Straightening a Warped Shaft

C

CaptainPots

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Hi!

Apart from using gravity with a cue hanger, is there any quick way to straighten a warped shaft?

I can't find the Youtube match video but I once saw Earl bending his cue manually (I presume because of warpage?) in the middle of a match.

Thanks!

Edit: 2nd question — do shafts warp because of ageing or because of use, e.g. over the years, doing many draw shots bend the shaft each time when pressed into the table?
 
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I remember someone on here a while ago straightened a shaft by using a heat gun,
a real heat gun you use for paint stripping and shrink wrap.
Heat is what is used to bend wood for furniture... I think the guy put the shaft on a jig with the warp facing up,
heated it up and then pushed down on the warp. You had to be careful not to burn the wood.

$.02
 
Jacoby Cues makes a shaft straightener but I have zero personal experience using it.
Let's see if anyone that has tried it offers any comments or suggests something else,
 
No is BS.

Straightened many it takes time. I do not use heat gun, water or coat hanger tool. It does depend on where they are warped. Ends close to joint or ferrule NO. Mid section. YES.

Have a good safe weekend,

-Kat,
 
I straightened a near banana shaped Predator 314 that had been abused by it's owner, with a screwdriver (the middle of the screwdrivers shaft) much like you would the Jacoby straighening tool. It made the shaft straight, but also produced grooves. If you can't live with that, it will have to be turned down. I didn't do that, and my shaft stayed straight. I tried the same method on a normal wooden shaft that was probably a bad piece of wood, because it kept warping back. The lesson is that a shaft can be often be straightened if it has been warped by standing against the wall or something of that nature, but if the wood is condusive to warping, the warp will usually come back.
 
Take a leather belt and put it over the bump or high side and pull from the bottom while you rub the bump out. Rest one end of the shaft on a table. Works well and is a permanent fix when done right.
 
I had a radial pin Predator 314 that I stopped using when I sold the cue that I bought it for. It sat around for a long time - probably a few years - and sometime during that stretch, it developed a curve in it. It wobbled when rolled on the table.

I put a pencil mark on the ferrule to indicate which side I wanted to be up when it is lying flat. I laid it on a flat surface, put a weight on the high spot and left it that way for several months. Since the straightening, it has been lying on a carpeted floor underneath a bed for about a year.

Recently a friend asked me about the shaft because he has a new Jacoby with a radial pin joint. I pulled it out and examined it closely. It was still perfectly straight. He bought it from me knowing its history.

I don't imagine many people are willing to wait months like I did in this case, but it did work.
 
CaptainPots said:
Hi!

Apart from using gravity with a cue hanger, is there any quick way to straighten a warped shaft?

I can't find the Youtube match video but I once saw Earl bending his cue manually (I presume because of warpage?) in the middle of a match.

Thanks!

Edit: 2nd question — do shafts warp because of ageing or because of use, e.g. over the years, doing many draw shots bend the shaft each time when pressed into the table?
Click to expand...
Earl wasn't skraightening that damn shaft. Earl was just being Earl! lol
 
I tried a similar method as with the Jacoby tool. It works - for a short time. After a few weeks the shaft warped again. The hanging from the wall method worked best over longer periods. I don't doubt though that the shaft would redevelop it's warp if stored in a normal pool cue cabinet again. I believe it is the wood itself, humidity in the storage area and other environmental factors that make shafts warp.
 
Thanks everyone for your responses!

It seems that since I only have 1 shaft to use (the warped one) and don’t have a spare, I’ll just continue using it like I always have until I make a new purchase!
 
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