06-15-2016, 08:41 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-01-2016, 12:36 PM by Swiiiitch.
Edit Reason: update
)
Quite often I’m picking up a dart off the floor because the dartboard has squeezed it out like a zit. Sometimes I can see it happen in slow motion while I line my next dart up... I’m sure you’ve seen it happen yourself… I end up trying to throw a dart under the falling dart to prop it up and stop it coming out the board. lol
It doesn’t really bother me too much at home while practicing, but in a match… now that’s a different story, and valuable scoring is being wasted. So today I decided to attempt to add some grip to my match darts, without wrecking them, and hopefully keeping them looking as tidy as possible.
Here’s the comparison… Standard points are on the left. Modified points on the right, with an almost machined look. Dart 4 & 5 look a bit copper coloured near the tip but in real life they are as clean as dart 6.
The result…
I threw the darts back to back with unmodified ones and I can’t tell a difference in depth the darts penetrate a Blade 4 dartboard. You certainly feel the difference pulling them out though. Oh, and if you use tridents like me you’ll notice these are harder to get back on and take off too.
So now I have a tidy looking dart point and they're grippy. :-)
For those that'd like to know how I did it, read on…
Bear in mind this method might be tricky with tapered or funky shaped barrels. You might have to experiment or maybe clamp using a dart stem instead of the barrel.
Tools:
Method:
The micro scratches have shown a negligible difference to the diameter of the point (less than 0.01mm).
Points I have tried with this method:
Designa silver 35mm – They turned a copper colour at first but after a few more passes it gets past this thin layer and back to silver again.
Unicorn silver 35mm - The points used in this tutorial.
Masterdarts silver 32mm - Worked well
Although I have used the above points with success, I cannot guarantee the same for your points.
DISCLAIMER
If you intend doing this yourself then PLEASE be careful. If you are not confident using the tools in this way yourself then DON’T do it, ask someone with experience to do it for you. It is easy to do but you need to be aware of the possible dangers of a spinning drill and the actions involved. I take NO responsibility for anyone following this method.
Thanks for reading and I hope someone finds this useful at some ‘point’.
Update: 2.5 months on and the points are still as grippy and tidy as when I first did this. :-)
It doesn’t really bother me too much at home while practicing, but in a match… now that’s a different story, and valuable scoring is being wasted. So today I decided to attempt to add some grip to my match darts, without wrecking them, and hopefully keeping them looking as tidy as possible.
Here’s the comparison… Standard points are on the left. Modified points on the right, with an almost machined look. Dart 4 & 5 look a bit copper coloured near the tip but in real life they are as clean as dart 6.
The result…
I threw the darts back to back with unmodified ones and I can’t tell a difference in depth the darts penetrate a Blade 4 dartboard. You certainly feel the difference pulling them out though. Oh, and if you use tridents like me you’ll notice these are harder to get back on and take off too.
So now I have a tidy looking dart point and they're grippy. :-)
For those that'd like to know how I did it, read on…
Bear in mind this method might be tricky with tapered or funky shaped barrels. You might have to experiment or maybe clamp using a dart stem instead of the barrel.
Tools:
- Battery powered drill; set in reverse gear (I’m fussy, I used the drill in reverse to get the micro scratches the direction of normal thread)
- A used P180 Bosch orbital sanding pad for wood (I'm sure any 180 grit sandpaper would work the same, if you try it test it first on something that don't matter)
Method:
- Remove everything from the dart to leave just the barrel and point.
- Lightly tighten a barrel in the drill, like in this picture (wrap some paper, thin card, masking tape etc around the barrel to protect it from any marks from tightening it up in your drill chuck.
- Lightly pinch the sanding pad around the dart point close to the barrel and start up the drill. (Starting at the barrel and working your way out to the tip is the safest direction to do this). If the drill has variable trigger speed, use it to start the drill slowly for safety. You don’t need the drill on a fast speed because it would likely warm your fingers up a bit if you pinch too hard and cause too much friction.
- While keeping the drill running; use a continuous and steady motion and move the sanding pad in the direction toward the tip of the dart point. (I’d say it took me about 5 seconds from barrel to tip). Repeat this (from barrel to tip) until you have a nice uniform circular fine scratch along the entire point. It took me about 5 passes to get the effect I wanted with a used sanding pad.
- That’s it… Now repeat the process with the remaining darts.
Note: Don’t use the same part of the sanding pad because as it gets too worn it will just polish your dart points and not give you clean fine scratches that you want.
The micro scratches have shown a negligible difference to the diameter of the point (less than 0.01mm).
Points I have tried with this method:
Designa silver 35mm – They turned a copper colour at first but after a few more passes it gets past this thin layer and back to silver again.
Unicorn silver 35mm - The points used in this tutorial.
Masterdarts silver 32mm - Worked well
Although I have used the above points with success, I cannot guarantee the same for your points.
DISCLAIMER
If you intend doing this yourself then PLEASE be careful. If you are not confident using the tools in this way yourself then DON’T do it, ask someone with experience to do it for you. It is easy to do but you need to be aware of the possible dangers of a spinning drill and the actions involved. I take NO responsibility for anyone following this method.
Thanks for reading and I hope someone finds this useful at some ‘point’.
Update: 2.5 months on and the points are still as grippy and tidy as when I first did this. :-)
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