Nelsonite experiment

[dunkelcustomcue]

With all of the talk about nelsonite I figured I'd try and experiment. I just got a bunch of 1 inch fiddleback dowels. All of the dowels measured in at 6% moisture. I turned all of the shafts to .860 at the butt and 13.5mm at the tip.
Shaft A was left bare, Shaft B was sealed using a uv sealer, Shaft C was dipped in Nelsonite for 2 minutes. I also weight and counted the growth rings on all of the shafts. Every week or so I'll throw them on the lathe and spin them to see how they do. This should be interesting.

 

[RSB-Refugee]

With all of the talk about nelsonite I figured I'd try and experiment. I just got a bunch of 1 inch fiddleback dowels. All of the dowels measured in at 6% moisture. I turned all of the shafts to .860 at the butt and 13.5mm at the tip.
Shaft A was left bare, Shaft B was sealed using a uv sealer, Shaft C was dipped in Nelsonite for 2 minutes. I also weight and counted the growth rings on all of the shafts. Every week or so I'll throw them on the lathe and spin them to see how they do. This should be interesting.

Do you make fiddleback shafts, or did you buy them just for an experiment? I don't think I have seen fiddleback shafts before.

Tracy

 

[blud]

dipping

With all of the talk about nelsonite I figured I'd try and experiment. I just got a bunch of 1 inch fiddleback dowels. All of the dowels measured in at 6% moisture. I turned all of the shafts to .860 at the butt and 13.5mm at the tip.
Shaft A was left bare, Shaft B was sealed using a uv sealer, Shaft C was dipped in Nelsonite for 2 minutes. I also weight and counted the growth rings on all of the shafts. Every week or so I'll throw them on the lathe and spin them to see how they do. This should be interesting.

Moister contient is important, but more importantly than that, is the stress level of the wood. You can cut the wood slow and come out just fine over a few month's. Turn cut the wood, and let it releive it's stress by hanging for a good spell.


You might try and check how deep the nelsonite soaks in, for a good depth gage.Two minutes is nothing if it doesn't soak in very deep.Most of the time you wind up cutting away the nelsonite anyway.I start using the nelsonite system at about 14-1/2mm. Starting when the shafts are large, is a waist of time and nelsonite money.


Take some of your wood, [a small piece that's not doable for a shaft or butt], that came with your wood order, and dip it in nelsonite that has a little dark oil stain mixed in. This [tattle tail] will tell you how long to dip your material.
Some guys will say two minutes or some say 5 minutes. Your the only one to tell how long by using the method describded above.All wood is differant and comes from differant places, more or less growth rings, ect, ect.

Guys who dry maple say , [ it's down to 6 or 6-1/2% when shipped], this may be so after it's been dried.When it's shipped to you, it gathers moister during it's trip. So when you get it, [depending on where you live] it will gain moister and may be as high as 8 or 9% or even more.

Taking that into consideration, dipping times will vary from shop to shop.
Try my simple method for nelsonite on each load of wood you receive. No two shipments are the same.
I surly hope this helps you out. If need be give me a call with your questions.
830-232-5991 or e-mail me @

poolcues@hctc.net
all the best to you.
blud

 

[dunkelcustomcue]

Blud, Thanks for the advice. I have a few pieces of maple that I left in the nelsonite for about 1 hour and even if I just take sandpaper to it I get nelsonite seeping out. I figured a controlled test between the 3 would be interesting if nothing else.

RSB, I had someone mention to me that he had a cue with a fiddleback shaft and it was the best cue he ever shot with. The guy was a pretty good shot, so I figured I'd try it. I have two of them on customers cues and they both swear that it plays great. Did I see a difference in the way it played?
Nope. I'm going to make one for my playing cue and see if I notice a difference.

 

[dzcues]

I dip shafts occasionally but haven't seen any big difference is straightness between dipped & undipped. Size at dipping is typically 1mm over finish diameter. I leave the blank immersed long enough that the maple no longer emits bubbles. This may be 2 minutes for some pieces or 20 minutes for others. I still haven't decided if it's worth it or not. I don't see that it hurts anything other than darkening the wood somewhat. And it definitely leaves something in the wood. I've weighed seasoned blanks before dipping and again, several weeks after dipping, when the wood has surely dried out completely & there was a measurable difference. I don't recall the numbers offhand but there was no doubt that some of the soluble resins were remaining inside the maple.

As an experiment, I'll dip a piece tonight. I'll weigh it prior to dipping, time the period it gasses off and weigh it at several points in the future.

It is a nice, straight, slightly curly piece of maple that has been turned at 1 month intervals and was last turned on 6/1/05. Size is .550 and current weight is 115.5 grams. Time to gas off was about 15 minutes. I'll check it tomorrow when it is dry to the touch and again in about a week. Someone please remind me in a week

I have a picture of a shaft blank "gassing off" in Nelsonite 2/3 of the way down this page http://www.dzcues.com/hi-res_pics.htm

 

[dunkelcustomcue]

Bob, You make some beautiful cues! I also am impressed with the actual pictures of your cues, I think they are some of the best pics of cues I've ever seen, the amount of detail shown is incredible. Can you share some of your photographic secrets?

 

[dzcues]

the amount of detail shown is incredible. Can you share some of your photographic secrets?

Thank you. Some of the pics are scans & some are digital photos. My Sigma is a pretty nice digital camera & that really helps. Use a white background and something to reflect light on the cue (the more light, the better but watch for glare), then cut out the cues & paste them to a different background for better effect, add a signature or copyright symbol & you're good to go.

FYI:regarding nelsonite experiment -

115.5g. original weight of blank
124.9g. after 2 hrs
123.9g. after 9 hrs

 

[dunkelcustomcue]

Bob, Thanks for the info. I have to check out the sigma, those close ups are really nice!

 

[Jack Flanagan]

Blud, Thanks for the advice. I have a few pieces of maple that I left in the nelsonite for about 1 hour and even if I just take sandpaper to it I get nelsonite seeping out. I figured a controlled test between the 3 would be interesting if nothing else.

RSB, I had someone mention to me that he had a cue with a fiddleback shaft and it was the best cue he ever shot with. The guy was a pretty good shot, so I figured I'd try it. I have two of them on customers cues and they both swear that it plays great. Did I see a difference in the way it played?
Nope. I'm going to make one for my playing cue and see if I notice a difference.

I have three cues with fiddleback shafts,,,IMHO, they all play super,,,got a Meucci years ago with 2 shafts (both red dots, one was fiddlebacked,,,lots if figuring),,,might just be my imagination, but the fiddleback shaft is more predictable when using extreme English..........

 

[dzcues]

As an experiment, I'll dip a piece tonight. I'll weigh it prior to dipping, time the period it gasses off and weigh it at several points in the future.

It is a nice, straight, slightly curly piece of maple that has been turned at 1 month intervals and was last turned on 6/1/05. Size is .550 and current weight is 115.5 grams. Time to gas off was about 15 minutes. I'll check it tomorrow when it is dry to the touch and again in about a week. QUOTE]


FYI:regarding nelsonite experiment -

115.5g. original weight of blank before dipping
124.9g. weight 2 hrs after dipping
123.9g. after 9 hrs
122.8g after 36 hrs

 

[dzcues]

As an experiment, I'll dip a piece tonight. I'll weigh it prior to dipping, time the period it gasses off and weigh it at several points in the future.

It is a nice, straight, slightly curly piece of maple that has been turned at 1 month intervals and was last turned on 6/1/05. Size is .550 and current weight is 115.5 grams. Time to gas off was about 15 minutes. I'll check it tomorrow when it is dry to the touch and again in about a week.

FYI:regarding nelsonite experiment -

115.5g. original weight of blank before dipping
124.9g. weight 2 hrs after dipping
123.9g. after 9 hrs
122.8g after 36 hrs
121.9g after 56 hrs
122.0g after 84 hrs
122.5g after 108 hrs
122.3g after 132 hrs

Seems like the solvents in the Nelsonite evaporated within 56 hrs or so. The point is - the shaft blank is about 6.5g (almost 1/4 oz) heavier after treatment with Nelsonite. The logical assumption is that this is due to the resins remaining in the maple. Whether or not it is helping to seal the maple & protect it from moisture is debatable. Over the next 80 hrs, the weight is still fluctuating slightly (both up & down) and these weight changes pretty much correspond to humidity swings in our local weather. Would the weight fluctuate more without Nelsonite? I don't know. That would have to be another experiment. If anyone expresses an interest, I'll continue the experiment & compare the weight changes with an untreated shaft blank.

 

[dunkelcustomcue]

Bob, Thanks for the experiment. I'm going to throw the three shafts on the lathe tonight and then weigh them. I'm curious to see if they are all still straight.