The Finishing Conundrum

raistlinsdragon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cyano is pretty scary stuff to work with, so it's not like it's a harmless substance to work with. If your doing more than a few cues a year I would look at other options.

MSDS sheet list cyano as a irritant, compare this to other finishes MSDS sheets.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Got a source? From what I have read it's not carcinogenic and not seriously toxic although can cause flu-like symptoms in some people. I realize that the fumes are quite unpleasant and may be aversive to use, but as far as being a significant health risk I haven't seen evidence of that.

There are people who have died from CA vapors that have crystalized in the lungs. That does not sound like a pleasant way to go..
 
Last edited:

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
There are people who have died from CA vapors that have crystalized in the lungs. That doed not sound like a pleasant way to go..

Varney being one of them.
Varney used CA finish for a very short time .
He had a little room to work in.
His lungs and blood were messed up.


If you use CA for finish. you better be wearing the correct respirator.
Goggles wouldn't hurt.
 

StrokeAnalyzer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I use a small fan that moves air/fumes across the length of the cue. Then an additional box fan placed in a door way that blows air outside. I never smell any CA fumes.
 

GBCues

Damn, still .002 TIR!
Gold Member
Silver Member
What about those that are odorless? They are there.
Ummm . . how does "odorless" mitigate any health issues?
Does "odorless" similarly affect adhesion? Why not?
Just sayin'
 

Mcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Cyano

If you use Cyano best way I found is to use two fans blowing away from me and running the vacuum system underneath the cue and exhausting to the outside. I also run my room air filter. Plus a mask most of the time.


Mario
 

JC

Coos Cues
Why don't all of you post pictures of your finish? C'mon in, the water's fine.

I have a few dozen of my cues posted on my website and I finished all but a couple I had Scot do. They look good but the time it took me to do it was not fulfilling and it's not getting better. I know some of you are in it for a job and couldn't afford to have someone else finish your cues and stay afloat, but I'm a hobbyist and hobbies should be fun. I guess I'm just on a totally different wavelength than most here.

I have personally seen some cues from respected makers with crappy (IMO) finishes that I would not have tolerated. My problem is I'm a perfectionist and making my finish perfect is making me old fast.

JC
 

Michael Webb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a few dozen of my cues posted on my website and I finished all but a couple I had Scot do. They look good but the time it took me to do it was not fulfilling and it's not getting better. I know some of you are in it for a job and couldn't afford to have someone else finish your cues and stay afloat, but I'm a hobbyist and hobbies should be fun. I guess I'm just on a totally different wavelength than most here.

I have personally seen some cues from respected makers with crappy (IMO) finishes that I would not have tolerated. My problem is I'm a perfectionist and making my finish perfect is making me old fast.

JC


Getting methods down to where your happy with the results seems hard at first. I have lost more sleep than I can afford researching and studying. Not good for someone like me who's sleep habits suck to begin with. I have followed your progression here. You should be proud of how far you have come so far. Even if you never put finish on another cue, you'll still have to understand what ever method your person is doing because sooner or later, your going to see that cue again.
I wish you the best of luck.
 

JC

Coos Cues
Getting methods down to where your happy with the results seems hard at first. I have lost more sleep than I can afford researching and studying. Not good for someone like me who's sleep habits suck to begin with. I have followed your progression here. You should be proud of how far you have come so far. Even if you never put finish on another cue, you'll still have to understand what ever method your person is doing because sooner or later, your going to see that cue again.
I wish you the best of luck.

And by then the person who did the clear coat for me will have died of cancer?:frown:

Just kidding, thanks for the words of encouragement Michael.

JC
 

Michael Webb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
And by then the person who did the clear coat for me will have died of cancer?:frown:

Just kidding, thanks for the words of encouragement Michael.

JC

On a real serious note.
Mark Bear, God bless him.
Cancer got him. Mark told me the doctors felt it was brought on by his UV finish booth.
A friend of mine passed and he suffered. Spraying cars and not taking precautions.
That's as real as you can get.
Spray booth are worth the money. If you build your own. Protect yourself and build it wisely.
 

Michael Webb

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My comment about posting pictures of your work with finish, was directed at everyone in this thread except JC. It would be great to see some actual work to go with your AZ name.
 

Mike81

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I made only one cue. It was a lot of work and a learning experience as well. When it came time to finish I chickened out and took it to Scott at proficient. I just couldn’t risk doing it myself due to inexperience and it would break my heart If I screwed it up. Needless to say it came about fantastic. I just finished a shelf I was making with Waterlox Tung Oil. It was the sealer finish but they also offer a high gloss which I may still use. I was thinking this wouldn’t be too bad on a cue. So my question is why or how the standard of cue finishing became so high? I mean do people really demand a glass like finish? I would think the average pool player would not mind., a cue collector maybe different. I was impressed with the finish I got with the Tung Oil. Just a thought.
 

JC

Coos Cues
I made only one cue. It was a lot of work and a learning experience as well. When it came time to finish I chickened out and took it to Scott at proficient. I just couldn’t risk doing it myself due to inexperience and it would break my heart If I screwed it up. Needless to say it came about fantastic. I just finished a shelf I was making with Waterlox Tung Oil. It was the sealer finish but they also offer a high gloss which I may still use. I was thinking this wouldn’t be too bad on a cue. So my question is why or how the standard of cue finishing became so high? I mean do people really demand a glass like finish? I would think the average pool player would not mind., a cue collector maybe different. I was impressed with the finish I got with the Tung Oil. Just a thought.

Bob Flynn who I bought several cues from prior to getting interested in building them myself used a tung oil finish and it looks pretty good hot off the press but is softer and ages less well than some others. One cue I have played lightly with over the years and the finish is getting milky looking. Another one I have played with a lot and it's beat to hell with what I consider normal use.

Bob is in his 80s now and as far as I know cancer free so did he make the right choice? HIs cues play really well BTW, he's the one who ultimately inspired me to build full core cues. Every time I shot with the cues he made I thought yes, this is the hit I like. Thanks Bob if you read this.

JC
 

thoffen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Bob Flynn who I bought several cues from prior to getting interested in building them myself used a tung oil finish and it looks pretty good hot off the press but is softer and ages less well than some others. One cue I have played lightly with over the years and the finish is getting milky looking. Another one I have played with a lot and it's beat to hell with what I consider normal use.

Bob is in his 80s now and as far as I know cancer free so did he make the right choice? HIs cues play really well BTW, he's the one who ultimately inspired me to build full core cues. Every time I shot with the cues he made I thought yes, this is the hit I like. Thanks Bob if you read this.

JC

That's cool. Thanks for sharing. I've wondered about a Tung oil finish for cues. Theoretically you can build it up pretty nicely and have it cure completely. Would be a great green product, although the thinner that's used is pretty important. It would probably take a long time though to build up a finish for cues comparable to others out there, although there isn't any real need to have a thicker clear coat finish on cues. Seems to be the standard for quality, though.

I wonder if the issues he had over time might be related to using a tung oil product that's not actually 100% tung oil (often it's blends to cure much faster, but only pure tung oil should polymerize 100%) or if some of the issues relate to the thinner used or if it hadn't dried long enough between coats or if the storage of the oil isn't perfect. If you don't do a good job keeping the air out, you'll get a film of partially polymerized oil and it will ruin the whole batch. I've only ever used it for boxes and never tried to build up a coat like would be typical on cues. May try it one day if I ever actually get into building cues of my own.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JC

63Kcode

AKA Larry Vigus
Silver Member
My comment about posting pictures of your work with finish, was directed at everyone in this thread except JC. It would be great to see some actual work to go with your AZ name.

This one was finished with Hightower’s Cue Cote. I have probably sprayed more auto finish than most cuemakers having restored cars for 30 years and painted Peterbilt trucks for a few years(10 trucks a night. 5 nights a week). Cue Cote can provide a great finish, but not perfect. I may have to start spraying soon.
 

Attachments

  • 1DDA20C4-5C02-4D64-AAEC-2C36F0270D7B.jpeg
    1DDA20C4-5C02-4D64-AAEC-2C36F0270D7B.jpeg
    164.5 KB · Views: 262

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I suck at taking pictures, but this is a cue I`m refinishing for a customer now.
2MJnlp2.jpg
[/IMG]
 
Top