I believe you, but what I said is true also. I know you know that the raw material can vary so easily when you get different runs from the manufacturer. That happened with Mason's material as well. His batch where my material came from could have been a smaller run.
Yup.
From what I've gathered, the color varies on whatever mood the foreman was at the factory that day.
The stuff was made by norplex afaik . And the new ones do not resemble the original one.
The material really is epoxy-linen instead of resin-linen.
Even the melamine now from norplex is nowhere near the original one .
Mason ordered some melamine too but they turned out pitty.
The last good ones I got was from another cue factory.
But, those stuff are gone too. I gave up on melamine after that.
And recently, I bought some material that were made by the same factory as an old material we used to get . Same freaking model number and material. But, the thing is different . The problem with these manufacturers is they always go through changes . Different resin, epoxy, fillers etc. Even if they are same mix ratio or what not . Never mind the factory foreman's mood that day.
Just look at what happened to the phenolics.
The brown ones alone have had so many changes .
The paper ones are pretty much useless if exposed.
I have some paper ones for joint size that are just perfect ( imo ). But, it has no equivalent at 1 3/8 tube.
For phenolic inserts/break ferrules , somehow the 5/8 are better than the 9/16.
So, I gotta order 5/8 and turn them down.
The manufacturers must hate us .
They make these stuff as insulators. They couldn't care less if they turn and polish well.
