New Shaft Finish
- Thread starter JE54
- Start date
W
wayneward
Guest
Leather or money to burnish the wood..
Thinned sanding sealer.
JE54 said:
Under NO circumstance should you sand the shaft. Moisture is the greatest enemy of the shaft and the finish acts as a barrier to the moisture.
If you play bare handed, the shaft should feel fine to you in no time. Also, as another poster suggested, burnishing with leather is all you need to do IMHO.
Regards,
Jim
av84fun said:
Funny, but two very famous cuemakers, one a Hall Of Famer, have told me that new shafts will feel sticky occasionally from the wood fibers standing up. I was told to wipe with a damp towel, dry, sand lightly with 1000-1500 grit sandpaper, and finally burnish with a piece of soft untanned leather. This has been my cuecare regimen for several years and my cues are still mint.
The sanding with a fine grit paper doesn't really remove any wood to speak of. It's just a form of polishing. We used to polish with the side of a glass, rubbing on the length of the shaft until it got warm, but I had a glass break on me twice from the friction and abandoned the practice. I like the fine (1000 grit) paper better. I do the same thing when I get a ding or a nick, albeit after I steam the dent for a few seconds with the steam from a tea kettle, and then dry and sand and burnish...Tom
tpdtom said:
Personallly, I like getting rid of that original clearcoat sealer, as it is on pretty thick in most cases. Once I have broken it off I apply a thinner coat of sealer(zinzer clear shellac thinned down with denatured alcohol) and burnish with 2000 grit and higher. I have a special high viscosity liquid that I stumbled across at walmart and I apply that and buff out with a soft rag. Just like glass with a hard finish.
tpdtom said:
Not cues that have had a sealer applied. If the shaft has a seal coat, clearly there are no wood fibers that can be felt. I suppose if the cue makers you spoke to did not apply any seal coat, then you could have understood them correctly but I suspect a misunderstanding of some sort.
Why would a hall of fame cue maker deliver a cue to a customer in such a condition that he had to take grip paper to them before they could be used??
Generalizations are dangerous...including my own. Seal coat applications can be of different thicknesses and if one was to remove some of an overly thick layer to achieve a better feel, that would be fine.
Shafts without any sealer...if kept in well-controlled humidity conditions will be fine too. But for many who live in humid climes and who have to transport their cues from place to place and leave them in parked cars etc. warpage due to moisture absorbtion is an issue.
Burnishing with leather is superior IMHO to the use of grit which, by definition, is going to remove at least some material. But there are lots of variables including the frequency of use and the pressure applied so results will vary for users of the same grit paper.
Burnishing creates heat and the heat evaporates moisture near the surface and also causes the wood grain to expand and mesh more tightly...thereby creating the more slippery feel.
Finally, excessive attention to shaft surfaces is mostly cosmetic IMHO. Unless you are playing in a very humid enviornment and/or your hands sweat quite a bit a less than "mint" looking shaft MUCH of which is cause by hand oils that darken the would somewhat...don't hurt playability and may actually benefit the shaft especially when those oils are burnished into it frequently.
I burnish for 15 seconds or so before and after ever use.
A slighly dampened cloth won't hurt either but if used, you should DEFINATELY burnish immediately after wiping the cue so that the heat will evaporagte any remaining moisture.
Below is specific advice from Predator.
Regards,
Jim
The purpose of burnishing your shaft is to smooth and seal the wood. The more you burnish, the better the finish and, the slicker and more moisture resistant your shaft becomes. Moisture is the #1 enemy of your shaft. It causes the grain to raise and your shaft to warp. To burnish your shaft, use a leather burnisher and avoid abrasives. Sanding your shaft wears it down and makes the wood porous, which allows moisture to penetrate the grain and damage the wood.
Stay away from abrasives
Do not use any abrasives on your shaft and stay away from green pads in Pool Rooms. Using abrasives is going to take the diameter of your shaft down and modify the shape of your taper. It may even void the warranty of your Predator shaft if the ferrule or wood diameter falls below 12.25mm for 314 shafts and 11.4mm for Z shafts. Very fine micro papers (1500 grit) or burnishing is about all you need.