Finish?

due you do cue work? does it have a wrap? do you have a lathe?

if no to these maybe you should pay someone who can do it.

skinnymg1 said:

I do not do cue work, trying to get into it. There is no wrap. And I do not have a lathe but do have access to one. Sorry for not clearing that up on the original post.

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I thought the question was what to use, not how to do it, I'd hold out for more opinions if I was the OP. Pretty sure it can be done without a lathe though,,,,,,,,,,

Hi,

There are volumes of info concerning finish. Do a search and you will get plenty of good advise.

Rick G

Spraying car finish in your garage is extremely expensive, dangerous and illegal.
Would you like to get it done instead ?

chris hightower

told me when i first started building cues that the finish was sometimes the hardest part of the process, and the most difficult to master. i agree.
you can go the hardware store get some sandpaper of various grits, sand until smooth, then hang and spray a coat of poly onto the cue. will it look like a finish that was sanded on a lathe and shot with clear auto finish and polished with a wheel by someone that knows what they are doing? NO IT WILL NOT.

There are many variables to take into consideration;

-what substrates you are spraying (how well it adheres)
-how it is applied (sprayed, brushed, gooped and spun)
-how you polish it (some finishes polish better than others)

think

on this forum, if you ask a question, it might get answered, but not always with the answer you want to hear.

skinnymg1 said:

Ok, if it's not to be it's not to be. I am still going to refinish the cue. If it looks good it looks good, If it looks like my Daughter got hold to it with her mother's nail polish thats fine too. For god's sake its a Kaiser cue in the first place I was just going to try to refinish it for the practice. No need in trying to figure this out anymore Ill just stick to murdering people and eating there brains.

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Buy a can of Krylon satin finish, coat it up and be happy. You've asked one of the more technical questions about cue work and now you seem to have an attitude because you didn't get any of the hand held answers that you were hoping for. I learned a lot of what I know about cue construction and finishing techniques by doing. A lot of builders have used a lot of their own money, time and energy finding the best way for them to accomplish a given task. Don't forgot this when you ask a question on this forum. It's very much like reaching into some strangers pocket and taking money from him. If he'll give it to you fine, but don't get all pissy if he puts up a little resistance.

It's really an easy task.
Buy some 3M sandpapers.
West 207 epoxy for basecoat.
Dupont Chroma Clear is a good choice.
A SATA gun , clean compressed air , high speed buffer and some compounds.
You'll be set.

skinnymg1 said:

I would like to ask the cue makers what they use to finish cues with. I am trying to refinish one of mine and would like to know what to use. I have heard of some using Mercedes Benz Clear coat, but that is a little steep for my budget. Looking for another alternative. Thanks in advanced.

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I finished cues without a lathe or spray gun for 14 years. They looked better than anything out there at the time. Of course that was 50+ years ago and there wasn't much out there except Willie Hoppe's and old cues with no finish at all. There is no chance at all I would ever do that again but if you want to do it it isn't complicated just a time consuming pain in the butt.

First you have to sand or scrape off all the old finish, then sand the cue very smooth with fine sandpaper to remove all the sanding scratches, You have to sand with the grain. Get rid of all the dust then find a way for the cue to rest safely against something where none of the finish is touching anything.

Buy some cans of clear gloss lacquer, go outside in a breeze hold the cue in one hand and spray the cue every 5 minutes with 3 or4 coats. Let it dry for a few days wet sand the finish smooth and apply a few more coats. You might have to do this 3 or 4 times till all the pores are gone. Eventually you will be able to wet sand the final set of coats with 600 grit sandpaper then rub out the finish with different grade rubbing compounds and end up with a professional looking finish. With the amount of time and materials you will buy and use you'll be saving about 78 cents an hour but it can look so good you won't care.

skinnymg1 said:

Ok sure I stole from someone, I robbed you all blind. All I asked was what to use not how to when to or for advice. Simply what to use, I am not pissy, you want to see pissy go to a daycare and ask for the diapers. It's ok though I see that this is an ask the cuemakers, so they can capitalize type forum. Not a help someone that is truly admired by the craftsmanship of some pf these cues. Sorry if I offended anyone by asking what to use to refinish a cue.

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I don't think I like your attitude. Have a good day.

JoeyInCali said:

It's really an easy task.
Buy some 3M sandpapers.
West 207 epoxy for basecoat.
Dupont Chroma Clear is a good choice.A SATA gun , clean compressed air , high speed buffer and some compounds.
You'll be set.

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Joey,

Given the recommendation of Chroma Clear, didn't you leave out 1) a Respirator, and 2) a Spray Booth with an outside exhaust? :smile:

On a more serious note, finishing is indeed one of, if not THE most difficult, of the MANY skills that go into building a cue.

Skinny, since you've got a SATA gun, I'm going to guess that you have some finishing or painting experience. It should be no surprise to you that you can't just spray some canned clear over the top of your already finished cue and get a guaranteed result. Some finishing compounds simply don't get along with others - no matter how long the base has dried/cured out. It may work out fine, but it may gum up and be a disaster.

But you've already received some great advice here, so pick what seems the best to you and go for it.

But, I agree with several others, you could be more humble/polite given that you're the one asking the questions.

My 2 cents,

Gary

skinnymg1 said:

Ok sure I stole from someone, I robbed you all blind. All I asked was what to use not how to when to or for advice. Simply what to use, I am not pissy, you want to see pissy go to a daycare and ask for the diapers. It's ok though I see that this is an ask the cuemakers, so they can capitalize type forum. Not a help someone that is truly admired by the craftsmanship of some pf these cues. Sorry if I offended anyone by asking what to use to refinish a cue.

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By your comments above I doubt anyone will help you at this point. However, I have an idea for you that may help you out here. Contact the forum moderator's and have this thread removed. Then make an apology in another thread and act respectfully you may be surprised some one may send you a private Pm to help you out.

Good luck

You can use nail polish?
I will raid my wifes make up bag later today.

Guys are seriously right on the finish.
I did a few refinishes and thought they were not half bad.
All of a sudden, I am having less than stellar results using the same products and same methods.
It really is one of the most frustrating parts of a cue thats fer sure.
I am really anal about any type of repair work so anything less than perfect doesn't wash in my book.
Oh well, back to the drawing board.

GEBrown said:

Skinny, since you've got a SATA gun, I'm going to guess that you have some finishing or painting experience

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I don't think he actually has one or even knows what one is. He was just returning the sarcasm to Joey. Probably did a quick google of SATA & referenced a model. Dave was right on. The guy was being abrasive.

Everybody finishes cues differently so there's no real solid answer for the guy's question. Heck, when I began, I went to an auto paint store & bought some Chroma Clear and sand paper, went to the hardware store & bought a cheap syphon gun, hose, & compressor. I got myself a respirator mask & hood, built a spinning spray booth out of a shelf & some fire truck turret control parts, a fan & filters for exhaust, and started spraying cues. It was powered with a car battery charger. $500-$600 & some old junk parts lying around and I was finishing cues. They looked great, too. Heck, I even finished some cues with West System & rubber gloves on an old Shop Smith wood lathe and those finishes still look awesome 10-12 years later. Point being, the best way to learn is to jump in and just do it. Try something, anything. Nothing is really wrong if it works. But at least TRY something.