Shaft dents.

Blue Hog ridr

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
I have a shaft with a considerable amount of dents in it. The person who uses it, often whacks her cue on the table when she misses a shot.
I don't have a steam gun yet. Other than the individual bandage method, is there a way to remove multiple dents on a shaft using a lathe a little more quickly?
Thanks in advance.
Terry.
 
I use small pieces of wet toilet paper, roll it into balls while wet and place over the dent and wait for it to swell then sand them down, you could do one side at a time.
 
try a soldering gun

with a flat tip. First prepare the dent crater with gentle pin priks to open the surface up to accept the moisture. Then use a small 1 inch square of paper towel folded over a few times and soaked with water. Place the wet towel on the dent using a corner of the towel so you know exactly where that dent is. Then pull the trigger on the gun and let the tip heat, touch the tip to the paper towel which is on top of the dent. It will hiss and steam out the dent in seconds. I have a steam gun, and quit using it after I tried this method. The steam is more localized with a solder gun, and it raises even the most stubborn dents. And you never have to wait for a steam gun to heat up.
 
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I lay a wet paper towel over the dent & stick a hot iron to it. The dent will steam out. In most cases, the stretched will will cause the dent to become a bump when steamed out, so it'll need to be scraped or sanded back to flush. Pull all the dents & then hit the shaft lightly with 400 grit to flush everything up smooth, then proceed with the repolishing the shaft as you normally would. 400 grit will not remove any measureable amount of material unless you really overdo it, but it will be enough to knock down the bumps from steaming. I do this regularly with no ill consequences. I have done it to my own playing shaft dozens of times & it hasn't lost any reasonably measurable diameter. It began as a 13.05mm shaft & still is a 13.05mm shaft.
 
Thanks guys, I will try both ways. I have a small flat hobby iron that for RC airplane monocoat that will work just fine that way.
 
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I think I will. Shes a team mate so not charging for the lathe time.
Cost her a beer tho.

PS - Thanks for the private PMs too guys, I appreciate the help.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
I have a shaft with a considerable amount of dents in it. The person who uses it, often whacks her cue on the table when she misses a shot.
I don't have a steam gun yet. Other than the individual bandage method, is there a way to remove multiple dents on a shaft using a lathe a little more quickly?
Thanks in advance.
Terry.
Click to expand...

i've got them out by using a wet/damp rag
flying on lathe full speed,
provides enough friction / heat / steam to raise them
then sand lightly with 400 or 600

CAUTION: rag will get so friggin HOT it'll burn you
i use a piece of leather around the rag :wink:
DO NOT DO THIS WITH A LAMINATED SHAFT LIKE PREDATOR :eek:
and then charge her enough , 6 beers oughtta do it
to make it sting a little, maybe she'll quit that
 
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I've had good luck with wrapping the shaft in a damp paper towel and leaving for a few hours to dry. Any dents that don't come out I fill with a dab of cyano.
I had tried using a steamer years ago. Didn't have too much success. The soldering iron method sounds interesting. Will have to give it a try.
 
> I use 2 variations on the above methods.

The first is very similar to Brent's,using a sponge instead of a rag.

I use a little piece of paper towel or for bad dents,a clean cotton (untreated) gun cleaning patch,slightly moistened. I used a soldering iron with a flat tip at first to heat it,but it died.

I then started using a cheap stainless butter knife that I bent slightly and ground down,and heated that with one of those butane "pocket torch" lighters.

Now,I just heat it up with a regular lighter. Much less heat=less chance of overdoing it,and ending up with a bigger problem.

Unless the owner is a "whacker",most of the dents I see now come out during my cleaning process. Tommy D.
 
looks as if we all have the "dent" fix covered

and then there's the "gouges, gashes, craters" that wont pop out
just recently, my own personal cue, while i was getting a beer at the bar, was moved from where i left it in a safe spot.
some ol lady saw fit to move it.
when i got back to the pool room at the back of the bar, there it was , laying on the floor.
she didnt even bother to pick it up. :mad:
but, i wasnt gonna yell at a 80 year old woman
she'd prolly kicked my ass anyway :grin:

it had hit the sharp edge of a table
real bad deeppppp gouge

and being a predator shaft, i knew i couldn't ever use heat to get it out
even it wasnt a predator, it was too deep to pop out with any of the above mentioned methods

not wanting to sand my shaft down to a pencil,
would have lost over a millimeter at least,
so i had to fill it

i used 5 minute epoxy
sanded smooth and superglued the whole shaft to fill all the rest of those little nicks
sanded all the superglue off
it's like new again,
well, that may be a bit of a stretch :grin:

the gouge can be seen,
but not felt, which is the important thing
 
Thanks Brent, thats also good to know. With all the laminated shafts out there, a person is bound to run into it sooner or later.
 
The iron and wet rag works really well. I just hate having to wait on the iron to cool off. I was doing that methond back in the 80's at a pro tournament and another repairman/player came up and told me about the steam guns. I liked the steam gun better even though it took a few seconds longer to remove dents. I just wish that they still made the one I could get back then. The ones now are not quite as good, but still do a decent job.
 
Use a Weller gun, Model 8200N

It takes seconds to reach temp and cools fast too, especially using the accessory tip with a thin flat blade. I would never have the patience to wait on a constant hot iron to warm up, or cool down. And the Wellers are cheap too. Mine is 40 yrs old and still works great.
 
In a pinch, I've used a small damp paper towel and a microwave. You do have to be careful not to burn yourself.
 
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