Let’s start with the gun as it has a several parts that need maintaining. The shaft, although just a straight piece of steel, needs attention. Replacing a shaft definitely gives reassurance, but sometimes although rusty, a shaft might still have plenty of life.

Cleaning

 It’s inevitable that cleaning the shaft will remove some of the zinc plating. But we don’t want to leave it rusty, this causes drag when the gun is fired. For removing the rust I find a bench grinder with a wire wheel at one end very quick and handy, leaving a nice smooth finish. Failing that we would use emery cloth (sandpaper) maybe 800 grit with water. Then once it’s all-clean, spray it with silicone to minimize rusting & it will also make it slide through the gun easier.

Straightening

When it comes to straightening a bent shaft I would have to say that I am not a natural, but usually I get it true after a while of playing around. It pays to straighten a shaft soon after it gets bent so that you are only straightening one bend at any one time. If we have a shaft with four different bends, it can be very difficult to identify each separate bend. Although there are methods for straightening shafts I think it’s a combination of science & art. Locating the bends can take a few turns of the shaft while looking down it’s length. It can help to mark with a vivid right where the bend is. When straightening, try a little pressure at first, slowly applying more tension each time until we see a change. I find small hard kinks are best sorted out using a heavy hammer on an anvil. Alternatively you can use a tow ball for an anvil. Take your time, It’s very easy to make a new bend while trying to straighten an old one.

The two main tips here are the three sided tips seen on many of the South African shafts & the round pencil tips that we see mostly on European shafts. 

Here is a variation of both.

Sharpening

Once again the bench grinder is very handy, but we don’t want the tip to heat up too much, So I normally have a bucket of water sitting next to the grinder to cool it down after grinding each side of a three sided tip. Failing that, we would use the trusty old file. Try to maintain the angle of the original tip. Although making a longer tip would initially make it sharper. The tip is not as strong & soon loses it’s edge.

Rubbers

Not too much we can do here other than replace them when they become perished. But we can prolong their life. For example keep them out of the sun when not in use. It's very easy to wash our gear then leave it out in the sun to dry. Rubber has a lot less sunlight tolerance than silicone.

The Gun

Rigging

Hand Piece