Jazz said:
Once in awhile you see these threads in For Sale section of the forum where it is claimed that cue/shafts were warped during shipping transit.
Now I don't know caca about cue construction and wood but what is the likelyhood that this can happen?
I don't think this has ever happened to me. Now if I'm buying or selling expensive cues I prefer overnight service but other than that, I'm ok with 2-3 days service.
Please educate me, thanks.
Hey Jazz, this is what I have seen since I have been it this business. 95% of the people who leave their cues in their Automobiles have cues that are warped or that have major expansion and contraction problems where ever unlike materials are joined together side by side. This is especially true for cues that have Metal rings or other inlays. Metal will expand and contract when exposed to heat or cold and this is why so many cues have raised areas over these type of inlays.
I do not think has a great deal to do with humidity as it does with moisture content that is already present in the wood we use. Now most cues are built with wood that has a moisture content of 9% or less, but no wood that is used for a cue can have less than 2% or 3% because when the moisture content in wood is reduced below the above it becomes too brittle for use.
So, I suspect that leaving a cue in your trunk on a day in the 90's the actual temperature in the trunk is more like a 120 to 140 degrees depending where it is parked. To me this is like place your cue in kiln, you are continuing to lower the moisture content until the woods become brittle. The metal in the cue will also expand a great deal due to these temperatures, and once expanded it will never return back to it old shape completely.
All these same problems can occur in no more than 24 hr's because any weakness in the wood will effected first. Such as cut grain, and other imperfections such as hairline cracks that are unseen, before of exposure to major changes of temperature.
When cues are shipped they are not shipped in a temperature controlled environment. During shipment cues can be exposed to extreme cold during air transit, or extreme heat during ground transit or both. The faster the mode of transit the less Chance there will be a problem. Over night is the best way to insure things are exposed less to any extreme.
Yes cues will warp during 2-3 day transit during hot weather, in my opinion cold weather has much less effect.
However, I must also comment that many claims of cues warping in shipment may not be all they appear to be. In most cases the problem existed before shipment to some extent and became worst during transit.
Just my ramblings!
I hate to think of some of things that have been shipped to me in that heat.
