Thoughts about normal wood color aging

My Lucasi Cocobolo cue has gotten darker through the years.
Its at the point that to see the once beautiful grain you have to look close in good light.
I've had it since new and its been 8 years since i bought it.

I'm at the very beginning of my journey to the cue building and built only a few cues so far. All the woods I collected to work with are very old, naturally matured. I'm just very lucky to have a friend who is a musician and owns the company building guitars and other musical instruments. When I started to learn the craft he gave me a simple advice better not work with young woods and he helps me in getting some very beautiful fairly rare and great woods. The cue I just built for myself is ABW 1967 year and Pau Rosa fairly old too. Here are the pictures of these beautes. We'll see how their appearence will change in the cue:wink:. Here is a link for a completed cue to look at http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=463154.
So my idea is very simple if you look for something consistant built it using materials which are consistent. My jet black ebony with holly and natural veneers Prather cue I played for twelve years had not any changes:thumbup:

Not a maker, just a collector.
I'm a wood junky, so I knew the wood will change over time. I'm sure plenty of customers are not that well versed in wood, but it will change gradually and they will never notice (most likely). Kind of like most people never think they are loosing weight, but when someone sees them, who haven't seen them in a while, they comment. Or when buying a car, do they tell you the color changes over time?
I have never had a maker tell me the wood was going to change color and I've dealt with a HOF maker and quite a few highly respected.

Jon Manning said:

Not a maker, just a collector.
I'm a wood junky, so I knew the wood will change over time. I'm sure plenty of customers are not that well versed in wood, but it will change gradually and they will never notice (most likely). Kind of like most people never think they are loosing weight, but when someone sees them, who haven't seen them in a while, they comment. Or when buying a car, do they tell you the color changes over time?
I have never had a maker tell me the wood was going to change color and I've dealt with a HOF maker and quite a few highly respected.

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I agree with all said above and I can add that for me as a player much more important how will playability of the cue change with years. As long as the playability is the same or getting better I would be happy with the cue. For collector it could be another story though.

I don't think it's as fast with cues, at least the nice ones, because you'd normally have it in a case when it's not in use, and, at least where I've played, windows usually don't exist! Sunlight can darken the wood, though many modern finishes have some sort of UV blockers that help preserve the wood color, or at least slow the darkening process somewhat.

I think sealing the wood as best we can is the best we can do.

I don't see this with birdseye and such, the very light woods, but most all of the dark woods do it to some degree I suppose. Of course with ebonies we welcome it, so,,,,

Again, the guitar guys have it down pretty well.
The wood changes very little over time, as long as you don't put it into light (i.e. store in your case).
As Ibanez puts it, the secret is not putting it on, but how and how much you take of after that. You can have wood feeling and proper protection.

And yes, seal the hell out of it with something that has UV blockers it it.
If the wood changes too much you've done a bad job and I as a customer would be rightfully disappointed.

A trick I was told years ago by a wood supplier for Red Heart was to put a coat of Armor All with UV protection on the cue before finishing it. I have had no complaints about wood darkening over the years, but have see Cocobolo cues I built years ago and noticed they were darker.

JC said:

Should we tell the owner of our cues what is going to happen?

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Does a jeweler have to tell buyers that their gold & silver will lose their luster, that the diamonds will dull with time? I have bought my wife a lot of fine jewelry & never had it explained to me. When things get dull, we take them in and get them cleaned & reshined. When a cue's color fades, it's more than likely old enough to warrant a refinish to make it like new again. Some things, especially concerning nature, should not only be known about but expected. That said, I do prepare folks for dramatic color differences when they come for refinishes. Dulling takes years & happens gradually, so it's hardly noticed if at all. Refinishing causes immediate, dramatic color change. Bring me a 20yr old paduak cue & it'll be dull brown until I sand the surface, then it's vibrant, glowing orange. That might require a courtesy heads up.

As for preventive measures, nothing works 100%. I have never seen a 5yr old redheart cue that's anywhere near as red as the day it was finished. I have never seen anybody keep kingwood looking deep purple, or bois de rose from turning black as ebony. Nature does what nature does regardless of what we want or do to prevent it.

cueman said:

A trick I was told years ago by a wood supplier for Red Heart was to put a coat of Armor All with UV protection on the cue before finishing it. I have had no complaints about wood darkening over the years, but have see Cocobolo cues I built years ago and noticed they were darker.

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I dont think that is great advice Chris, Armor all has silicone in it and because of that it could create difficulties when finishing. I know most body shops won't have that stuff any where near there shops.

Canadian cue said:

I dont think that is great advice Chris, Armor all has silicone in it and because of that it could create difficulties when finishing. I know most body shops won't have that stuff any where near there shops.

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A lot of things seem like bad ideas like mixing olive oil with super glue and so on. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. Take some Armor All and seal a piece of wood with it and then wait a few days and rub a coat of epoxy over it to seal it and see it if lifts. I think you will be surprised at how well it sticks..

cueman said:

A lot of things seem like bad ideas like mixing olive oil with super glue and so on. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. Take some Armor All and seal a piece of wood with it and then wait a few days and rub a coat of epoxy over it to seal it and see it if lifts. I think you will be surprised at how well it sticks..

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I'll say there are a lot of ways to achieve the end result. What is strange to some, works for others.

cueman said:

A lot of things seem like bad ideas like mixing olive oil with super glue and so on. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. Take some Armor All and seal a piece of wood with it and then wait a few days and rub a coat of epoxy over it to seal it and see it if lifts. I think you will be surprised at how well it sticks..

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I guess you have to clarify what finishing system you are using because silicon and automotive clears do not mix.

Canadian cue said:

I guess you have to clarify what finishing system you are using because silicon and automotive clears do not mix.

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I also found auto clears often lift off of super glue. But use a base of epoxy and auto clears stick like glue.