Oil finish
- Thread starter Cletus
- Start date
paul fanelli
Registered
oil finishes
Simple tung or walnut oils will take forever to dry on the exotic woods used in many modern cues. "Polamerized" oils will dry (gun stock finish), but will not provide a sufficient degree of resistance to vapor exchange, which means that moisture in the air can enter and leave the wood, eventually breaking down glue joints and raising grain. The highest form of barrier is a "film" coat of a catalized (2 part) finish which acts as a closed window to the environment. Most auto clear coats must meet this requirement, but there are many others. For tradition's sake, some cuemakers will use oil, but more care is required to maintain it. It is primarily used where the woodworker wants to preserve the surface texture of the piece without having the glass-like apperance, since it takes many coats to build up a film. See the book "Understanding Wood Finishes" by Bob Flexner, for more details.
paul
Cletus said:
Simple tung or walnut oils will take forever to dry on the exotic woods used in many modern cues. "Polamerized" oils will dry (gun stock finish), but will not provide a sufficient degree of resistance to vapor exchange, which means that moisture in the air can enter and leave the wood, eventually breaking down glue joints and raising grain. The highest form of barrier is a "film" coat of a catalized (2 part) finish which acts as a closed window to the environment. Most auto clear coats must meet this requirement, but there are many others. For tradition's sake, some cuemakers will use oil, but more care is required to maintain it. It is primarily used where the woodworker wants to preserve the surface texture of the piece without having the glass-like apperance, since it takes many coats to build up a film. See the book "Understanding Wood Finishes" by Bob Flexner, for more details.
paul
Cletus said:
I have played around with oil finishes but the look is just not for me. I used a gun stock oil available at woodcraft. I think it was a urethane oil.
Sheldon Lebow has made some cues with a oil finish. You might ask him.
finish
Paul, I have been around for a lot of years, and do not know of a single good cuemaker who uses an oil for the finish. Just who are these "traditional cuemakers, you speak about? Are you speaking of real cuemakers who build nice cues....or, guys who are just building Pete's.
These oil finishes are not what is needed to protect a cue properly. You also do not need a two part finish. Lacquer finishes have woked for years, but today, for the most part,we use clear coat, 2 and 3 parts, depending on who made it. Modern lacquer of today is also a very good finish.
"AIR" exchange is something we do not need in cues.. I want the moisture to stay out of my cues.
When building cues, I also coat the ends of the cues butt, and shafts with glue, to keep out air, [moisture]. The ends of the cue will gather air [moisture] at a fast rate, unless it's protected.
I do use a wood stablizer to replace the moisture in the woods cells.I soak my shafts and butts several times in the stablizer, before the final sanding and the clear-coat is applied.
The problem we had with lacquer, years back, it would turn yellow to some degree after a few years. Today there's all kinds of finishes. I, use a 3 part clear-coat made by PPG. Works for me.
Burton Spain, at one time expermented with dipping the finished cue in a tube filled with lacquer. It worked, but was not effecent.
blud
paul fanelli said:
Paul, I have been around for a lot of years, and do not know of a single good cuemaker who uses an oil for the finish. Just who are these "traditional cuemakers, you speak about? Are you speaking of real cuemakers who build nice cues....or, guys who are just building Pete's.
These oil finishes are not what is needed to protect a cue properly. You also do not need a two part finish. Lacquer finishes have woked for years, but today, for the most part,we use clear coat, 2 and 3 parts, depending on who made it. Modern lacquer of today is also a very good finish.
"AIR" exchange is something we do not need in cues.. I want the moisture to stay out of my cues.
When building cues, I also coat the ends of the cues butt, and shafts with glue, to keep out air, [moisture]. The ends of the cue will gather air [moisture] at a fast rate, unless it's protected.
I do use a wood stablizer to replace the moisture in the woods cells.I soak my shafts and butts several times in the stablizer, before the final sanding and the clear-coat is applied.
The problem we had with lacquer, years back, it would turn yellow to some degree after a few years. Today there's all kinds of finishes. I, use a 3 part clear-coat made by PPG. Works for me.
Burton Spain, at one time expermented with dipping the finished cue in a tube filled with lacquer. It worked, but was not effecent.
blud
Speaking from woodworking and not cue-finishing experience...The main difference between "oil" and "modern" finishes is oil penetrates into the wood while modern finishes such as lacquer, polyurethane, varnish, conversion varnish, etc. are surface finishes. Every coat you put on adds to the film thickness of the previous coat. Penetrating oil finishes just get further absorbed into the wood when adding additional coats.
Surface finishes offer much more protection against wear and vapor exchange than penetrating oils. They can also be polished to a high gloss.
One advantage of oil is that you can "revive" its appearance by simply adding an additional coat in the future. However, this can also be a disadvantage because it is often necessary to do this on a yearly basis for the wood to look its best. Surface finishes, with the exception of lacquer perhaps, often have to be completely refinished to make repairs in the future.
Application wise, penetrating oils are just applied with a rag and then the excess is wiped off, similar to applying a stain. Surface finishes work best when sprayed.
Since most pool player want a high gloss and highly durable finish that makes a good vapor barrier, penetrating oils would make a poor choice.
Surface finishes offer much more protection against wear and vapor exchange than penetrating oils. They can also be polished to a high gloss.
One advantage of oil is that you can "revive" its appearance by simply adding an additional coat in the future. However, this can also be a disadvantage because it is often necessary to do this on a yearly basis for the wood to look its best. Surface finishes, with the exception of lacquer perhaps, often have to be completely refinished to make repairs in the future.
Application wise, penetrating oils are just applied with a rag and then the excess is wiped off, similar to applying a stain. Surface finishes work best when sprayed.
Since most pool player want a high gloss and highly durable finish that makes a good vapor barrier, penetrating oils would make a poor choice.
