Cortland no. 30 black linen

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haifp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Can this be used to wrap a cue? I have a spool of no. 30 cortland line, is this correct for use as a wrap? I
 

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It wouldn't be easy, and I wouldn't try it personally, but I'm sure that our local guys like Chris Byrne & Ernie Martinez could make it work.
It's an amazing process to watch those guys put on a linen wrap, they make it look easy.
They wouldn't like it, but they could do it.
 
The Cortland used by the early cuemakers Balabuska and Szamboti was #9, 27 pound test linen. White (or cream) with a green speck.
 
This is silk....and yes, it can be used as wrap material and was on some vintage cues back in the 50s and 60s. Aside form whether it is too degraded (wouldn't hold up to the wear), the issue is how thick the strands are. If you can check with a dial caliper and this line is 0.025-0.030" thickness, then yes, it should work just fine. But a cuemaker/cuesmith would likely need to deepen the wrap groove some to accommodate the slightly thicker size. If it's much thicker than that (like 0.030-0.040") I wouldn't even bother. If you have to take a handle way down for a thicker wrap, then there will be an issue if it ever needs to be redone with modern linen or leather in the future, which is usually 0.020"-0.025".

My $0.02 anyway....

And yes, this is not cuttyhunk linen. Different stuff, but has been used as wraps.
 
Being a retired professional fly fisherman and fly shop owner I'm familliar with Cortland products.
What you have is a 30# silk fishing line.
The Linen wraps on pool cues differ from one maker to another but some appear to be Cortland fly line backing, which is a braided dacron, white with green specks, 20# is
.016 in dia.. This is very closed to the linen wraps on my Gina cues.
30# of course would be a little larger in dia.

Dale
 
then there will be an issue if it ever needs to be redone with modern linen or leather in the future, which is usually 0.020"-0.025".
Click to expand...

Not really an issue as the wrap groove can be built up again. A bit of added hassle but pretty simple.

I have several leather wraps that are on the thin side. If I were to install one of them, that would be job one to build up the groove. Many others are on the thicker side.

When you consider that a piece of copy paper is 4 thou, you're not looking at much to take off or add either way if necessary. A few passes of thin CA glue or a light touch of sandpaper will take care of it for you.

The most crucial part of any wrap groove is the first 3 inches on either side. Of course, you would want the middle 6" to be as close as possible but 1 thou
isn't going to seen from the highway. Once you press the wrap or work the leather, you won't see any huge hills or valleys in the middle.
 
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