cues warping

measureman said:

I saw a nice cue in the for sale section that is in Florida a very humid state.
If I was to buy it and bring it to Colorado a very dry state would there be a chance it would dry out and warp?

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You can get hard luck on a new one....but an old used cue should be fine.
...my old playing cues have been from minus 25 to 110 in the shade...
...and many plane rides...still straight.

measureman said:

I saw a nice cue in the for sale section that is in Florida a very humid state.
If I was to buy it and bring it to Colorado a very dry state would there be a chance it would dry out and warp?

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It more depends on whether the wood was properly cured in the first place, rather than moving it from a humid to a dry state.

Having said that, wood is a natural material, and does some funny things. I've seen cheap cues stay straight, and I've seen expensive cues warp.

The key is, do you feel lucky?

One other thing to watch for, other than warping, is for the wood around any metal rings, etc, to shrink, creating some pretty nasty feeling on the cue; makes you feel like it needs a refinish. If it's in good shape, it probably doesn't, but I have a feeling that's what you're going to feel when you get that cue in Colorado.

All the best,
WW

I would bet, if it's straight in Florida and shipped to a dryer climate that there is the possibility it will appear warped when received. I also would be that after it's had a few days to normalize to the dryer climate it would be just as straight as it was in Florida.

measureman said:

I saw a nice cue in the for sale section that is in Florida a very humid state.
If I was to buy it and bring it to Colorado a very dry state would there be a chance it would dry out and warp?

Click to expand...

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Renegade_56 said:

I would bet, if it's straight in Florida and shipped to a dryer climate that there is the possibility it will appear warped when received. I also would be that after it's had a few days to normalize to the dryer climate it would be just as straight as it was in Florida.

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This has been my exact experience shipping a cue from the gulf coast to CO.

Renegade_56 said:

I would bet, if it's straight in Florida and shipped to a dryer climate that there is the possibility it will appear warped when received. I also would be that after it's had a few days to normalize to the dryer climate it would be just as straight as it was in Florida.

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Sometimes it takes time for it to settle.

Cues can go into sub zero Temps in air cargo holds.

Rings can move.

Inlays can raise or sink.

Finish can be affected.

The best is a properly constructed and finished cue, with properly aged and prepared woods.


I have to ask the OP: Do you know we have air conditioning here?

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It's a crap shoot. I had a makers cue from Cali come to me for a new shaft, but when it arrived it was too crooked to safely spin in the lathe. I informed the owner and the maker, and agreed to send it to the maker for him to do whatever he & the owner agreed to. When the cue got back to the maker, it was as straight as the day it was completed. I have had other cues move with the seasons. Heck I have wood that moves with the seasons, and I know it was dried and handled properly. Other wood from the same batch, even the same tree, will stay straight. It's wood. There are no certainties.

I got a cue back for refinish this past week. It's been through several owners since '08, been around the world. It came to me from Singapore, one the most humid places on Earth. I made the cue in the New Mexico desert, and my shop is now in Tennessee. To my surprise the cue is near perfect straight. Both shafts and the butt are straight. The joint facing is a little off from extreme climatic changes and the cue is beat up pretty bad, but the wood is straight. I'd expect to see movement in a cue of this condition and history, but it's fine. Point is, in my experience there is no answer for your question. It's all case by case basis. Good luck

I had a Jackson cue once for bar play, when
I used to live in Oregon. I'd leave it in the car always.
During heavy rains, it turned into a boomerang.
Once the summer heat came,
it would be straight as a pencil!
No other cue I've ever owned would
dance in the case like that Jackson.
I mean one week, it wouldn't even roll, the warp
was so bad. The following month, it rolled smooth.
We started making jokes about predicting weather with it.
I ended up trading it to a buddy for his
McDermott; which never warped.

I've dealt with hundreds of cues, and I have never seen a warped butt straighten out.
Warped is warped, and I'm sure of it.
I have a very flat kitchen counter and depending on what side you are on, the roll looks substantially different.
Lighting or angle whatever, it's different from each side.
South West cues with that tiny roll they develop, sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't, but it isn't straightening and re-warping.

If the cue is straight now (which is always a concern with certain cues) it should stay straight.
If it shows up warped it ain't because of the Florida-Colorado line

IMO but I deal with it 24/7

I purchased a cue from a cue maker in New York. It arrived straight but did bow up a
little. I’ve sent the shafts back a couple of times to be straightened out, they come back
straight but always manage to warp a bit. Not so much that I can’t use the cue but
enough. One other thing is that as the wood dries out in this climate the shaft diameter
shrinks a little, but not the ferrule. So after I get the shafts back, in a few weeks I can
feel the ferrule has a shoulder to it.
This has never happened with a cue purchased used or from a cue manufacturers.
Also, any Ernie Martinez that I have owned has never done this, either purchased new
directly from Ernie or on the used cue market.

You can always soak it in your bathtub so it feels like it's back home in Florida again. Should straighten right out.


Seriously, I think Renegade_56 has it right.

SARDiver said:

You can always soak it in your bathtub so it feels like it's back home in Florida again. Should straighten right out.


Seriously, I think Renegade_56 has it right.

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why didnt I think of that.....