I'm thinking about having an old cue of mine refinished, and I'm curious if it is worth it. Not from a monetary point of view, but from an aesthetics point of view. I know the cue is worth very little as it's an old National cue from around 1989 or so. But it has sentimental value to me as it was my first real pool cue (I know some people would debate it being a "real cue", but to me when I was 15 years old it was).
Now about the cue. The butt rolls dead straight. The shaft, not so much. So I already know it would need a new shaft. The ring work is a simple train track so not to worried about that being able to be replicated. My biggest concern is the inlays. They seem to have raised up over the years. The points have no noticeable color bleeding and I do really like the look of them. It has wood inlay boxes on the butt sleeve. They might have bled some color or might might be something with the finish causing it to look like it. That said, I'm not as concerned with the butt sleeve having slight bleeding. Also, would having the cue refinished cause the National logo on the butt plate to be removed?
So, that all said, I have put up some fairly high res photo's online here.
Also a quick picture of it:
So, would putting $250-300 (going by pricing from Rat Cues repair page for an estimate) into having this cue refinished give it a look that would be at least as good as it was when it was new?
This isn't my daily player and hasn't been in for 15 years, but I still have fond memories of playing with it and would like it to be useful again.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
Now about the cue. The butt rolls dead straight. The shaft, not so much. So I already know it would need a new shaft. The ring work is a simple train track so not to worried about that being able to be replicated. My biggest concern is the inlays. They seem to have raised up over the years. The points have no noticeable color bleeding and I do really like the look of them. It has wood inlay boxes on the butt sleeve. They might have bled some color or might might be something with the finish causing it to look like it. That said, I'm not as concerned with the butt sleeve having slight bleeding. Also, would having the cue refinished cause the National logo on the butt plate to be removed?
So, that all said, I have put up some fairly high res photo's online here.
Also a quick picture of it:
So, would putting $250-300 (going by pricing from Rat Cues repair page for an estimate) into having this cue refinished give it a look that would be at least as good as it was when it was new?
This isn't my daily player and hasn't been in for 15 years, but I still have fond memories of playing with it and would like it to be useful again.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Brian
