Why Use Nelsonite????????

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

I read these threads about Nelsonite & I guess I just don't understand the whys & wherefores. I've been making Qs since 1986 & have never used this stuff. If I needed it, I guess I would be banging down someone's door to get it. My shafts stay straight, my Qs stay straight & my customers have never complained. Am I missing something here? My Dad used to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have a 60 year old Q, from an unknown Q maker, that hangs from a hook, in a soft case, that is still straight. He didn't need it, why do you. Maybe I'm just lucky. Help me understand WHY I should be using Nelsonite. THANKS...JER

blackheartcues.com

 

[cuesmith]

I read these threads about Nelsonite & I guess I just don't understand the whys & wherefores. I've been making Qs since 1986 & have never used this stuff. If I needed it, I guess I would be banging down someone's door to get it. My shafts stay straight, my Qs stay straight & my customers have never complained. Am I missing something here? My Dad used to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have a 60 year old Q, from an unknown Q maker, that hangs from a hook, in a soft case, that is still straight. He didn't need it, why do you. Maybe I'm just lucky. Help me understand WHY I should be using Nelsonite. THANKS...JER

blackheartcues.com

First off if you're saying that when you buy 100 shaft blanks all 100 of them stay straight, I'd have to call you on that one! They all move! It's just a matter of how much! I didn't use Nelsonite either for many years, but before I started using Nelsonite, the number of shafts that I had to cull out along the process was much greater than since I started using it. I may just be getting better shaft wood these days, but I'll stick with the Nelsonite, I believe it helps!

just more hot air!


Sherm

 

[JoeyInCali]

I may just be getting better shaft wood these days, but I'll stick with the Nelsonite, I believe it helps!

You also devised your own way of finding the true center of the shaft wood.

Nelsonite is great on exotics which tend to check on very dry days here in California ( if you don't believe in controlling the conditions in your shop like Tad ). Woods like Zebrawood, marblewood and the like better be sealed heavily during 20% days.

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

why use Nelsonite

First off if you're saying that when you buy 100 shaft blanks all 100 of them stay straight, I'd have to call you on that one! They all move! It's just a matter of how much! I didn't use Nelsonite either for many years, but before I started using Nelsonite, the number of shafts that I had to cull out along the process was much greater than since I started using it. I may just be getting better shaft wood these days, but I'll stick with the Nelsonite, I believe it helps!

just more hot air!


Sherm

Please don't misunderstand what my point is. I'M ASKING FOR YOUR HELP. IF I need this stuff, tell me why. I'm not saying that the way I do things is better than someone elses. As for my statement about my shafts & Qs staying straight, I'm talking about the FINISHED PRODUCT. In other words ,years after I deliver the Q to the customer, it's still straight without the Nelsonite. I didn't mention anything about taking a box of 100 shaft blanks & turning them to finished size & not having them move. I should have been more specific. Out of a box of 100, I'll probably lose a 1/4 of them for various reasons. I mark each shaft, that has moved during the resting period. I cut my shafts 8 times( 6 times for flat laminated blanks). Some blanks warp (or move), after every turning. Those are discarded. Some will warp 3-4 times in varying amounts & then turn the next 4 times perfectly. Again I'm asking because I'm ignorant, about this product. Will useing Nelsonite give me 100% good, straight shafts? Will it give me a better percentage of straight ones? THANKS...JER

 

[Murray Tucker]

I read these threads about Nelsonite & I guess I just don't understand the whys & wherefores. I've been making Qs since 1986 & have never used this stuff. If I needed it, I guess I would be banging down someone's door to get it. My shafts stay straight, my Qs stay straight & my customers have never complained. Am I missing something here? My Dad used to say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I have a 60 year old Q, from an unknown Q maker, that hangs from a hook, in a soft case, that is still straight. He didn't need it, why do you. Maybe I'm just lucky. Help me understand WHY I should be using Nelsonite. THANKS...JER

blackheartcues.com

For people who buy lots of wood and let it season properly Nelsonite is just a cheap insurance policy. Some use it as a short cut so that they don't have to wait as long between cuts or take fewer cuts. Not the right thing to do, IMHO.

 

[The Hamster]

For people who buy lots of wood and let it season properly Nelsonite is just a cheap insurance policy. Some use it as a short cut so that they don't have to wait as long between cuts or take fewer cuts. Not the right thing to do, IMHO.

Although you do personally use it on your cues - right Murray?

 

[cuesmith]

For people who buy lots of wood and let it season properly Nelsonite is just a cheap insurance policy. Some use it as a short cut so that they don't have to wait as long between cuts or take fewer cuts. Not the right thing to do, IMHO.

Right, you still have to turn them incrementally, with several passes, waiting at least a few weeks, if not months, between turns. But your yield will be greater using Nelsonite and the end product is more stable.

just more hot air!


Sherm

 

[Murray Tucker]

Although you do personally use it on your cues - right Murray?

Yes. I dunk all my wood after I have made my first cut. I also believe in cutting wood slowly, letting it rest a long time between cuts. Here is one of my wood racks.

http://www.murraytucker.com/wood.htm

There are five groups of shafts there. First cut on the left and next to the last cut on the right. I have at least that many more dowels ready to be cut. When I need a shaft I take one off of the right side and cut one of each to the left to replace it with. I build 6-8 cues per year plus some repairs so let's assume that I will use 20 blanks per year. That means that there is about 4 years worth of blanks hanging there.

 

[Sheldon]

Nelsonite is good stuff. If used properly, it does what it is supposed to do: STABILIZES wood. If you are making things out of thin pieces of wood, how can you not see a benefit in that?

 

[BLACKHEARTCUES]

Why use Nelsonite

Nelsonite is good stuff. If used properly, it does what it is supposed to do: STABILIZES wood. If you are making things out of thin pieces of wood, how can you not see a benefit in that?

Sheldon, have you used Nelsonite since you 1st started making Qs? The reason I ask is, that there is a whole generation of new Qmakers who have been taught from the beginning, that this is the right way to season the wood. Again this is not to say whats right or wrong, just that it's the way they are taught. When I started, I was self taught & my biggest concern was just to turn out something that resembled a pool Q. Then to figure out how to put a finish on. That was a long time & a lot of trial & error ago...JER

 

[hadjcues]

JER... to be honest, in my 2 years of cuemaking and learning the ropes, I havent seen the effect of nelsonite yet. I've used it on my shafts... I turn approx. 4-6 week intervals. I dip before the final 2 cuts... but before this. the shafts were pretty much straight so I.'m using nelsonite as an added insurance to help stabilize wood.... but then again, this is after I ran thru and discarded unruly shaftwood - with an attitude to bend LOL IMO nothing lost in using it, would be best on the later stages of cutting.

Hadj

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon, have you used Nelsonite since you 1st started making Qs? The reason I ask is, that there is a whole generation of new Qmakers who have been taught from the beginning, that this is the right way to season the wood. Again this is not to say whats right or wrong, just that it's the way they are taught. When I started, I was self taught & my biggest concern was just to turn out something that resembled a pool Q. Then to figure out how to put a finish on. That was a long time & a lot of trial & error ago...JER

Yes, I have always used Nelsonite. I haven't used it on EVERY shaft or butt that I've made, but for sure most of them.
It is an inexpensive way to improve the quality of your product, therefore well worth it to me.

 

[Jon]

Yes, I have always used Nelsonite. I haven't used it on EVERY shaft or butt that I've made, but for sure most of them.
It is an inexpensive way to improve the quality of your product, therefore well worth it to me.

Sheldon,

But what about that awful smell?

 

[bruin70]

i don't build cues but this thread seems to be drawing only the pros.

how does nelsonite affect the shaftwood in terms of "hit quality". does the wood get denser? does it get livelier?

i mean,,we're talking about a piece of wood that actually gets used to propels things,,,not some piece of furniture that sits around doing nothing.

 

[Canadian cue]

IMO what kind of climate you live in has a lot to do with if nelsonite is necessary as well as where the cue is going. If the cue is staying in the same climate which the wood is aged in I do not think one has much to worry about. I believe a lot of makers use it as insurance for the time between start and finish of a cue. If you are building your cues in batches which alot of makers do then there can be quite some time between start and finish of a cue, this can leave alot of time between cuts where the cue is unprotected. For example you could have done a perfect job of mating a handle to a pointed forearm and your points turn out perfect then you leave the cue sit for a month or two before final cut and now the cue has moved and your points are way off. Once a cue has a finish on though there is little chance of warpage and I don't think nelsonite plays much of a role. As for shaft wood if the wood is aged at a constant humidity level then I believe the internal stresses in the wood are what causes the warpage and nelsonite doesn't change that. I have found that the pieces with very little grain runout do not move very much with time so long as they do not gain or release any moisture. This is why putting a finish on shaft wood before it goes out is so important. I have not been making cues for 20 years but in the time that
I have this is what I have observed so take it how you want and I hope that if I am off base on something someone will chime in.
Thanks

 

[cueman]

Jerry,
I started without it and used it on almost everything for a while. Now I use it some and don't some. It gives a little better yield out of a batch of shafts if you use it. If your cues are staying in your area it is not as important to use it. What Nelsonite does is it slows down the moisture exchange in wood. It does not stop moisture from entering the wood as some suppose. But by slowing it down it makes mother nature a little easier for the wood to deal with. If you seal your shaft on both ends and the surface you almost stop the moisture exchange, therefore achieving something even Nelsonite can't. I am assuming you do seal it good since you have as good of results as you do.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com

 

[Sheldon]

Sheldon,

But what about that awful smell?

Yeah, my shop is pretty bad for a couple of days. I try schedule my dipping for summertime, so that I can have fans running without lowering the heat in the drying room.

 

[Murray Tucker]

i don't build cues but this thread seems to be drawing only the pros.

how does nelsonite affect the shaftwood in terms of "hit quality". does the wood get denser? does it get livelier?

i mean,,we're talking about a piece of wood that actually gets used to propels things,,,not some piece of furniture that sits around doing nothing.

I can't tell that it changes the properties of the wood in any way.

 

[Cue Crazy]

Just My opinion, But As far as some butt woods are concerned I feel as If they are properly seasoned, that nelsonite is not always nessesary. I Know this does not apply to all woods, but since My time spent is limited, the butts spend alot of time hanging around between turns, and seem to be holding fine. They do not seem to need it. The wood I have for them, I have had before I had any equipment to speak of, and It was at 6% back years ago when I bought some of It.

The shafts are another story, because I do want to get a larger yield from them, and they seem more prone to movement due to the diameter. I have had to purchase My shafts so far, because I did not start out with shaft wood in the begining, but of what I turn Myself, It will take some time seasoning, and are being dipped. I am not taking any short cuts on the shafts, and in fact will let them season longer then most probably. If that meens I Have to use others shafts til then, then so be it, because I feel the shaft is one of the most important componets of a cue.

On the question about shafts in nelsonite, I have played with both dipped & non-dipped, and have noticed no noticable difference in deflection. That seems to have more to do with the wood used. tightness of the grain, and the straighter the grain the more consistent the hit from around the diameter of the shaft seems to be, but that is just My observation. Also the hardness of the ferrule and tip seems to play into deflection I have noticed. Without even looking at the grain, I can almost tell how dense a shaft is by the weight, and when I face the end of one I can see, and feel the difference.

BTW anyone have any tight straight grain for sale Probably not, but figured It was worth a laugh.

Greg C

 

[Penrose Cues]

....that this is the right way to season the wood...

Nelsonite is a chemical wich is based on a epoxy and it penetrates the surface of the wood and seals it off... But only at the surface. It does not season the wood. That can only be achieved by air drying it for several years.

So, if you dry and turn the wood properly, no need to use Nelsonite...

Your cues stay straight without... why try to fix that if it ain't broken?

Tom Penrose