Sneaky Shaft too white

deadbeat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Guys help me out, I have a shaft nearly finished on an old conversion sneaky, one I took the finish off of and am ready to apply finish to the shaft and the butt. The problem I am seeing is the shaft is way too white for it to look good to me. Is there a way to yellow the maple shaft some, maybe atleast where it meets the butt? Putting a ring on to break it up is not an option, guy had the stick for years and wants it back as close as I can get it to when he got it in the 70's. I am not looking for true perfection here, but is there any way to "age" the shaft to make it look older, or should I have used an old house to make the shaft out of instead of hanging wood that has never seen the light of day? Or, just thought, how can I get the maple to lighten on the butt?
 
Last edited:

deadbeat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thank you, just so I don't mess this up, should I just use that on the shaft, then epoxy finish the butt and bottom of the shaft after like I normally would?
 

cuetrip

Rob Hardman Cues
Silver Member
Bulls Eye Amber cut with DA gives maple a really nice yellowed/aged look. Plus you can use it for your sanding/shaft sealer. You can do the whole shaft and then epoxy over it on the butt. Might want to cut it pretty thin to start with, or try on a scrap piece first.
 

thoffen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thank you, just so I don't mess this up, should I just use that on the shaft, then epoxy finish the butt and bottom of the shaft after like I normally would?

The BLO would have to be put on the butt to color match. BLO is a penetrating oil finish that will darken slightly and enrich the maple color. It cures to provide some moisture protection but not much. Pure Tung oil cures fully, but it can really take weeks for that to happen. Not sure about putting epoxy on top of the BLO. Would certainly need to be fully cured. Dewaxed shellac could be used to bridge the finishes if not compatible. I've never tried to do anything like that, cue or otherwise, so test it out if you want to try or maybe Joey can say more since he suggested the BLO.

Otherwise, would not a simple light stain work?
 

deadbeat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I suppose a stain could work, and as far as drying times go, I am in no hurry. I'll post some pics when I actually get time to get back in my shop to show what path I took and how it turned out.
 

deadbeat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I might put up a pic later, I put a few coats of BLO on and it helped a lot, but the butt is really dark and yellow. After a few days of rubbing some on and letting it dry, I resorted to a little oil stain, rub on and let set a few seconds and rub off since the stain was dark. I have the match pretty close, but not perfect. I wonder how close I should try to get, if it only had a collar it would look fine at this point.
 

PRED

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Handful of blue chalk dust, rub liberally over full length of shaft.
 

deadbeat

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
LOL, I do have to put some finish over the bottom part, its not blue, just yellow and old.
 

jazznpool

Superior Cues--Unchalked!
Gold Member
Silver Member
LOL, I do have to put some finish over the bottom part, its not blue, just yellow and old.

Myland's Cellulose Sanding Sealer followed by a few coats of Myland's High Friction Polish is the ultimate finish for sneaky pete type cues. Easy to apply (with folded paper towel while slowly turning on lathe) and dries fast. I'd give the last coat overnight to dry before handling.

The sanding sealer is the very best sealer I've seen or used for shafts (by far) when diluted 50% with alcohol. I can thank Kevin Varney who PMed me about 12-13 years ago to pass this info along. He was spot on.
 

Snooker Theory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Myland's Cellulose Sanding Sealer followed by a few coats of Myland's High Friction Polish is the ultimate finish for sneaky pete type cues. Easy to apply (with folded paper towel while slowly turning on lathe) and dries fast. I'd give the last coat overnight to dry before handling.

The sanding sealer is the very best sealer I've seen or used for shafts (by far) when diluted 50% with alcohol. I can thank Kevin Varney who PMed me about 12-13 years ago to pass this info along. He was spot on.
Thanks for sharing!
 
Top