CHALK in the MICROWAV

Bavafongoul said:
I've been playing with Blue Diamond for the past 3 years. I bought a carton of 25 boxes and probably still have 18 boxes. I estimate I probably gave away 4-5 boxes to pals to try so I've used 2-3 boxes (maximum of say 6 cubes) in 3 years of pool playing.

My point is I don't know what baking or microwaving the chalk would accomplish? I mean the chalk performs just absolutely great "as is" right out of the carton. It doesn't flake or cake unless you core your cue tip into it and lasts seemingly a heck of a long time when you brush the chalk to your cue tip so it wears evenly instead of having a drill hole from twisting your cue tip.

I dunno.....seems like the chalk is just a top performer in its natural state and that's more than adequate for my playing needs.
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I seldom miscue and when I do, I can tell you that it is almost always because of an errant stroke. I believe most chalks perform just as they are designed.

Harold Smith said:
I have a bad habit of carrying the chalk in my hand as I play, makes for a real messy hand. However it does get the chalk a little damp. I may be crazy, but I think it makes the chalk perform better. Like I said I may be crazy, but have been doing it for years with no bad effects.---Smitty
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I would love to know from a scientific test if additional moisture or softening of traditional pool chalk has anything to do with more friction and less miscueing.

Pre-Flag Master said:
That's my take on it too.

I have baked Master chalk before (the newer stuff made today). It made it a little harder and dryer so it did not make a lot of cast off and make a mess everywhere. It did not seem to change the performance though.

I never tried microwaving it, but I think I would rather bake it. Seems like with baking you are drying it out in a more slow controlled way so that the internal changes are more consistent through out the cube. And it would also be easier to fine tune the results by adjusting temperature and bake time as you experiment to find what you like best.

Fatz
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I have tried baking traditional chalk and it seemed to become a finer "dust" although I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Johnnyt said:
Me thinks Master Chalk would be nuking their chalk if there was any way it made it better. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:Johnnyt
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Probably so.

JoeyA
 
I'll soon find out if microwaving chalk does anything. I'm going to play at Hawaiian Brian's this morning and while I was downstairs making my coffee, I threw 5 pieces of Master's tan-colored chalk in the microwave for 1 minute on High. Other than it being pretty damn hot when it came out, it looks the same.

In a couple hours, I'll see if it plays the same and I'll come back and post the results later.

Aloha.
 
HawaiianEye said:
I'll soon find out if microwaving chalk does anything. I'm going to play at Hawaiian Brian's this morning and while I was downstairs making my coffee, I threw 5 pieces of Master's tan-colored chalk in the microwave for 1 minute on High. Other than it being pretty damn hot when it came out, it looks the same.

In a couple hours, I'll see if it plays the same and I'll come back and post the results later.

Aloha.
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OK folks...the verdict is IN!!!

I don't know if it was the "baked" chalk or me, but I managed to play half a dozen hours yesterday before I miscued for the first time. This is quite a rarity because I'm not especially satisfied with the Everest tip that came on my Predator 2 FAT shaft.

I have a tendency to "spin" the balls in a lot of the time and sometimes that means going to the extreme outer edge of the cueball in order to get sufficient spin to pocket the ball and propel the cue ball in the desired direction.

The chalk I used was relatively new and it seemed to be a bit less messy after being heated to whatever degree the microwave imparted. It adhered to the tip well and didn't "spew" little sprays of chalk dust all over the table when I broke the balls...and I can hit the balls pretty damn hard.

My hands seemed to be a bit less messy also.

Maybe it was the "placebo" effect, but I definitely felt more confident about putting the "juice" on the ball without fear of miscueing.

Aloha.
 
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HawaiianEye said:
OK folks...the verdict is IN!!!

I don't know if it was the "baked" chalk or me, but I managed to play half a dozen hours yesterday before I miscued for the first time. This is quite a rarity because I'm not especially satisfied with the Everest tip that came on my Predator 2 FAT shaft.

I have a tendency to "spin" the balls in a lot of the time and sometimes that means going to the extreme outer edge of the cueball in order to get sufficient spin to pocket the ball and propel the cue ball in the desired direction.

The chalk I used was relatively new and it seemed to be a bit lest messy after being heated to whatever degree the microwave imparted. It adhered to the tip well and didn't "spew" little sprays of chalk dust all over the table when I broke the balls...and I can hit the bars pretty damn hard.

My hands seemed to be a bit less messy also.

Maybe it was the "placebo" effect, but I definitely felt more confident about putting the "juice" on the ball without fear of miscueing.

Aloha.
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Was the chalk you used from the same batch as previous chalk you have used? Sometimes batches come out differently. To make sure your experiment is valid you have to nuke/bake a cube from the same batch as your previous non-nuked/baked cubes.

Fatz
 
Pre-Flag Master said:
Was the chalk you used from the same batch as previous chalk you have used? Sometimes batches come out differently. To make sure your experiment is valid you have to nuke/bake a cube from the same batch as your previous non-nuked/baked cubes.

Fatz
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I am quite sure all the chalk is from the same batch. I got it from my buddy who somehow got a big box of it and shares with me when I get low.
 
Some times you have to play someone that likes to make the chalk talk. Found out if you put a few drops of beer in the chalk they stop doing it.
 
HawaiianEye said:
OK folks...the verdict is IN!!!

I don't know if it was the "baked" chalk or me, but I managed to play half a dozen hours yesterday before I miscued for the first time. This is quite a rarity because I'm not especially satisfied with the Everest tip that came on my Predator 2 FAT shaft.

I have a tendency to "spin" the balls in a lot of the time and sometimes that means going to the extreme outer edge of the cueball in order to get sufficient spin to pocket the ball and propel the cue ball in the desired direction.

The chalk I used was relatively new and it seemed to be a bit lest messy after being heated to whatever degree the microwave imparted. It adhered to the tip well and didn't "spew" little sprays of chalk dust all over the table when I broke the balls...and I can hit the bars pretty damn hard.

My hands seemed to be a bit less messy also.

Maybe it was the "placebo" effect, but I definitely felt more confident about putting the "juice" on the ball without fear of miscueing.

Aloha.
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that's what i'm talking about :thumbup:
 
boatbeach said:
The LOCAL RED CROSS THRIFT SHOP IN MY AREA HAS DOZENS OF MICROWAV OVENS FOR SALE.
I THOUGHT OF GETTING ONE ESPECIALLY FOR THE USE OF MICROWAVING CHALK.
ANY TAKE ON THIS SUBJECT? I UNDERSTAND ITS A GOOD THING TO DO.
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I would advise you not to do this or if you do anyway, do not do it in the house and do not be near it while it is running. I would not be surprised if the chalk, microwave or both exploded. Chalk is aluminum oxide. You know what happens when you put metal into a microwave.

I do not know what will happen but I doubt you will get anything usable out of it. It is not going to be like baking it.
 
ChopStick said:
I would advise you not to do this or if you do anyway, do not do it in the house and do not be near it while it is running. I would not be surprised if the chalk, microwave or both exploded. Chalk is aluminum oxide. You know what happens when you put metal into a microwave.

I do not know what will happen but I doubt you will get anything usable out of it. It is not going to be like baking it.
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properties of alluminium in oxide form are not the same as a solid metal.
good point however and i'd like to hear from some of the science guys that are here in forum.
excellent, thanks for pointing that out :)
 
boatbeach said:
properties of alluminium in oxide form are not the same as a solid metal.
good point however and i'd like to hear from some of the science guys that are here in forum.
excellent, thanks for pointing that out :)
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Agree!
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I been doing it for years

I've put chalk in microwave for 10 seconds and never have I had a problem. Takes the moisture out the chalk.
 
hustlers secret on chalk.

Ive always thought and been told the best piece of master chalk, is the worn out piece -that has the mosture in it to help it stick to your tip. mark
 
GreenFeltguy said:
I've put chalk in microwave for 10 seconds and never have I had a problem. Takes the moisture out the chalk.
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I do know from personal observation that your chalk holds better to your ferrule than any other chalk and ferrule I have ever seen.

JoeyA
 
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