Sore_Aintya said:
There is nothing uniform about these scratch marks, except that they are across the whole cue, the butt cap photos prove that the best.
My first impression was wrong grit sandpaper as well. My cue didn't have these marks before I sent it to Aaron.
Pictures tell more of a story than what meets the eye! The pictures of the wrap tell me Aaron has not yet learned (or is ignoring the fact) that a leather or skin wrap cut square on the end (which is the only way it's going to be cut), will not mate up well if the transition of the finish to the wrap groove is not reasonably square also. It's not even necessary to look close. The finish was sprayed so thick that a radius was formed where the finish meets the wrap groove and no attempt to remove the excess finish was made. Attempt to match the wrap material up with a condition like that and this is what you get.
As for the "dog ear" on the wrap. The wrap material moved when the cut was made, and that's a fact!!! As for the seam: I have no earthly idea how a seam can be cut that badly. Did the lizard skin shrink? No it did not!
Scratches in the finish & the Ivory: #1, Ivory does not have the appearance of having cracks, it has grain. There's a huge difference in appearance!
What difference does it make how the scratches in or under the finish came to be? They are there and they are not acceptable. I will concede that they
could have been there when the cue was originally built,
however, Aaron posted a picture of the cue showing he removed the original finish. He also stated he found a deposit of epoxy which verifies that fact. If the cue had been sanded properly at that point, any scratches that were in the cue originally would have been removed. If they were too deep to remove, then Aaron as a "professional", should have notified Sore. Additionally, how does one explain the pin holes in the finish? Were they there when the cue was originally built?
PPG is one of the better materials out there, but, it does take some getting used to. After a cue is sprayed with it, if you take a piece of sandpaper to it without cleaning it first, YOU WILL GET SCRATCHES. It's caused by the solvents that have risen to the surface after the clear has cured. They tend to roll up under the sandpaper and will produce a scratch somewhat similar to what #220 sandpaper will leave. That's a fact folks, take it or leave it!
Obviously Sore had high expectations for the refinish, but he was well justified in that by Aaron having claimed that his finishes and wraps were high quality and that no job would leave his shop unless it was perfect.
