RiverCity said:
could you explain this "very slow method"?
Smooth shafts, HOW smooth do you like them?
- Thread starter twilight
- Start date
could you explain this "very slow method"?
> I re-do shafts right out of the box,and always have. I had Joe Blackburn,who is universally agreed to be great at what he does,retaper a shaft for me,he got it as nice as he always does,and I still re-did it. I swear my shafts look like they've been clearcoated when I take them out of the lathe. If it gets a tad sticky on the spot during a game,I wipe it down with a specially prepped cloth or hit it with a well worn piece of 2500,or 3600 Micro-Mesh,then wipe it down with the cloth. I only do the complete package on my own shafts,or by super-special request by customers. I even got one too slick one time. I had bought a brand new shaft,fixed it up,and left it in my case for a month before a tournament. I had every intention of using one of the other shafts,until I could get the new one broken in before competition. The tip on my other shaft started making noise,so I switched to the new one,and the shaft FELT like it had been clearcoated. I went and got a piece of 600 after the match and swiped it several times,then worked it back out to 2000,and it got too slick again,to I went back to 1200 and didn't do anything but wipe it down for a year before I had to put it back on the lathe. Tommy D.
There is a thing as to smooth if you have a problem controling the ball... Also for me it really makes no difference if the cue is paper smooth or a little gritty as long as I am shooting well I would rather pay attention to the way I am playing rather then my slide in my bridge hand. just a little fyi a dollar bill works well in a pinch for smoothing a gritty shaft
As I said, I only go in one direction with very fine paper. The coarsest I use on a shaft is 1500. Go from joint end of shaft off the ferrule end in one long smooth stroke, rotate the shaft a little and do it again. Repeat. I spend an hour or more doing this with a new shaft while watching tv. It builds virtually no discernable heat, and keeps the paper from loading up as bad. The result is super smooth shaft, with very minimal loss of material. I have let other people borrow cues, and have sold/traded cues and had several people ask what wax I used to seal the pores......despotic931 said:
Chuck
I use a glove so i dont have this problem.
But when i didnt use a glove, I would normally just clean the shaft once a month with baby wipes which would take out alot of the blue'ing of the ferrule and shaft. And then burnish the shaft to seal it. This would make the shaft smooth like silk.
The next day i would take some Q-smooth papers and hit the shaft up again, and then burnish the shaft with either some leather or some 1500grit sand paper.
But since going to a glove, i only clean up the shaft, with baby wipes and then burnish the shaft to seal it.
But when i didnt use a glove, I would normally just clean the shaft once a month with baby wipes which would take out alot of the blue'ing of the ferrule and shaft. And then burnish the shaft to seal it. This would make the shaft smooth like silk.
The next day i would take some Q-smooth papers and hit the shaft up again, and then burnish the shaft with either some leather or some 1500grit sand paper.
But since going to a glove, i only clean up the shaft, with baby wipes and then burnish the shaft to seal it.
I don't know the exact conversion from micro mesh to q smooth or automotive sand papers, but I start at micro mesh's 3600 grit lightly then slowly add more pressure untill I hit the 12,000 grit. I'll usually use the 12,000 grit a bit longer than the others. This polishes my cue like glass; don't even need slip slick. Anyway after an hour or so of playing, it just feels a tiny bit sticker despite wiping the shaft and hands. I think it's because there's so few crevices for hand sweat, dirt and oils to fall into. I may just stop at micro mesh's 4000 grit. 12,000 is fine for an hour but I just think my hands sweat too much for something that smooth.