Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmm!!!

billy bones

billy bones

billy bones
Silver Member
I have been playing on and off since the early70's. Last night I saw something I have never seen before i've never even heard of this before. My playing cue is a Predator. It was in it's holder near my table. No one was home or had been all day or night. Around 10 pm I went to play.As I reached for my cue I noticed there was droplets of moisture covering the entire linen wrap. I was astounded and more than a triffle confused as to the cause of this troubling curiousity. I dried it repeatedly with a towel. This morning it still felt like rubber. I used my linoleum heat gut and dried the wrap. It now has a damaged appearence, not from the heat gun by any means it was on low. But from moisture damage.Absolutely bizzare. For the record it had been raining all since the night before and the doors were open. However I find it unlikely that the wrap would readily absorb enough humidity to form actual moisture drops, soaking the entire wrap. I am stumped. So does anyone out there have any idea what transpired here? Has anyone even heard of this before. It's a new one on me. :shrug:
 
It's ectoplasm left behind from a ghost. I'm sure of it. What else could it be?

Seriously, it does sound a bit strange. Does your roof leak? Otherwise, if it was windy, certainly enough moisture could pass through the house to wet down your cue, if windows or doors were open. The linen would soak it up & hold it while it.
 
Do you have a dog? A male dog? :yikes:

APhelps beat me to it by one minute!
 
You had the door open and it had been raining. Irish linen wraps that are a few years old with alot of play tend to be a moisture magnet as the sealer has worn off. I have seen cues gain almost a ounce from Irish linen soaking up moisture.

About the only thing to do now is replace the wrap and have it resealed to keep moisture out. Also don't leave it in a humid are. Also have resealed every couple of years to help prevent. Might have to have the handle spliced to straighten cue.

I usually charge $75.00 + shipping to splice handle to straighten and wrap cues.

Alex Brick
 
GBCues said:
Do you have a dog? A male dog? :yikes:

APhelps beat me to it by one minute!
Click to expand...

:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1: No I do not have a male dog. :grin: I called my friend this morning and relayed the events and he asked if I had seen any Gremlins! My poor wrap looks like it has been wet sanded and still feels rubbery. Hmmm.... a new episode of The Twilight Zone? :frown: :scratchhead:
 
Brickcues said:
You had the door open and it had been raining. Irish linen wraps that are a few years old with alot of play tend to be a moisture magnet as the sealer has worn off. I have seen cues gain almost a ounce from Irish linen soaking up moisture.

About the only thing to do now is replace the wrap and have it resealed to keep moisture out. Also don't leave it in a humid are. Also have resealed every couple of years to help prevent. Might have to have the handle spliced to straighten cue.

I usually charge $75.00 + shipping to splice handle to straighten and wrap cues.

Alex Brick
Click to expand...

Nice info ty. I'm not sure if I want to rewrap it just yet I am looking to retool. What is your location and info?
 
billy bones said:
I have been playing on and off since the early70's. Last night I saw something I have never seen before i've never even heard of this before. My playing cue is a Predator. It was in it's holder near my table. No one was home or had been all day or night. Around 10 pm I went to play.As I reached for my cue I noticed there was droplets of moisture covering the entire linen wrap. I was astounded and more than a triffle confused as to the cause of this troubling curiousity. I dried it repeatedly with a towel. This morning it still felt like rubber. I used my linoleum heat gut and dried the wrap. It now has a damaged appearence, not from the heat gun by any means it was on low. But from moisture damage.Absolutely bizzare. For the record it had been raining all since the night before and the doors were open. However I find it unlikely that the wrap would readily absorb enough humidity to form actual moisture drops, soaking the entire wrap. I am stumped. So does anyone out there have any idea what transpired here? Has anyone even heard of this before. It's a new one on me. :shrug:
Click to expand...
I have seen that many times. My best guess is it has to do with the wrap area not being sealed before the cue is wrapped. In fact, it should be finished as well under the wrap as the rest of the cue if you really want to protect it. What is happening is a moisture exchange of the wood under the wrap. And of course the wrap now becomes wet as the bare wood attracts moisture. Wax pressing the wrap will stop it for the most part though.
 
Your hands sweat when you play, the linen absorbs the sweat.
That's what it's supposed to do.
Your sweat contains salt. Salt attracts moisture.
At 100% humidity, the linen is going to get wet.
Take better care of your cue. But then, it's your money.

KJ
 
KJ Cues said:
Your hands sweat when you play, the linen absorbs the sweat.
That's what it's supposed to do.
Your sweat contains salt. Salt attracts moisture.
At 100% humidity, the linen is going to get wet.
Take better care of your cue. But then, it's your money.

KJ
Click to expand...


That's what I was thinking.
 
Chopdoc said:
That's what I was thinking.
Click to expand...

Here's what I'm thinking fellows... I have taken good care of my cues for almost 40 years now. I keep my hands and my equipment very clean, I rarely sweat. In neigh on 4 decades this has never happened before. Granted the door was open while it was raining for a period of time, what happened was not a result of lack of proper care. It was an anomaly, which is why I was so surprised at it's occurance. I take good care of my equipment and my money!
 
macguy said:
I have seen that many times. My best guess is it has to do with the wrap area not being sealed before the cue is wrapped. In fact, it should be finished as well under the wrap as the rest of the cue if you really want to protect it. What is happening is a moisture exchange of the wood under the wrap. And of course the wrap now becomes wet as the bare wood attracts moisture. Wax pressing the wrap will stop it for the most part though.
Click to expand...

TY very informative. I appreciate your imput. I will ask Jack if he can wax press it for me. Much obliged. Have a good day. :thumbup:
 
Actually

This happens to my cue ALL the time at my local hall because the owner is so cheap when its just a little cool outside(especially if it's raining)he opens the doors and turns off the A/C!!!!
It never has hurt it
 
Hi,

When the temperature and the due point meet - fog or physical moisture is formed in an atmosphere ie. your basement. That is the only answer short of a prank by some other human being. Or maybe a stray Big Foot with an Evian Bottle.

I still like the ectoplasm theory though. This sounds like a good topic for the show " In Search Of".

Rick G
 
Brickcues said:
You had the door open and it had been raining. Irish linen wraps that are a few years old with alot of play tend to be a moisture magnet as the sealer has worn off. I have seen cues gain almost a ounce from Irish linen soaking up moisture.

About the only thing to do now is replace the wrap and have it resealed to keep moisture out. Also don't leave it in a humid are. Also have resealed every couple of years to help prevent. Might have to have the handle spliced to straighten cue.

I usually charge $xxxxx shipping to splice handle to straighten and wrap cues.

Alex Brick
Click to expand...

That price is great. But don't be surprised if you get a PM letting you know you are not supposed to post prices.

I have seen cues water up like a window does when the temp and humidity is right. That is what happened to your cue. Take the cue to someone with a lathe and let them repress and seal the wrap. Most likely it does not need to be replaced. And keep the door closed. Your pool table will play like a snail after the cloth taking on that much humidity also. It is just a bad practice to leave the door open.
 
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billy bones said:
Granted the door was open while it was raining for a period of time,
Click to expand...

Linen is supposed to absorb moisture, it is not incidental and preventing it in any way defeats the purpose of the linen.

The open door and rain is the most likely cause.

It's an accident. But that does not change the most likely cause. Forty years of careful cue care does not change it either. At this point there is no other reasonable explanation, and several of us have witnessed it before.

Personally, I never saw it until I moved to Florida. It happened to my early JOSS here. It was simply due to condensation on a rainy day when I went to a local place to shoot and they had the doors open and the air conditioner was broken. I didn't hit it with a heat gun though. I was taken aback by that action. I simply hung it in my closet to dry in my air conditioned house. It was fine in a few days. The linen was slightly rougher but it smoothed out with just my hand. So it happened to me, and others who responded. I assure you I take good care of my cues too.....but it happened. It surprised me really.

The "taking better care of the cue" thought did not cross my mind about the condensation incident, it was hitting it with a heat gun that blew my mind. Really, I was very surprised by that.
 
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scdiveteam said:
Hi,

When the temperature and the due point meet - fog or physical moisture is formed in an atmosphere ie. your basement. That is the only answer short of a prank by some other human being. Or maybe a stray Big Foot with an Evian Bottle.

I still like the ectoplasm theory though. This sounds like a good topic for the show " In Search Of".

Rick G
Click to expand...

:rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1::rotflmao1:
 
Chopdoc said:
Linen is supposed to absorb moisture, it is not incidental and preventing it in any way defeats the purpose of the linen.

The open door and rain is the most likely cause.

It's an accident. But that does not change the most likely cause. Forty years of careful cue care does not change it either. At this point there is no other reasonable explanation, and several of us have witnessed it before.

Personally, I never saw it until I moved to Florida. It happened to my early JOSS here. It was simply due to condensation on a rainy day when I went to a local place to shoot and they had the doors open and the air conditioner was broken. I didn't hit it with a heat gun though. I was taken aback by that action. I simply hung it in my closet to dry in my air conditioned house. It was fine in a few days. The linen was slightly rougher but it smoothed out with just my hand. So it happened to me, and others who responded. I assure you I take good care of my cues too.....but it happened. It surprised me really.

The "taking better care of the cue" thought did not cross my mind about the condensation incident, it was hitting it with a heat gun that blew my mind. Really, I was very surprised by that.
Click to expand...

The words heat gun does sound bad, but it was on cool air setting. No heat just a stream of air. I can understand why that sounded shocking. I failed to clarify that adequately.That gives a false impression,, my fault. My cue is drying at room temprature.
 
billy bones said:
The words heat gun does sound bad, but it was on cool air setting. No heat just a stream of air. I can understand why that sounded shocking. I failed to clarify that adequately.That gives a false impression,, my fault. My cue is drying at room temprature.
Click to expand...

Well that's a lot more clear! LOL!


You can imagine the picture in my mind when I thought you were cooking your cue! :eek:

What happened really sucks, it sounds a little more extreme than what I experienced but I am at this point convinced it was the same mechanism.

I hope it turns out well. We spend years being the guardians of these things and expect they should outlive us. When anything does not go as planned or their condition is threatened in some way it is very disconcerting..


.
 
Just an FYI...I learned a trick from one of the cuemakers here on AZ...you can put a "layer" of wax on the wrap by using wax paper to "burnish" the irish linen...doesn't solve the "Twilight Zone" dilemma you experienced mentioned above, but it might in the future...

Jason
 
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