Once it is beat up past your liking, just get it refinished.
Butt Protection
- Thread starter cueball2010
- Start date
The thing is, even then, eventually the finish will shrink and/or the wood will swell. So it's not going to keep that perfectly smooth glass-like finish forever.
We both know that's not a good comparison because it's less of a tool and more of an instrument. What I can show you are $10k shotguns, pistols, guitars, etc. They're made to be used and their finishes aren't always there just for looks. They're there to protect the actual object under that finish from normal handling and use. The finish on a lot of wooden items could be viewed as a consumable. When it gets worn or damaged, have it refinished.
Having said all that, If you can find a good wrap similar to or exactly like they use to protect automotive finishes, I don't really see anything wrong with it. I doubt it would affect how the cue plays in any meaningful way. My only concern would, ironically, be whether the wrap material "gets along with" the finish on the cue. If the cue has an automotive clear finish it should be good. But there are a lot of different cue finishes out there. And a lot of materials don't like being super close to one another for extended periods of time. So it's possible the wrap could cause damage to the cue's finish over time. Not saying it would. Just saying it could. Also, unless you can find someone who makes wraps in a tube, you're going to have to deal with a seam of some kind running the length of the cue.
At the end of the day, it'd be your cue and you can do whatever you want to or with it. I do think you're overstressing about it. That's energy that could potentially be used to focus on the game at hand or something more productive than whether your cue has hairline scratches that you have to look for to even know they're there. But, that's just my opinion.
When I lose, I prefer to grab my opponent's cue, run outside, and chuck it on the roof of the pool room. That way no laws have technically been broken. I simply relocated their cue to a higher, and arguably safer, location. You could have opened a cue store with what was on the roof of my old room. I lost a lot.
cueball2010
Active member
You bring up a good point. Gunking up the clear coat with a protective film would be counterproductive to its purpose.
It's not necessarily counterproductive. People put wraps over clear coated vehicle finishes all the time. It's just that at it's least it would be a bit of overkill. But at it's most, it might actually cause more harm than good.
If/once you learn how too avoid putting the cue in danger, the problem vanishes.
I have butts more than 20 years old without a single scratch/nick/dent/ ...
cueball2010
Active member
I don't have scratches, nicks, or dents. Its hard to explain I guess. They are blemishes. Similar to a scratch but much lighter and look like blotches of different shape and sizes. I'm not even sure if they come from the table. But I don't want to keep polishing my cue with Maguire's car wax because eventually all the clear coat will come off.
Are they coming from your case? Any debris in your case, particularly if it's a tube or JB Ultra style, will absolutely scratch up the finish of your cue.
If I had a place to do it I would absolutely get an el-cheapo cue and spray it with bedliner. That's actually not a bad idea at all for a bar cue.
I made the mistake of scratching the itch by playing with those aluminum finger protectors they use after you've broken fingers. Wraps around the finger to immobilize them?? They gouged the shit out of my wrapless clear coat. It never occurred to me those might scratch the finish if I held the cue gently, like I always do. Stupidity or pain meds. Or both.
The foot rests of spectator chairs have dinged my butt sleeves more times than I'd like to admit.
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Bar Leagues: Abandon Hope All Cues Which Enter Here.
I have had my Joss for 40 years. Has some dents in the butt sleeve. I don't care. Most were there when I got it. I doubt I would ever get it refinished.
I am VERY careful with my cues. Usually nobody else touches them. If you are wearing a ring, you can't touch my cue.
But things happen.
I am VERY careful with my cues. Usually nobody else touches them. If you are wearing a ring, you can't touch my cue.
But things happen.
cueball2010
Active member
I never thought about ring fingers on wrapless shafts.