Does wood ever stop moving?

LHP5

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello all, I have a cue made from a dufferin blank that is not more than 2 years old. The points and butterfly splice in the butt are popping along with the rings in the cue. I was told by the cue maker that the dufferin blank had weak glue and that was the primary reason the wood is moving. He told me it may not be worth it right now to refinish the cue and to wait to really ding it up before refinishing, which I sort of agree with. I really like the cue and it plays great but am just curious if the wood will ever stop moving to the point where I can refinish it and have a "perfect" cue. On a side note do any of you think this will effect how the cue plays? Thanks for any replies.
 
Hello all, I have a cue made from a dufferin blank that is not more than 2 years old. The points and butterfly splice in the butt are popping along with the rings in the cue. I was told by the cue maker that the dufferin blank had weak glue and that was the primary reason the wood is moving. He told me it may not be worth it right now to refinish the cue and to wait to really ding it up before refinishing, which I sort of agree with. I really like the cue and it plays great but am just curious if the wood will ever stop moving to the point where I can refinish it and have a "perfect" cue. On a side note do any of you think this will effect how the cue plays? Thanks for any replies.

How old is the "blank"?
 
Not sure of the age of the blank, I know the cue maker said he had the blank in his shop for at least a year. Not sure if that really helps.
 
wood is organic

and i think under certain conditions it might move no mater what age.
example i bought a snakeskin half log from a dealer that told me the log was appx 25years old. i cut it over a 5 year peroid, and 2 years after the cue was made it developed a few small cracks. snakewood is know for this, but most woods are subject to do the same.
 
I was working on a Duff. Butterfly last night , and the butterfly splice , is not wood , some kinda plastic . Jim
 
I was working on a Duff. Butterfly last night , and the butterfly splice , is not wood , some kinda plastic . Jim

Well not sure if its the butterfly splice popping or the wood under it that is causing the popping. Just curious if this is something that occurs fairly commonly on these duff blanks and if it will ever stop. Do you know if it will effect how the cue plays? LIke if any rattles will form or maybe the feedback will feel different after a while? Thanks.
 
Different species of wood move, dry, shrink, age and differently. That needs to be taken into account when building and production companies do not have thew luxury of time to do this. It's not weak glue, its' the wood itself.
 
Hello all, I have a cue made from a dufferin blank that is not more than 2 years old. The points and butterfly splice in the butt are popping along with the rings in the cue. I was told by the cue maker that the dufferin blank had weak glue and that was the primary reason the wood is moving. He told me it may not be worth it right now to refinish the cue and to wait to really ding it up before refinishing, which I sort of agree with. I really like the cue and it plays great but am just curious if the wood will ever stop moving to the point where I can refinish it and have a "perfect" cue. On a side note do any of you think this will effect how the cue plays? Thanks for any replies.

I assume you ment the cue is not more than 2 years old... not the blank.

I think to give any kind of meaningful answer you first must know whether the
original Dufferin was from Canada or China.

And, was it a house cue, implying your cue is a sneaky pete, or a 2 piece?

IMHO - it is extremely unlikely that an old Canadian Dufferin house cue would
be doing much moving at this point - China... could well be the result of unseasoned
wood and a prolonged ocean voyage.

"The wood is moving due to WEAK glue."

Really... IMHO you need to find a cuemaker with a better association with reality.

If the rings are popping - he did not machine them correctly.

The wood in any cue will move somewhat due to seasonal changes in temp/humidity.

Popping of both the points and the butterfly in the butt sound like he short changed the finishing process.

Dale
 
Last edited:
I assume you ment the cue is not more than 2 years old... not the blank.

I think to give any kind of meaningful answer you first must know whether the
original Dufferin was from Canada or China.

And, was it a house cue, implying your cue is a sneaky pete, or a 2 piece?

IMHO - it is extremely unlikely that an old Canadian Dufferin house cue would
be doing much moving at this point - China... could well be the result of unseasoned
wood and a prolonged ocean voyage.

"The wood is moving due to WEAK glue."

Really... IMHO you need to find a cuemaker with a better association with reality.

If the rings are popping - he did not machine them correctly.

The wood in any cue will move somewhat due to seasonal changes in temp/humidity.

Popping of both the points and the butterfly in the butt sound like he short changed the finishing process.

Dale

That's what I meant.....China
 
I assume you ment the cue is not more than 2 years old... not the blank.

I think to give any kind of meaningful answer you first must know whether the
original Dufferin was from Canada or China.

And, was it a house cue, implying your cue is a sneaky pete, or a 2 piece?

IMHO - it is extremely unlikely that an old Canadian Dufferin house cue would
be doing much moving at this point - China... could well be the result of unseasoned
wood and a prolonged ocean voyage.

"The wood is moving due to WEAK glue."

Really... IMHO you need to find a cuemaker with a better association with reality.

If the rings are popping - he did not machine them correctly.

The wood in any cue will move somewhat due to seasonal changes in temp/humidity.

Popping of both the points and the butterfly in the butt sound like he short changed the finishing process.

Dale

Thanks. Not sure though if the cue maker short changed the finishing process as I trust his work. Thanks for the incite.
 
Thanks. Not sure though if the cue maker short changed the finishing process as I trust his work. Thanks for the incite.

You trust a guy who told you wood moved because of weak glue?

Good luck with that.

Dale
 
Hello all, I have a cue made from a dufferin blank that is not more than 2 years old. The points and butterfly splice in the butt are popping along with the rings in the cue. I was told by the cue maker that the dufferin blank had weak glue and that was the primary reason the wood is moving. He told me it may not be worth it right now to refinish the cue and to wait to really ding it up before refinishing, which I sort of agree with. I really like the cue and it plays great but am just curious if the wood will ever stop moving to the point where I can refinish it and have a "perfect" cue. On a side note do any of you think this will effect how the cue plays? Thanks for any replies.

Hi,

Concerning warping, It stops moving when it is dry and you core it. Like any other material it will expand or contract dimensionally as per ambient heat or cold in it's environment.

At least that is what I have observed.

JMO,

Rick
 
Change in wood moister content is usually a change in a dimension somewhere.

Wood only stops moving when it is made to ashes.
 
Thanks everyone for the insight. I'm probably just going to keep shooting with it until it really bothers me and just have it refinished and hope for the best. I know it probably will never stop moving but hopefully the coating on the cue is too thin to begin with. Thanks again for the help.
 
I'm not an expert, but have done enough to offer the following...
The fact that the rings and all points,...butterfly and sharp...can now be felt, sounds more like finish 'shrink' more than the wood moving. If the wood moved that much over the full length, to include the rings, it would probably not roll straight either, especially noticeably when spun between centers, but you haven't mentioned that. Based on that, I would think it to be more that the finish has shrunk, as it will to differing degrees, depending on the finish used, and now Time has gone by and you can feel edges. The other factor to consider, is the material used in the rings and points, as different materials change at a different rate than others, coupled with the type of finish used.
A sanding until all is equal and then a refinish on top of the original finish should fix it, but I don't suggest going back to the original guy that did it, as it seems he may not have a full grasp of the situation.
I am currently refinishing a Dufferin for a buddy of mine, and one of the complaints was that you could feel the butterfly splices and the inlaid dots, which is a finish shrink issue, not a wood movement.
Just my thoughts,
Dave
 
Change in wood moister content is usually a change in a dimension somewhere.

Wood only stops moving when it is made to ashes.

All wood can be made to Ash? I knew those snooker cue makers (e.g. John Parris) had it right all along. ;)

-Sean
 
Back
Top