Recent content by Dave38

Phenolic is Solarez's kryptonite......even with their sealer for it.

have you done that test on phenolic pieces of the same length?

The lacquer is softer, according to the owner/chemist at Solarez. What Kim is posting about is their Polyester finish which is hard, and sands/buffs to a high shine.

That looks like one of two things...either you still have clear coat/sealer on the cue and it reacted with the acetone, or the points are of a plastic material and that reacted with the acetone. I am NOT a fan of wiping anything with acetone without knowing what I am applying it too, as acetone...

I talked to Gary when it first came out, and he felt it would be too soft of a finish for cues. That was a couple years ago, and so I didn't try it...but I am thinking of ordering a small amount to try

It all depends on how the cue was built. If it was cored onto a maple dowel, then.....drilling/coring it out more will not do a lot. Is it a production cue or a custom? If a custom....by whom? Contacting the custom maker may shed some light on what can be done to lighten it. A production cue...

Well, predator calls it a silencer pad, so......

Kamui is the big mover....but Ultra Skin Ivory soft is running neck and neck. I am trying the navagators black Soft/super soft and Kamakazi premium brown soft/super soft for those that do not like Kamui

It is basically a red/brownish phenolic pad that is very thin. IMO, you could even use a fiber pad, as it is only used to quiet the 'ping' sound, which even with their 'secret sauce' pad...still makes an unpleasent sound.

Was asked to show more pictures of the mods I did to my Microlux so here they are. I don't do threading on this lathe so I wanted to have control of the power feed speed separate from the headstock speed. This works very well. I used a 1:1 pulley setup to try it (it was what I had on hand) May...

Here is my setup, the rear support is slide-able, and I can do one piece cues with it if I take the collet out of the bearing. I also recently took the gear drive for the power feed out, and modified it to use a windshield wiper motor with a PWM control and a reversing switch so I can control...

CF shafts are pretty much ding proof, but are very easy to gouge or cut on a sharp edge, like bad piece of trim on a bar table etc.

I have a 7x14 microlux and I would be lost without it....I do all tips/ferrule work and make cue parts and small things for other projects too. I do suggest shopping for the best reviews and not just price, as thee are crappy ones out there.

Is your lathe dialed in so that when you face the ferrule, the facing is exactly 90 degrees in relation to the length of the ferrule? Both the ferrule face and the pad/tip face need to be VERY flat to each other. What kind of lathe do you have?

After looking it up, I stand corrected. Workin for my uncles as a young kid, they always told me that it would leave an oily film before we would prep something for paint or epoxy work, so I just grew up with that in my head.