What type of sand paper would be best for getting out a very light nick in a shaft?

J

justinb386

Banned
I have a very small (very light) nick in my shaft, but it is still an annoyance while playing.

I am curious what kind of sand paper I should buy to try to get the nick smoothed out?

Would 1,000 grit be too fine, or should I use 800 or 600 grit?

I am guessing the higher the grit the better, because I do not want my shaft sanded down any thinner.

So what is the highest grit sand paper that will sand out a very light nick in a shaft?

I purchased some 1,000 grit (something called 3M Auto / Advanced wetordry sandpaper) at an auto store, but I can exchange it (or get a refund) if there is a better method for getting the nick out.

Thanks for any help.
 
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No sandpaper, try some steam or hot water. Alternatively you may wet a small piece of paper towel and place it over the nick, then place the tip of a soldering iron on top.
 
Have you tried steaming it out? Place a damp cloth over the nick and hold a hot butter knife (with a lighter or candle to the knife) right over the nick. Less to sand out, or hopefully none. I have done this successfully several times.
 
Zerius said:
No sandpaper, try some steam or hot water. Alternatively you may wet a small piece of paper towel and place it over the nick, then place the tip of a soldering iron on top.
Click to expand...

yes, steam will pop out a small ding easily. I used to hold the spot of the shaft over a fresh pot of coffee and whammo gone.

smoove it out with not to abrasive nylon scrubbie, done.
 
justinb386 said:
I have a very small (very light) nick in my shaft, but it is still an annoyance while playing.

I am curious what kind of sand paper I should buy to try to get the nick smoothed out?

Would 1,000 grit be too fine, or should I use 800 or 600 grit?

I am guessing the higher the grit the better, because I do not want my shaft sanded down any thinner.

So what is the highest grit sand paper that will sand out a very light nick in a shaft?

I purchased some 1,000 grit, but I can exchange it (or get a refund) if there is a better method for getting the nick out.

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

If the nick is that small and shallow.....wet a corner of a piece of paper towel, place over the nick, with a hot iron, lightly apply the hot iron onto the wet paper towel until it sizzles (pretty immediately this will happen). Check to see if you can still feel the nick (likely it will be gone). Let the area dry completely, or apply a small amount of denatured alcohol, as this will help facilitate the water being removed from the pores in the area of the shaft treated. You should be able to just very very lightly sand with a very very fine grit sand paper...or even just burnish with a piece of leather, and the nick should be gone.

Now....you could take this opportunity to clean your shaft. In which case, wet a piece of Magic Eraser until just damp. Wring out any excess water, and use over the entire length of the shaft. Let dry, upright ( I stick it between some couch cushions) and then I apply along the length of the shaft, the denatured alcohol, to help remove any excess moisture in the wood. I then use a Q-Whiz, both sides, and then I burnish with a piece of smooth leather. I have found that any little minor dings will have come out during the process of cleaning the shaft. The ME is great for cleaning the chalk stains off the ferrule as well. Just keep it away from the butt section of your cue!! Clean the butt of your cue with some guitar polish sprayed onto a rag, and polish. This keeps it away from the wrap.

Been doing this for years with my cues' shafts...and I maintain the shafts of my team members as well...as they cannot always get their cues to a cue maker for cleaning and conditioning. Never have had an ill-effect, or had anyone complain about the results. Actually, quite the opposite...they are delighted!!

Hope some of this helps!!
 
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take a small sharp knife and whittle away at the top of the nick. Slowly cut downwards until the nick is completely gone. In the space where the small nick was, there should now be a bigger smooth cut out.
 
Is it a dent or a gouge? In other words is the wood depressed or is the wood removed.

If a dent then steaming is the only way to go here. you need a washcloth, a glass of water and an iron. dip the corner of the washcloth in the water and lay it on the dent and touch the iron to that. Doesn't take much and use just the tip of the iron. Then you can sand it smooth if you need to.

If a gouge then you can sand it gently and then steam it to bring up as much as possible and then if not enough fill it with wood dust and glue and sand that flush. Done right you will not even see the repaired area.
 
corvette1340 said:
take a small sharp knife and whittle away at the top of the nick. Slowly cut downwards until the nick is completely gone. In the space where the small nick was, there should now be a bigger smooth cut out.
Click to expand...

yeah thats the ticket a smoove cut out !

LOL of course.
 
Try this

There are some great ideas already mentioned. I will tell you my method, I have been doing this for more then 20 years and it works very well for me. It's very simple just boil some water when it's really boiling well, Dip a Q tip into it and just put a drop of the boiling water right on the dent. Depending on how deep it is you may have to apply a few times.
Do this a few times and it should pop right out for you. Then you can hit the shaft with 2000 grit paper.
 
wet band aid

A wet band aid will fix a cue that has been pinched in house door.
True story the shaft was almost pinched into, each dent was at least 3/16 of a inch deep.
My friend was playing at a friends house and when his wife opened the house to garage door, the cue slipped between the hinge side of the door and the wall.
Then she tried to close the door .

A wet band aid works, and you are only getting the shaft wet where it is (dented).

MMike
 
justinb386 said:
I have a very small (very light) nick in my shaft, but it is still an annoyance while playing.

I am curious what kind of sand paper I should buy to try to get the nick smoothed out?

Would 1,000 grit be too fine, or should I use 800 or 600 grit?

I am guessing the higher the grit the better, because I do not want my shaft sanded down any thinner.

So what is the highest grit sand paper that will sand out a very light nick in a shaft?

I purchased some 1,000 grit (something called 3M Auto / Advanced wetordry sandpaper) at an auto store, but I can exchange it (or get a refund) if there is a better method for getting the nick out.

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

Steam it out using one technique or the other, then let it dry thoroughly. I like the spot technique, wet towel and hot iron.

Any water raises the grain, making the shaft feel bumpy. What I do is let the shaft dry completely, then use 1000 (followed by 1500 sometimes) on it to sand off the fibers that will be raised from the steam, then use a paper towel or preferably a brown shopping bag to rub it with some friction - that will seal the wood up again and it will be as smooth as glass.

Sanding and burnishing the shaft helps seal out moisture and oils from your hands that will eventually raise the grain again.
 
If you must use sand paper, I would use the following:

3M Polishing Paper-600 Grit 15 Micron Color Gray
3M Polishing Paper-400 Grit 30 Micron Color Green

You can find the Micron graded paper at Otto Frey web site (jewelry tools and supplies).

I use it from time to time for very very small dents.
 
If it's just a dent and the grain of the wood isn't cut, I've always used the neck of a beer bottle where the body curves up to the neck. using mild pressure just run it up and down the shaft while turning the shaft until its gone. Then clean and polish the shaft as normal. The same principal as that Dr.Cue (forget what that product is called) glass rod they sell for this purpose, only this way you get to enjoy a beer before you fix your shaft.

Dopc.

Edit: Use caution and inspect the bottle for glass mold lines, some of todays bottles will have this and that wouldn't produce the results your after. Make sure your using a clean, smooth dry glass bottle and all should be good.
 
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I do not have an iron, so I will give this method a try. I tried rubbing the ding with a glass, but I did not use a drop of water (like maybe I should have). I did that for awhile, and it did not get the ding out. Thanks everyone for all of the replies. I have not read through all the replies yet (only up until this one).

JT's cuerepair said:
There are some great ideas already mentioned. I will tell you my method, I have been doing this for more then 20 years and it works very well for me. It's very simple just boil some water when it's really boiling well, Dip a Q tip into it and just put a drop of the boiling water right on the dent. Depending on how deep it is you may have to apply a few times.
Do this a few times and it should pop right out for you. Then you can hit the shaft with 2000 grit paper.
Click to expand...
 
Zerius said:
No sandpaper, try some steam or hot water. Alternatively you may wet a small piece of paper towel and place it over the nick, then place the tip of a soldering iron on top.
Click to expand...

This is good advice. Sandpaper will open the wood around the nick.
 
JT's cuerepair said:
There are some great ideas already mentioned. I will tell you my method, I have been doing this for more then 20 years and it works very well for me. It's very simple just boil some water when it's really boiling well, Dip a Q tip into it and just put a drop of the boiling water right on the dent. Depending on how deep it is you may have to apply a few times.
Do this a few times and it should pop right out for you. Then you can hit the shaft with 2000 grit paper.
Click to expand...


I always drew a circle around the dent with a pencil, so I could see it, and then used a damp corner of a washcloth and the tip of a common iron to steam it out.
However, I like the hell out of this idea. :smile:
 
The easiest way...

Just take a drop of saliva and let it set on the spot for 20-30 saconds. Then take a piece of brown paper bag and burnish the hell out of it for 20-30 seconds till you can feel the HEAT thru the bag. Magic...the spit swells the wood, the bag dries and seals it.
You are DONE...:wave2::wave2:
 
dis agree

Dopc said:
If it's just a dent and the grain of the wood isn't cut, I've always used the neck of a beer bottle where the body curves up to the neck. using mild pressure just run it up and down the shaft while turning the shaft until its gone. Then clean and polish the shaft as normal. The same principal as that Dr.Cue (forget what that product is called) glass rod they sell for this purpose, only this way you get to enjoy a beer before you fix your shaft.

Dopc.

Edit: Use caution and inspect the bottle for glass mold lines, some of todays bottles will have this and that wouldn't produce the results your after. Make sure your using a clean, smooth dry glass bottle and all should be good.
Click to expand...


Dopc
Why would you press the neck of the glass bottle to the part of the shaft that is not dented.?
Why would you press the neck of a bottle the part of the shaft that is dented.?
Think about applying your method to the side of a car.
Pushing in or around any dent is only going to make the dent bigger proven fact.........
Just because they sale those plastic rods as say they remove the dent isn't really true.
the only thing you are doing is smoothing out the dent by making it bigger

The idea is to pull the dent, not make the dent bigger so it cannot be seen or felt so much.

MMike
 
I tried a drop of water on the ding, and rubbed the edge of a shot glass in to it, and the ding came right out (within a couple of seconds). This method worked really well. The wood was then very rough, so I sanded the shaft with a 1,000 grit, and then with some super fine Nicks Edge sanding paper, and now the nick is gone and the shaft feels very smooth. I am sure all of the other methods mentioned also work great, but I wanted to try this one 1st because it sounded the easiest, and I did not even have to boil any water. Thanks again.

TheMadScientist said:
A drop of water and a shot glass can take out a tiny nick too.
Click to expand...
 
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