I recently saw an old Joe Porper cue that had a hand rubbed varnish and it just made me wonder about finishing a cue with a matte finish. Anyone seen one or tried it?
Anyone making matte finished cues?
- Thread starter LocalArtist
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I have finished one with tung oil. It looked great..
With the popularity of the Revo shafts on the rise, I see an increase in the interest towards matte black cues...at least in the forearm section of the butt.
Yea I agree Gary.
The other reason I was thinking that this could become a new trend in the cue world is due to the custom car market. I have been seeing a lot of matte finishes on custom paint jobs.
I guess I should just try it and report back to you guys, to see what you think.
Yeah, here in San Diego I have seen a lot of Matte car finishes, I dont really like it.
Related note, has any ever done a French Polish finish on a cue. Would be a serious PITA but it would be in between the 2 extremes and look really nice I suspect.
Here is one I did...
Is that a big ole' hunk of ivory?
I wish..... It's just a piece of hard maple I made into a rear extension...
Finish your cue as normal. After wet sanding. Don't use and compounds or polish. The cue is protected and you can always rub it out later if the customer changes his mind.
My main cue is BLO, I really like the look and feel. BLO requires a little more care, but not enough to deter me from going that route again.
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I think some people are confusing matte finish with oil/gunstock finish.
I always thought matte finish was still auto clear sanded to 0000 wool and no no compounds.
SW calls their gun stock finish as satin afaik.
I thought so too. My first cues were with just oil and padding laquer. I will never do that again. Over time, to take one back and put a finish on it, is a pain in the ass.
Matte finishes use flattening agents to dull down the gloss. They can also obscure the grain to a degree. After reading up on high end wood artisans methods I now use gloss for several coats and then matte for the last one or two. Have not applied to a cue yet but will try it soon.
I agree. If what your looking for is a oil finish, I would think twice. It requires much more care from the owner. Seeing that most players never have their linen wrap cleaned and don't put in a new bumber if the old one wears out or falls out, oiling your cue regulary seems like something very few players would ever do.
What kind of care are you referring to for an oil finish?
Oil finishes, when done right, will protect wood for years. Look at rifle and shotgun stocks. A very good friend of mine was a gunsmith. I made him a cue and he requested no finish, he wanted to apply his own oil finish himself. I was blown away. What he did with oil was phenomenal. He did share some of his methods with me.
I made a cue about 20 years ago for a good friend, I did an oil finish at his request. A few years later I said to him, “Anytime you want I can lightly sand your cue and apply a new coat of oil to make it look new”. He kind of got a surprised look on his face and said “It’s perfect like it is”. Oil finishes develop a natural patina over time. Most players want a glossy wet look to their cue and I can understand that but for a sneaky pete or a cue without a wrap it’s hard to beat a properly executed oil finish. Feels great in the hands.
I have seen sweat make oil finishes blotchy and few coats restores it to new condition, but once dirt and sweat get into the wood itself, it`s harder to make it look new again.
puts out a nice matt finish with all of the protection a regular gloss clear does.