Slicking McDermott shaft

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mowing machine

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I just got a new McDermott several weeks ago. I noticed that the shaft wasn't as smooth as it was when I first got it so I tried to smooth it. I used a Mr Clean magic spunge and then tried to burnish it with a brown paper. The problem is is that all it did was make it even worse. Now the shaft has a slightly rough feel. It isn't even close to as smooth as when I first got it. Did I mess my shaft up? What should I do to make it smooth?
 
Try using a piece of 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper (lightly). Then burnish it with a piece of smooth leather. This should smooth the shaft up a bite for ya. Hope this helps.
Jeff
 
Well, don't use the ME unless you are going for a deep clean. Just use a pack of Q-smooth or Q-wiz on it now to smooth it back out. Wipe the shaft down with a microfiber cloth after you are done playing to keep it cleaner. What I usually do when the shaft is not as smooth is wipe the shaft down with the microfiber cloth and than polish/burnish with a porper shaft polisher. Q-wiz's lighter side works very good as well. Use the darker side of the q-wiz only if needed and even if needed, use conservatively as it is quite abrasive in my book.

After using the ME, use a pack of Q-smooth on it and than burnish with a piece of leather. The burnishing closes the pores of the wood in turn sealing it from outside moisture and elements, keeping the nature of the wood more stable as well as giving it that silky smooth feeling.

Also, how did you use the ME and what did you use with it? Tell us the entire process of how you cleaned your shaft, so we can pin point what you can do to help your situation.

It is best to use the ME dry or with denature alcohol but after wetting it with denature alcohol, sqeeze all the excess out of the ME. You want as little moisture on the shaft as possible.

Hope this helps.

Happy shooting! :)

Chino
 
take a few puffs in a brown paper bag... the shaft is fine:thumbup:

superfine sandpaper 1000+ grit... very very rarely (like once or twice a year) will clean off all deposits...

If you use the super sand paper.. (the kind that comes on plastic film and barely feels rough... you can smooth and remove dirt while barely touching the wood...

the more powder you use the more frequently you will need to do this..

powder/chalk/that mound the bangers use to look like Pablo Escabar

unfortunately that powder IS needed in extreme humidity conditions...

but it really should be a last resort...

the less you use it the longer your shaft will feel nice...

and less maintenance will be required..

hope that helps..:wink:
 
I didn't have any alcohol so I used the ME dry. I made the mistake of thinking that the ME would make it smooth again. Thanks for the help. I am going to get a pack of q-smooth and the porper shaft polisher. When looking at q-smooth I also saw q-glide and q-slick. Do they work?

Is Seybert's a good place to buy from or is there somewhere cheaper?
Q-smooth $4.75
Q-glide $3.95
Q-slick $4.75
Porper shaft polisher $2.79
Shipping $4.95
Total $21.19

Thanks for the help.
 
Q Glide and Q Slick are chemicals to put on the shaft to make it slck but my experience has been that ALL the stuff you put on the shaft eventually makes it sticky and you have to re-do everything.

Just go to your local auto parts store and get some 1000 or 1500 or 2000 grit sandpaper and take 10 or so swipes up and down the shaft. That will get it very smooth and remove very little wood. Then use the brown paper bag or a piece of undyed leather to burnish it.

This process will work very quickly and make the shaft super slick. You won't need any chemicals. The Q Smooth papers are the same as very fine grit sandpaper so they will also do a good job. Seyberts and Muellers are as good as any place. www.poolndarts.com is Muellers address and they ship quickly.
 
I too have a McD. Did you burnish with the paper bag until it got hot?? Is it a nice, stiff paper bag, or one of those wimpy ones? That method has always worked for me.

However, I picked up some 2000 grit paper yesterday, and that puppy is so slick now you can barely hang on to it.
 
You didn't mess up your shaft. As others pointed out, magic eraser is great for deep cleaning and really gets the chalk out. Benefit of using ME is that it doesn't remove as much wood as other sandpaper methods, thus preserving the diameter of your shaft.

Afterwards, you need to follow up with shaft paper, and burnishing. Most shaft paper appears to me to be 2000, 4000, and 8000 grit wet/dry sandpaper. You can try the ceramics section at a major crafts store like Pearl Paint or Michaels, if you don't find them in the auto store.
 
pooldawg8 said:
Try using a piece of 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper (lightly). Then burnish it with a piece of smooth leather. This should smooth the shaft up a bite for ya. Hope this helps.
Jeff
Click to expand...

yes, what he said, leather is the way to go...!
 
I would recommend Seybert, muellers they are all great places to shop. I am sure a forum member who is a dealer could get you all those stuff. As for q-slick and q-glide and all those stuff I stay away from. I got two brandnew bottles of q-silk, one bottle with only 2 drops used and after I used it for an hour, I came home and had to clean that stuff off of my shaft. It got sticky really fast. They should call it q-sticky instead of q-silk. I personally don't like it, but don't just take my view on it. As far as stuff to put on my shaft, I would recommend a good thin coat of wax if you feel you must put something on it, but believe me, nothing beats the good ol' feeling of a clean smooth burnish shaft. I would rarely put wax on my shaft. Here is a good thread on waxing shafts:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=99322

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=129455

good luck!

Happy shooting! :)

Chino
 
Thanks for all the help guys. I appreciate your time helping a beginner. I went ahead and ordered the q-smooth and porpers shaft polisher as well as a tip tool from Seyberts. Thanks Chin0 for the advise on the other Q products.
 
I've been using a damp paper towel to get the chalk out instead of ME because the Me opens the pores to much for my liking. If you make it a daily thing instead of waiting it works great. To burnish and smooth the shaft I use a product called Micro-mesh finishing products. Heres the website and look for the MMK-2 set.http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/craftsman_kits.htm#sheet
Goes from 1800 to 12000 Grit. Smooth as Glass, Literally!
 
If McDermott put some kind of finish on the shaft - and I think this is very common - the Magic Eraser probably removed it, especially if you were aggressive about it. That may be why it doesn't feel as smooth as it did before the ME.

I would get a pack of Q-Smooth and start with the less aggressive papers, maybe using the last two. That will smooth it very well. Whenever I use ME I follow it up with a very light treatment with the last couple of Q-Smooth papers. ME really works great to get the blue out of the shaft and ferrule but I would caution against using it too often, mainly because you don't want to be using the Q-Smooth too often. A couple of times per year, maybe.

Seybert's is great, by the way. They ship really fast and I never had a problem. If they have what I want, that's where I go.
 
pulzcul said:
I've been using a damp paper towel to get the chalk out instead of ME because the Me opens the pores to much for my liking. If you make it a daily thing instead of waiting it works great. To burnish and smooth the shaft I use a product called Micro-mesh finishing products. Heres the website and look for the MMK-2 set.http://www.sisweb.com/micromesh/craftsman_kits.htm#sheet
Goes from 1800 to 12000 Grit. Smooth as Glass, Literally!
Click to expand...

I also use the micro mesh cloth but the grit numbers are a little misleading as they don't correspond to sandpaper numbers. I got these numbers from some web site.

Micro mesh= Sand paper
1500 = 400
1800 = 600
2400 = 800
3200 = 1200
3600 = 1350
4000 = 1500
6000 = 2000
8000 = 2500

I don't bother with anything finer than the 8000 as it's like plain paper.
 
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