Best way to get a matte finish

spliced

spliced

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I want to have a sneaky with a glossy finish stripped and refinished with some type of a matte finish. Not uv or automotive clear coat. Not sticky or slippery. I want the cue to feel natural in my hand, similar to the leg of a chair or a piece of furniture. I want the cue to resist dents, dings, chalk, and dirt. I don't want to have to do much to maintain it, like reapply finish or sand it all the time. What type of finish would you recommend to meet these criteria? Maybe just a coat of sealer?

Thanks
Ian
 
For a hard matt finish I think you might want to go with West System epoxy and 207 hardener and not buff it as much as you could. Put a few thin coats on and sand it smooth down to 2000 grit and buff it out lightly.
After rereading your post I will have to say I don't think what you want exists, unless you can get the acrylic to soak into the surface of the wood, gioving a surface like the Dyamond wood has that is vaccum impregnated. The West System will give you more surface finish than you seem to want. And since you don't want to have to reapply the finish fairly often none of the real thin things will work.
 
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Before you have the "glossy" finish stripped you may want to give this a try. Take a piece of 000 or 0000 steel wool and load it up with some wax...then rub the cue down with a little elbow grease. Then wipe it with a dry cloth & your done. Presto...a very nice matte/satin style finish.:wink:
 
What's wrong with this picture??? :grin:

spliced said:
. . . I want the cue to feel natural in my hand, similar to the leg of a chair . . .
Click to expand...

Seriously though, if you think the steel wool might be too harsh, try rubbing it down with a green Sctoch Bright pad used to clean the kitchen sink. Scratchie, but less abrasive than the steel wool, I think anyway.
Mr H
 
> I would think that for "dulling" up a gloss finish,that a Scotch-Brite type product would be a fine choice,surely it's neater than steel wool. My suggestion would be to research the different grades/colors of Scotch-Brite first. The green commonly seen on kitchen-type sponges is roughly 400 grit. That may be coarser than they may want. Tommy D.
 
I took and old cue that had a lot of the finish rubbed off and rubbed it with 000 steel wool and tung oil. I like the soft matte finish.
 
Mr Hoppe said:
What's wrong with this picture??? :grin:



Seriously though, if you think the steel wool might be too harsh, try rubbing it down with a green Sctoch Bright pad used to clean the kitchen sink. Scratchie, but less abrasive than the steel wool, I think anyway.
Mr H
Click to expand...

Not so much. Scotchbrite pads will remove a lot of material. 0000 steel wool almost feels like human hair....very, very mild abrasive.
 
I've used steel wool as well. It doesn't overly rough the finish like you might think it would. Try the finest, if it still isn't dull enough move up to the next grit. If you are planning on trying a refinish anyway, give the steel wool a shot on the existing finish and you might save yourself a buck or two.
 
Anyone using an automotive finish can use gloss reducing additives in their clear coatings. Very simple. This is also UV stable so it will not yellow with age as the epoxy coatings will. (even the 'special finish hardener' from West will yellow somewhat over time)

This 'low-gloss' clear is still applied and finished (blocked and buffed) the same way, but the gloss is greatly reduced. It can also be tailored to your likes as well through the controlled addition of this additive (more or less gloss).

"Dulling" the finish with steel wool and other methods mentioned does work; however you asked for something with little to no maintenance from the sound of it, and the finish will eventually 'gloss-up' if you use the cue a lot through natural 'buffing' with your hand through use. The steel wool et al will need to be re-done periodically, and if you have a wrap on the cue, could get messy as well.

Now, if you want to feel the grain of the wood, the same method can be used; however no sealer would be used before the clear is applied to keep the pores open and the finish has to be applied very wet directly onto the wood- so it flows out completely and levels with no outside influence (i.e. sanding 'flat' after application) to closely follow the contours of the wood and its pores. Tricky, but far from impossible with an accomplished painter.

I am not willing to do this work for you; just letting you know the options. I have done both a low gloss as well as a 'sealed with wood feel' finish on my guitars in the past.
 
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