click to expand...

Good point, I've noticed that, too.
 
cueman said:
I feel like some clarification needs made on sandpaper grits. My suggestions for 400 and 600 grit are for the old style 3M black wet dry sand paper and not these new fast cut sandpapers made for wood. A modern 400 grit purple sandpaper cuts more like 220 in the older 3M wet dry paper. I have some 1000 grit that feels more like the old wet dry 400. I do not know why this is happening but things have changed.
Click to expand...

Thank you Chris, I appreciate the clarification. I'm not a wood worked by any means, so I had no idea grit levels had changed. I bought an assortment of sandpaper from Amazon so I had different grit levels to try. I will be extra cautious and test before using anything lower than the 800 they provided.
 
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