Cues in Cars

Halfjack87

Halfjack87

In Training
Silver Member
I've never left my cues in my car for more an hour or so, except in easy Spring/Fall weather.

Living in TX, during our 5 months of summer even my well-tinted, light colored car with the sunroof popped can reach about a 100 F in the passenger compartment - and who knows if it is hotter or cooler in the trunk.

If I've got my cue cased in my back seat with the car vented like that - is 9 hours of 100F +/- going to totally screw up my cue - or is that really not the oven I think it is?

Maybe bringing my cue to work means bringing my cue IN to work...

Signed "Cue-less after work"
 
Halfjack87 said:
I've never left my cues in my car for more an hour or so, except in easy Spring/Fall weather.

Living in TX, during our 5 months of summer even my well-tinted, light colored car with the sunroof popped can reach about a 100 F in the passenger compartment - and who knows if it is hotter or cooler in the trunk.

If I've got my cue cased in my back seat with the car vented like that - is 9 hours of 100F +/- going to totally screw up my cue - or is that really not the oven I think it is?

Maybe bringing my cue to work means bringing my cue IN to work...

Signed "Cue-less after work"
Click to expand...
On league night, I always bring my cue into the office. Security was very concerned, and I had to open it to show them that it isn't a rifle. Still, getting on the elevator garners strange looks from others.

But I NEVER leave my cue in my car...for potential heat damage or theft reasons.
 
I have a cue customer that insists on leaving his cue in his car year round, He will not listen to reason. He says that his cue case is sealed..... I don;t know what that means.

While his cue has not warped, the finish is noticeably yellow. I have cues out there that are several years older that have not yellowed.....

Cooking and freezing your cue in your car does not do it any good .


Kim
 
If the weather is temperate I leave my cues in the trunk. But in the summer the trunk is virtually an oven and can cook things and in the winter it can be a refrigerator and you can actually leave meat in there. Trunks are sealed just like ovens and refrigerators. I live in the northern Mid Atlantic. Where you live most certainly dictates where you can store your sticks.
 
Halfjack87 said:
I've never left my cues in my car for more an hour or so, except in easy Spring/Fall weather.

Living in TX, during our 5 months of summer even my well-tinted, light colored car with the sunroof popped can reach about a 100 F in the passenger compartment - and who knows if it is hotter or cooler in the trunk.

If I've got my cue cased in my back seat with the car vented like that - is 9 hours of 100F +/- going to totally screw up my cue - or is that really not the oven I think it is?

Maybe bringing my cue to work means bringing my cue IN to work...

Signed "Cue-less after work"
Click to expand...

Disclaimer - I make cue cases and what I do personally may not work for everyone.

My cues live in my car. All seasons, everywhere in the world that I have lived, Oklahoma, Florida, Germany, China, all my travels through all climates.

I also build cases that I feel provide a decent level of insulation which allows some protection from sudden temperature change.

I feel that while extremes can and do hurt wooden products I have also seen in my experience cues stored in warehouses in cardboard boxes and plastic bags with zero climate control that have not been damaged in any way. I worked for a company that has such a warehouse and at first I was appalled and concerned. After a month of pulling cues and testing each one before shipping I came to the conclusion that temperature isn't the problem.

The problem in my opinion is how the cue was built AND exposure to very high temperatures and moisture. At one time I transported cues across America several times a year in the back of a Ryder truck. One cross country trip is enough to tell who builds good cues and who doesn't. I am not naming names here but some people have figured out how to build cues that hold up under anything. Some of these are small makers and some are mass production brands.

For me though, I keep my cues in my cases in my car all the time. So if you want to steal my cues you know where they are.
 
RichSchultz said:
On league night, I always bring my cue into the office. Security was very concerned, and I had to open it to show them that it isn't a rifle. Still, getting on the elevator garners strange looks from others.

But I NEVER leave my cue in my car...for potential heat damage or theft reasons.
Click to expand...

Reminds me of the time I came home from league and my neighbor thought I was toting around a gun case. I had to show her my "weapons". LOL

I ended up giving her son a cheap Huebler to get him into billiards.
 
Exposing wood to Extreme temp changes speaks for itself. Now putting a cue/case in ones car trunk can cause Other problems than heat. The bump...ditty bump on the freeway that happen from each slab pour of concrete (not blacktop) are very damaging to the interior of the case (unless the shafts and butt are stabilized). Over time, in a tube case the up/down movement wears the interior of the lining, and I once had it Cut into my linen wrap. I found the interior seam came unglued and worn Also, when traveling I prefer to have the cue in the car, not over the hopping rear end of a front wheel drive car. The older rear wheel drives don't hop like the new front wheel drive cars any where near as much due to the weight of the drive train/gear in rear wheel drive autos.
 
Always left them in the car - michigan, florida, Arizona, carolina - everywhere. No problems whatsoever.
My guess would be that the cues that are warping were built too quickly and the guys doing this would have more cues on average warping anyway.
 
Island Drive said:
Exposing wood to Extreme temp changes speaks for itself. Now putting a cue/case in ones car trunk can cause Other problems than heat. The bump...ditty bump on the freeway that happen from each slab pour of concrete (not blacktop) are very damaging to the interior of the case (unless the shafts and butt are stabilized). Over time, in a tube case the up/down movement wears the interior of the lining, and I once had it Cut into my linen wrap. I found the interior seam came unglued and worn Also, when traveling I prefer to have the cue in the car, not over the hopping rear end of a front wheel drive car. The older rear wheel drives don't hop like the new front wheel drive cars any where near as much due to the weight of the drive train/gear in rear wheel drive autos.
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Sounds like a garbage case to me.....you know they make shocks right? Lol

I lived in Michigan and they have some of the worst roads anywhere and never heard of anything like this.
 
Island Drive said:
Exposing wood to Extreme temp changes speaks for itself. Now putting a cue/case in ones car trunk can cause Other problems than heat. The bump...ditty bump on the freeway that happen from each slab pour of concrete (not blacktop) are very damaging to the interior of the case (unless the shafts and butt are stabilized). Over time, in a tube case the up/down movement wears the interior of the lining, and I once had it Cut into my linen wrap. I found the interior seam came unglued and worn Also, when traveling I prefer to have the cue in the car, not over the hopping rear end of a front wheel drive car. The older rear wheel drives don't hop like the new front wheel drive cars any where near as much due to the weight of the drive train/gear in rear wheel drive autos.
Click to expand...

Our cases are padded to keep movement in any direction to a minimum. I have talked about damage to cues from vibration and rattling many times on here. That said I prefer to keep them from excessive bouncing as well even with a padded case such as we make.

Protection Matters - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tftnJJmgLO0

Here is a blog piece I wrote about this subject in 2010 http://jbcases.com/caseblog/2010/01/21/mythbusting-about-wooden-cues-and-moisture/

Foam%20Backing%20Diagram.jpg
 
Absolutely not.

If I'm playing after a work day, I bring it in. Never stays in the car overnight... a car's trunk is not sealed against extreme heat and cold outside... even a Benz. Cues aren't golf clubs... they're wood, and a thin piece of wood at that... warping, the grain raising up, finish checking?... no thanks.
 
I have a GTF 1x2 and an Ultimate Rugged 2x5/3x4.There are no better cases in this solar system,simple as that !!!
 
TX Poolnut said:
Reminds me of the time I came home from league and my neighbor thought I was toting around a gun case. I had to show her my "weapons". LOL

I ended up giving her son a cheap Huebler to get him into billiards.
Click to expand...

I fear a world where the criminals are the only ones with pool cues.
 
jasonlaus said:
Sounds like a garbage case to me.....you know they make shocks right? Lol

I lived in Michigan and they have some of the worst roads anywhere and never heard of anything like this.
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Twenty years on the road with a Fellini case, it took it's time before it happened but it did. Just trying to help those trunk cues. I always prefer a Cuetec in the trunk. Named it a trunk cue years ago, for fun. Ever heard of racktiss ?:p
 
I keep mine in the car, so I can play over my lunch break. Have not had any problems. I will probably cover it with a couple blankets that are always in the car to hide and protect from heat.

A few years ago, I bought some candy bars for Christmas gifts to my sister's kids. There were two extras that I put on the back seat under a blanket. I discovered them in April after a couple very warm days. Fortunately, they did not melt out of the wrapper. That blanket did an excellent job.
 
Fact, wood moves, it expands and contracts with temp and relative humidity. It is also going to move at a different rate depending on wood and materials used like SS, Ivory, phenolic etc. Generally humidity does it's most damage in in high relative humid warm weather climates.

Roll them dice if you will. Call me paranoid, but I do not recommend nor do not leave my cues in my car all day or over night anytime and I live in a what's thought to be a pretty mild climate (been around 35 deg +/- at night lately brrr ) in California.

Happy New Year:groucho:

-Kat,
 
Not wanting to kick off a jump cue level religious argument but...

It seems like some people experience a lot of impact from temperature and humidity and other players haven't. Is it possible the difference is in how the shaft was made?

Is it possible that shafts made from more pieces are less susceptible to changes in temperature and humidity?

Could a shaft turned from a single piece of wood experience more cupping than one made from multiples pieces because the grain is only going one direction?

a4df5aaacupping-and-bowing-jpg.jpg


Tech-New-Pie-th.png
 
Long ago, I watched a video interview with cue maker Jack Madden. He said that if you are comfortable, your cue is comfortable. Meaning, not overly hot or cold, no sudden temperature changes. As a result, I don't like leaving my cues in my dark colored car on hot days...I even take my case into restaurants...

I once picked up a merry widow McDermott in a pawn shop to use as a "trunk cue"...just couldn't bring myself to do it, so my "trunk cue" is also kept out of the trunk.
 
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