Toughest Clear Coats

[RBLilly]

Well my dad is about to try this stuff on one of my cues. So I will let you all know how it turns out!

 

[macguy]

Very few builders have mastered the finish. I looked at $10,000 cues at the VF show that had flaws in the clear. With the ever changing products and so little time it's hard to experiment and improve techniques.
Anything you learn please share.

Experiment with sealers, most builders fill the voids with some type of sealer.

It is not so much the finish as the person putting it on. You can get a good finish with most anything but it may yellow or be to soft any number of things that would ultimately make it unacceptable. But when you look at cues with flaws or sanding marks in the finish it is not the fault of the finish. You also need to know how to finish the finish. A good finish final is not automatic no matter what product you use. You could put finish on with a brush or rag and have an acceptable outcome if you are willing to work at it.

My point is, many ask about finishes and some are better then others but there is no magic finish. Those great finishes you see come from careful work.

 

[TheJCat54]

My point is, many ask about finishes and some are better then others but there is no magic finish. Those great finishes you see come from careful work.

I totally agree with that. It takes time and persistence to get the most desirable results. I may be very new to cue making, but I certainly can lay down one of the best finishes, you can stare into for hours.

As someone said above, take one of the classes that teach how to use a certain product type or what not. The information you will gather will help you to become better than you are now.

 

[dave sutton]

It is not so much the finish as the person putting it on. You can get a good finish with most anything but it may yellow or be to soft any number of things that would ultimately make it unacceptable. But when you look at cues with flaws or sanding marks in the finish it is not the fault of the finish. You also need to know how to finish the finish. A good finish final is not automatic no matter what product you use. You could put finish on with a brush or rag and have an acceptable outcome if you are willing to work at it.

My point is, many ask about finishes and some are better then others but there is no magic finish. Those great finishes you see come from careful work.

i also agree. to me the finish it one of the hardest things in making cues

 

[Cue Crazy]

It is not so much the finish as the person putting it on. You can get a good finish with most anything but it may yellow or be to soft any number of things that would ultimately make it unacceptable. But when you look at cues with flaws or sanding marks in the finish it is not the fault of the finish. You also need to know how to finish the finish. A good finish final is not automatic no matter what product you use. You could put finish on with a brush or rag and have an acceptable outcome if you are willing to work at it.

My point is, many ask about finishes and some are better then others but there is no magic finish. Those great finishes you see come from careful work.

Very true, and It's not just the outside finish cote to worry about. If the cue is not cleaned well enough in between cotes, then you can buff the finish all day and wonder why all of the scratches won't buff out. The only way to get those kind out is strip the cue back down to where they were, and Re do the last cotes over again. Finish seems to stick better between cotes if you use a coarser paper then your final grits, but the downfall is it has to be perfectly clean after sanding and re cote to blend in perfectly. otherwise You can buff the top cote out to perfection, and still see scratches.