Imitation Ivorine 4?

Tommy-D

Tommy-D

World's best B player...
Silver Member
I put on a tip,did a light turndown,and did my usual cleaning/sealing on a shaft for a Mark Richard cue that one of my long-time local customers just got recently.

This particular shaft had a nice,clean ferrule on it,at least at first,that appeared to be Ivorine 4 at first glance.

What I found may NOT have been what I thought it was.

I took a .003-.004 per side cut on the ferrule because the customer asked for 12.75mm from 13mm,then installed the tip,which was an Ultraskin S.

Up until then,I hadn't used anything but 600 paper on it.

I started with fresh,3M brand 220,and worked my way up to 1000 grit,which in this case came from my dad who found a 10 full sheet package at Harbor Freight for 3.99. I had been using this stuff for months,and never really gave it much thought.

I wiped the shaft down with denatured alcohol to remove all the sanding dust,and when I looked at the ferrule,I saw little black specks ALL OVER it.

After looking at it under 10x magnification,the ferrule looked almost like a sponge,with more tiny pits than I have ever seen.

I tried using more denatured on a fresh Eraser,and while it improved,it still wasn't right.

I went backwards to fresh 600,and it came out much cleaner,so I hit it with the Eraser again,and tried a fresh piece of the 1000,and the black spots reappeared. I went back to the 600 and cleaned it with the Eraser again,and skipped the 1000,and applied my sealer from there.

I told him what happened,and he deemed it ok by him,but it was not as nice as I typically turn out,and told him for this reason to be careful to not let chalk get ground into it.

While he's satisfied,it's bugging the CRAP out of me. I had never had any problems with this 1000 grit paper,even using it on several other shafts I KNOW had IV-4 on them,plus other materials.

Yes,I always go from ferrule to tip with sandpaper to make sure the black doesn't get into white like when doing joint collars,ebony,etc so that wasn't the problem.

I don't want to scrap all of that paper just yet,but considering it just to be 100% sure.

I've ran into dark streaks of these black dots on a couple of Schon shafts,but never a whole ferrule just covered in them,so maybe this was a bad batch of IV-4,or there is bogus stuff out there. Tommy D.
 
very good question

I have had this same thing happen before, Makes you crazy, Your trying your best to turn out a clean looking ferrule and all of the sudden you look and see these black spots. My first guess is cheap sand paper, Maybe turning at to high of a speed/heat. Not exactly sure, I have learned to only turn as fast as speed as needed and nothing more. I'm happy you posted this question and I hope more people chime in and give there idea's as to why this happens. It's very hard to get these black spots out once there .
 
Last edited:
My first thought was also cheap sandpaper. I'm guessing that the grit is not well bonded to the paper.

Alan
 
Tommy-D said:
I put on a tip,did a light turndown,and did my usual cleaning/sealing on a shaft for a Mark Richard cue that one of my long-time local customers just got recently.

This particular shaft had a nice,clean ferrule on it,at least at first,that appeared to be Ivorine 4 at first glance.

What I found may NOT have been what I thought it was.

I took a .003-.004 per side cut on the ferrule because the customer asked for 12.75mm from 13mm,then installed the tip,which was an Ultraskin S.

Up until then,I hadn't used anything but 600 paper on it.

I started with fresh,3M brand 220,and worked my way up to 1000 grit,which in this case came from my dad who found a 10 full sheet package at Harbor Freight for 3.99. I had been using this stuff for months,and never really gave it much thought.

I wiped the shaft down with denatured alcohol to remove all the sanding dust,and when I looked at the ferrule,I saw little black specks ALL OVER it.

After looking at it under 10x magnification,the ferrule looked almost like a sponge,with more tiny pits than I have ever seen.

I tried using more denatured on a fresh Eraser,and while it improved,it still wasn't right.

I went backwards to fresh 600,and it came out much cleaner,so I hit it with the Eraser again,and tried a fresh piece of the 1000,and the black spots reappeared. I went back to the 600 and cleaned it with the Eraser again,and skipped the 1000,and applied my sealer from there.

I told him what happened,and he deemed it ok by him,but it was not as nice as I typically turn out,and told him for this reason to be careful to not let chalk get ground into it.

While he's satisfied,it's bugging the CRAP out of me. I had never had any problems with this 1000 grit paper,even using it on several other shafts I KNOW had IV-4 on them,plus other materials.

Yes,I always go from ferrule to tip with sandpaper to make sure the black doesn't get into white like when doing joint collars,ebony,etc so that wasn't the problem.

I don't want to scrap all of that paper just yet,but considering it just to be 100% sure.

I've ran into dark streaks of these black dots on a couple of Schon shafts,but never a whole ferrule just covered in them,so maybe this was a bad batch of IV-4,or there is bogus stuff out there. Tommy D.
Click to expand...

I tried the HF sand paper and the black grit from the paper ended up embedded in the wood of the cue. The grit is not attached to the paper very well. Cheap shit.

Bite the bulled and go to an automotive paint store and buy some 3M or another good brand name wet or dry paoer...............

Kim
 
Take Todds advice. You wouldn't regret,....... you cant nickel and dime if you want quality outcome.
Frank
 
I've been thinking about it,and you are all probably right,so I tossed what I had left of it. I still had several sheets of 3M,so I'll use that at least until the Klingspor I just ordered comes in.

Thanks guys :thumbup:. Tommy D.
 
Tommy-D said:
I've been thinking about it,and you are all probably right,so I tossed what I had left of it. I still had several sheets of 3M,so I'll use that at least until the Klingspor I just ordered comes in.

Thanks guys :thumbup:. Tommy D.
Click to expand...
Tommy,

I have tried to save some money in the past also and I ended up wasting money on cheap paper. If you use white (yellow) paper you will not get the black in the ferrule. When I do this I use white paper to 400 grit sandpaper and then seal the ferrule with clear thin super glue. Several coats on the ferrule will not allow the pits to fill with dirt during the process. Melamine is one of the worse for this, and it looks similar to Ivorine 4 ferrules with as much weave IMO.
 
I use non clog paper. Never leaves a tell tale, does not clog and won't burn any material or finish. Aluminum Oxide 320 and 220. Higher grits for polishing I use wet dry paper.

Industrial online, Google it.

Pearl or 3M is way to expensive IMO on 220 & 320 and clogs too fast. Saving money on sandpaper is desireable but the Harbor Frieght stuff is junk IMO.

Rick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top