something smells like fish...and that reminds me.....
> Got an update guys.
About an hour after I made the original post,the shaft was in my hands,and this is what I found.
***The glue didn't completely fail,there were pieces of leather still firmly left on the ferrule and tenon. This is different from what I usually see in the event of a failure caused by bad glue,or the result of a drop. In those cases,the tip comes off very cleanly.
I'm puzzled as to why,but it looks like the tip itself partially came apart,but there was also a spot in the very middle of the tenon that was clean,so maybe Joey was on to something with his idea about the tenon swelling.
The customer said he asked around and said several people told him about tips I had put on years ago and were still going strong,so he said he wasn't blaming me.
He then asked me if I was using super glue for tips,and suggested that maybe using epoxy would hold up better to the heat from leaving it in his girlfriend's car,LOL.
I said no,that will just keep bringing you back.
Once I convinced him that heat=bad news for glue joints,he paid me for a new tip.
Now I have to figure out how to get the epoxied weight bolt out so I can properly re-glue the butt cap,it failed too.
That's a damn shame too. This particular cue is a 25 yr old Meucci,and was pristine as recently as 2 years ago. The nose and butt sleeve are particularly nice Pau Ferro.
Thanks for the input,Tommy D.
Maybe I was a little harsh in my thoughts above, I was under the impression that the customer had gotten under your skin somehow....which got under my skin also
but only in pool is everyone always wanting everything fixed for free, just like their free water and free table time...where the "I don't need to pay for this" mindset comes from is beyond me.....its the same with shafts that someone buys for $150 and then gets all twisted upset when it develops a some run out after a few or 3 years, as if an item like that much less items that cost that little are going to last for all eternity. Shafts, Tips, Wraps, Ferrules and the finish on the cue do have a finite life span. But when issues arrive users act as if they want a lifetime guarantee on reusable toilet paper. Just like a vehicle you change the oil, you have too. If you don't change your tip, you'll break the ferrule....if you damage the ferrule that makes the tennon and shaft succeptable to damage and so on and so on......
I definately don't think anyone should give someone the opportunity to bad mouth their business pratices or craftsmanship.....as they will run with it if you give them that power.
Some time around the early/mid 2000's I started changing out my tips regularly on my daily player/s( i only use single layer tips,Triangles...not the layered stuff).....basically i replace them about every 6 months as I find that tips can and do dry out losing some of their resiliency....
This may sound silly but works like a charm. I often burnish the sides of the tip with a little oil from my skin say off the back of my ear/nose/forhead by the swab of my finger....and just pass my finger around the shoulder....
This helps the tips to stay more pliable ( remember I'm commenting on NON-LAYERED tips), when they dry out I find that the contact surface becomes superficially hard, and is much more prone to "glassing" over.
I used to just leave my tips on till it was on its last legs.....many times after such long arduous play that may have spanned a year or so on that single tip it would start to lose adhesion in just a small spot along the radius. The tips never gave any problems but when I would see that I would just replace the tip.
Thats my whole point right there, tips are not meant to stay on with no ill effects forever. You have very much compression and power generating through that connnetion, not to mention the angular forces exerted on the tip when using certain english or miscuing......this guarantees that the leather on the tip can still have plenty of shoulder to play with but the connection eventually will start to break down in some way shape or form.
Thats the whole reason that the locktite gels with the rubber additives are becoming so popular....it can absorb shock better and not begin to break down till later in its life.
***Your description of the shaft/ferrule having the pieces of leather still stuck to the tennon/ferrule and a clean spot leads me to believe that for whatever reason he tore or manually pulled/poped the tip off at the connection seam. That leather is pretty dam tough! Its hard to tear, and the only way your going to leave amounts of tip on the glueing surface of the ferrule is if you tear/pull or whatever to remove the tip.
You even mentioned about failures prompted by bad glue or when the shaft is dropped that the tips will come off very clean, well thats because the glue fails or something was dirty/oily or not faced off properly. For pieces of the tip to be left on the shaft the fibers of the tip must tear and rip and that doesn't happen by hitting pool balls.
rambling,
-Grey Ghost-
