shaft cleaning

Bustah360

Bustah360

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been using alcohol to take off chalk and grime. After drying with rag I use another rag to apply clear trewax paste and burnish with porper leatherpad. The old chool way sort of speak. Question I have is that feel like more grime and chalk get on the shafts even easier now. Is there anything I can do something about that?
 
I would recommend that you have your cue shaft cleaned and sealed by a competent cue smith. Then, it's really a matter of wiping it down instead of needing alcohol to clean it.

Wax just attracts the dirt and chalk. A cue shaft needs to be sealed to keep it clean. Wax can be applied on top of that sealer, but wax should not replace the sealer. Using a solvent like alcohol just removes any sealer that's already there, and once it's gone you don't have anything to keep out the dirt and chalk.

On a properly sealed shaft, you can keep it clean by simply wiping it down with a damp paper towel, and then buffing it with a dry paper towel. I usually do this when I'm done playing for the night, and my shafts always feel smooth and clean.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
Getting to a cuemaker can a pain. Not as many as I'd like around. Most of the time, I'm dropping them off and picking up the shafts like a week later. Is there any way I can apply a simple sealer at home without the use of a lathe? Even if for a temporary fix until I do have time to bring to them; minimizing the trips to a cuemaker?
 
Yes you can, but it really depends on what you know, and what tools you have.

You should be able to find "Lacquer Sanding Sealer" at the local Home Depot or equivalent. If you can spin the cue shaft to apply it, it's much easier. If not, just rub it in being careful to keep it from building up more in some spots than others. You'll want to apply several coats to get it built up, and you'll also want to make sure you have all the wax and other junk off before you apply.

Once you have a decent coat on, you'll need to smooth it out with some sand paper or a scotch brite pad. I would use 600 grit or so, but you don't want to sand through it. The goal is to get it flat. Then 800, and then maybe even 1200 or 1500.

You can go with a wax after that if it feels better to you. Not too much though.

To clean it, just wipe it down after you play. I use a damp paper towel followed by a dry one. You will be amazed at what the damp towel will remove.

Try that and see how it works.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
Clean
Seal
Wax

In that order. I have a short u tube video showing how to do it on a lathe.
You can do it by hand, but it will be more time consuming for sure.
 
Bustah360 said:
I've been using alcohol to take off chalk and grime. After drying with rag I use another rag to apply clear trewax paste and burnish with porper leatherpad. The old chool way sort of speak. Question I have is that feel like more grime and chalk get on the shafts even easier now. Is there anything I can do something about that?
Click to expand...

If you want to do this yourself, at least get a high speed drill and a lathe pin that fits your shaft and clean and seal it like you would on a lathe. You really need to use shaft sealer before the wax if you want to cut down on how much chalk the shaft takes on. Also get a good cue wax and you will find out most other waxes do not even come close to giving the same results.
 
RBC said:
Yes you can, but it really depends on what you know, and what tools you have.

You should be able to find "Lacquer Sanding Sealer" at the local Home Depot or equivalent. If you can spin the cue shaft to apply it, it's much easier. If not, just rub it in being careful to keep it from building up more in some spots than others. You'll want to apply several coats to get it built up, and you'll also want to make sure you have all the wax and other junk off before you apply.

Once you have a decent coat on, you'll need to smooth it out with some sand paper or a scotch brite pad. I would use 600 grit or so, but you don't want to sand through it. The goal is to get it flat. Then 800, and then maybe even 1200 or 1500.

You can go with a wax after that if it feels better to you. Not too much though.

To clean it, just wipe it down after you play. I use a damp paper towel followed by a dry one. You will be amazed at what the damp towel will remove.

Try that and see how it works.

Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
Click to expand...


Wow! Thx! Looks like I got a project ahead of me. That's cool, I actually enjoy cue maintenance. Its really a shame that I live in Manhattan, so trying to get into cue repair or even thinking of learning to construct my own is extremely hard when you live in a shoe box of an apt.
 
cueman said:
If you want to do this yourself, at least get a high speed drill and a lathe pin that fits your shaft and clean and seal it like you would on a lathe. You really need to use shaft sealer before the wax if you want to cut down on how much chalk the shaft takes on. Also get a good cue wax and you will find out most other waxes do not even come close to giving the same results.
Click to expand...

High speed drill huh? What amount of power would you suggest? I can always shop at home depot if its not too expensive. The only thing about that is, how would I position the drill with shaft in order to do this? I can always call my buddy Curtis Robertson (made my cues) and get a pin from him. Just wouldn't know how to keep it stationary.
 
cuejo said:
Clean
Seal
Wax

In that order. I have a short u tube video showing how to do it on a lathe.
You can do it by hand, but it will be more time consuming for sure.
Click to expand...

Can you post a link to the video for me to check out? Thx!
 
I know I'm being a pain in the ass, but I've heard several people bring up the scotch brite pads. Only question I have is which ones? I see different grades and types to buy. Not sure which would be the right pack to use on my shafts. Getting sandpaper is easy. Local hardware store, mention the grit number you're looking for; done.

Would it be using the scotch brite initially and then apply the different grades of sandpaper grit? Or was it a suggestion of one or the other? Just wanna be right. Shafts cost too much damned money, lol!
 
I'm sure RBC knows alot more about this than I do, and even though he mentioned the scotch brite pad I bet he would also recomend using them with extreme caution and in very small doses, they eat up maple fast, and I've seen more than a few nice shafts ruined by them, or at least by people who used them way too much.
 
Renegade_56 said:
I'm sure RBC knows alot more about this than I do, and even though he mentioned the scotch brite pad I bet he would also recomend using them with extreme caution and in very small doses, they eat up maple fast, and I've seen more than a few nice shafts ruined by them, or at least by people who used them way too much.
Click to expand...


You're right Renegade, the scotchbrite pads can be a bit aggressive. I guess I should have mentioned the finest you can get, but at least I did mention that you don't want to sand through the sealer. So, if you don't go through the sealer, then you won't get any shaft wood.

It really is allot easier to do on a lathe!


Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
Contact Richard Hsu, NYC Cuemaker

I haven't played with a Richard Hsu cue yet and really don't know much about him but I do see him at the SBE every year so maybe you can reach out to him for your clean/repair issues:

Richard J Hsu
Tel: 917.603.6630
Email: RJHCues@aol.com

or

Skyline Billiard Club
2515 McDonald Avenue.
Brooklyn, New York 11223
Tel: 718.627.3407
 
I clean mine with a dry Magic eraser. Wipe it down with a soft cloth and finish with a brisk leather rub down just enough to warm the wood up. No sealers,sand paper or wax.Simple and takes 5 minutes.
And I do this often so the shaft is never very dirty.
 
measureman said:
I clean mine with a dry Magic eraser. Wipe it down with a soft cloth and finish with a brisk leather rub down just enough to warm the wood up. No sealers,sand paper or wax.Simple and takes 5 minutes.
And I do this often so the shaft is never very dirty.
Click to expand...

Not sure what dry magic eraser is.
 
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