How to remove a broken dart shaft is one of the most frustrating things when playing darts. It’s expensive to replace broken parts, it’s fiddly and time-consuming to swap out parts, and worst of all is when you can’t swap out the broken part because it’s stuck.
Most often this is an issue with plastic (nylon) shafts. Shafts can quite easily break and snap as a result of a bounce-out or a collision and when this happens the threading can sometimes get stuck in the dart barrel and not easy to remove if you’ve never done it before.
That’s why this tutorial is a must-read for anyone who owns a dart. In this article, we’ll tell you how to remove a broken dart shaft easily and quickly.
This guide will tell you how to use a heated screwdriver, vinegar, and a designated removal tool, as well as what to do if one of the steps doesn’t work for you.
How to Remove a Broken Dart Shaft
There are several ways to remove a broken shaft. Broken dart shafts are common occurrences among professional and casual dart players alike. While the fingers of the stem (the part that holds the dart flight) are more prone to breaking on both aluminum and nylon stems, the threading breaking is a completely different issue.
You can use a pinpoint to remove a broken shaft from the barrel if the dart is still in the barrel.
I use a toothpick, or a nail file to remove the darts. If you heat a screwdriver and dissolve the head of the dart in vinegar, you will have less chance of the shaft sticking to your skin and the area surrounding the wound getting infected.
The only surefire way to remove all the darts from a dartboard is to remove them using a dart removal tool. However, these tools are safe, and there’s even a specific product for safely removing darts.
Using a Dart Point
You will need to use this technique when you have a broken shaft and cannot get it out with your fingers. Piercing the shaft with a darts point and twisting the shaft will unscrew it.
To fix a stuck dart using this method, all you have to do is drill a hole on the tip of the shaft near the handle. This should work on any dart but you will have to use the end of a bit which is usually more difficult to find and might require a bit more time and effort.
You should be careful with this method as the point might slip.
Using a Heated Screwdriver
This method involves heating a small flathead screwdriver over an open flame for roughly one minute. You’ll then push the screwdriver into the broken stem and the heat created by the flame will make it easy to then pierce the dart stem.
This method is a little bit different from the other two methods, and a little bit dangerous. You’ll need to be extremely careful with this technique and this is not a method we would recommend to anyone.
You don’t want to drill or file the stem, that will remove the finish. Instead, gently heat the stem using a hairdryer or blow dryer and let the finish soften, and then gently pull out the stem.
Using a Designated Removal Tool
The best way to remove a stuck dart shaft is with a Designated Removal Tool. You will have to push the dart shaft into a small hole and pull the dart out of the barrel, but the Designated Removal Tool is a specialized, sharp-tipped tool that makes it easy to twist out the shaft.
These items are incredibly inexpensive and the initial cost of purchasing one of these will save you a ton of time and frustration when it comes to removing not just broken shafts but also broken soft tip points that can get stuck in the barrel.
Using Vinegar
Vinegar is the final method of shaft removal, but it takes a long time for it to work and you will need to keep applying it over weeks.
This works by pouring white vinegar into a sealed container and making sure that the barrel is completely covered. Nature will then take its course as the vinegar will break down and dissolve the plastic until it can be easily removed.
As mentioned, this is time-consuming most people consider this to be the last alternative or just use it out of interest to see if it works.
Conclusion
A broken dart shaft is an extremely frustrating thing to deal with. It’s not common, but it happens a lot when players using plastic dart shafts keep playing.
If you have a broken dart shaft you need to remove it and that can be a little tricky but we make it easy for you with our easy-to-follow instructions.
The hardest part of the entire project is removing a broken dart shaft. For this reason, a broken dart shaft removal tool is the easiest and fastest way to remove a broken dart shaft. While there are other methods, simply getting one of these inexpensive products is beneficial for both removing the broken shaft and also removing the broken soft tip (if you use these).
