5 years ago
Denatured alcohol will work fine to strip off the oils that build up, which make a shaft feel sticky and tacky. You will want to use this sparingly, and always apply it to a paper towel first and gently wipe the shaft with the paper towel. Don't soak the towel, just get a spot on it damp with alcohol and use it to quickly wipe down the area of the shaft where you stroke. Avoid wiping down any areas near the joint where there is a clear coat or lacquer finish because the alcohol can cause the finish to separate from the wood if the wood at the edge of the finish gets wet from the alcohol. It generally won't dissolve the finish, but rather cause the surface wood to expand briefly which can break apart the weak physical bond the finish has with the wood.
As far as a sealer goes, I have had fantastic luck with a water-based sealer I bought at Ace Hardware. It is a store brand product intended to seal wood prior to painting or finishing. It is milky colored, but dries clear and does a great job of filling the pores of the wood with a moisture-resistant sealer that helps keep chalk dust and oils out of the wood. I dab some on a paper towel and apply it to the stroke area of the shaft when it is spinning on the lathe. I usually do three very light coats letting each coat dry for 30 seconds between coats. I then like to very quickly flatten the sealer with 1000 grit paper, then I burnish the shaft for a few seconds with the backside of the paper (no grit, just paper backing) to get a super-smooth matte finish that isn't shiny. The dull matte finish is what glides so smoothly where a shiny finish drags on your hands if you have any moisture or sweat at all.
I am not a user of any wax products on the shaft. I personally think the waxes are a bad idea because they are soft and they allow dirt and chalk dust to stick into the soft waxes and build up quickly on the shaft. Initially they make an impressively-smooth finish, but I think they cause oil and contaminant buildup to happen faster than non-waxed shafts. I prefer to just use the water based sealer I described above because it dries hard and resists stuff that would stick in the softer waxes. Waxes are also affected by the heat of your hands and they get gooey and uneven when your cue gets warmed up. The water-based sealer seems to be stable at all temps and I haven't seen it move around or do anything else that is annoying.
Sanding shafts has its benefits and its drawbacks. I personally love a 600-grit finish on my shaft. It is rough enough to allow the shaft to glide, but smooth enough I can't quite feel the sanding scratches. Ironically, shafts glide over your hand easier when they actually have a fine texture on them. A glass-like shine drags on your hands much more than a dull finish. Sanding your shaft with a Mr Clean pad, or a Scotch Brite pad, or any fine sandpaper will quickly and easily strip the shaft of any buildup, but you'll also run the risk of removing wood from the shaft when you do this. This can cause the shaft to eventually become smaller in diameter. An effect called "hourglassing" happens where the ferrule is actually larger in diameter than the shaft measured a few inches back from the ferrule. You can use these abrasives to clean and prepare the surface texture of your shaft, but you'll want to carefully observe the color of the dust that collects on the papers or pads. Initially, you will see dust that is blue-green in color and rather gummy and clogs up the paper or pad due to the oil content in the dust. Clean the pads thoroughly several times during your sanding process. Watch the color and texture of the dust and as soon as it becomes whiter and more powdery and "dusty", you have removed all of the buildup on the surface of the wood and you have now reached the actual wood itself and you should discontinue any further abrasive cleaning. You can then apply a thin layer of the sealer and flatten and burnish it like I described above. You'll add about a thousandth of an inch to the diameter of the shaft, and that layer will actually grow another thousandth or two as oil and dirt builds back up on the shaft from normal use. If you are careful, you can develop a cleaning process using the abrasive pads or papers which just affects this layer of sealer and buildup and never affects the actual wood of the shaft. The key in this process is to watch the color of your dusts and stop when you get through the layer of sealer and buildup. This process can be repeated hundreds of times without reducing the diameter of the shaft. I am five years into using one of my super light and delicate Ultralite LD shafts which are not nearly as hard and resilient as maple shafts and I clean mine in this manner on a weekly basis. After five years of constant use and thousands of games later, my shaft is the same size as the day I finished it with no hourglassing at all.
Regardless of what methods you end up using, the best way will be whatever way leaves you with the finish you like the most. My way is certainly not the right way or the only way, it is just one way among millions of ways you can achieve some desirable results in shaft cleaning. Every player develops different personal preferences and you may end up liking the waxed finishes better. If you like it better, then it is better. The condition of your shaft plays a huge role in your mental game, and you should always use maintenance methods that give you the most satisfaction regardless of what anyone else tells you. I know a guy who uses nothing but Ronsonol lighter fluid on his shaft. His shaft is now royal blue because the lighter fluid dissolves the blue dye in the chalk and causes it to soak deeply into the wood. He gets a rag out and drenches it in lighter fluid and rubs it all down the whole shaft and it drips off the bottom. Smells like a charcoal barbecue grille. He had me turn the shaft down a few years ago and I was afraid the fumes coming off the shaft would ignite and blow up my shop. Every pass I made to remove some wood made my whole shop smell like lighter fluid. The wood was blue all the way to the core from the lighter fluid he had drenched it with for the last twenty years. I got the shaft done and finished the way I like to finish them and he hated it. He promptly got out his rag and bottle of lighter fluid and hosed the thing down outside my shop and when he was done he had a big toothless grin and said "That's much better!". He jumped in his truck and cackled as he took off down the road.
