Vintage cue issue

[rapidh32]

I have decided to give an old cue a make over and general clean up, the cue has been stored in its case for approx 30 years in a spare room. The cue is a one piece John Pullman 17.5 oz, 10.58mm tip bought new in 1974. Upon inspection prior to any work I have noticed there is a quite thick varnish/lacquer on the butt section about 1-2mm which is dented with pieces missing. The broken pieces resemble glass crystals and I need to resolve this problem but I am unsure weather to remove it or if it can be repaired. Any tips, opinions, expert knowledge or suggestions will be gratefully welcomed.

Best regards rapidh32

[j6uk]

Hi,
I’ve done a lot of this kind of thing in the past so I could advise.. Some pics would be handy, though you might need x10 posts first before you can upload images.
I would be inclined to carefully remove all of the lacquer and re-lac or oil and polishing finish.
You could loose up-to an ounce in weight if it’s all removed and to its natural state.

[DeanH]

Pictures tells a thousand words and all that

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[rapidh32]

Thanks for the help and knowledge, I tried to upload pics when posting question but was unable to do so I will attempt the suggested option.
Cheers.

[rapidh32]

I have discovered the John Pulman Master cue was made by S.W Hancock and is an ash cue with a machined spliced rosewood butt with orange, yellow veneer with ebony front splice

[j6uk]

Yes I’ve worked on one of those, mine was very heavy on the varnish, and that rubber stopper was a bugger to get out..
Well, if you’re enjoying the cue and how it plays I’d leave it as-is, or could mix a little eproxi for the butt end.. or sand a layer of lac down, eprox any holes, sand smooth and re-lac with a polyurethane gloss.
But if you wanna go to town on it as a project, scrape all that lac off with some kind of sanely knife, avoid scratching too much of the wood off. Then a thin coat of paint remover and 00 wire wool , and you’ll find out what lays beneath.
but again if the cue plays to your liking this could be disheartening as it will play different when the fingers go tinkering.
Then there’s the cost, as you’ll spend more than the cue is worth in the diy.

[vmax]

I have decided to give an old cue a make over and general clean up, the cue has been stored in its case for approx 30 years in a spare room. The cue is a one piece John Pullman 17.5 oz, 10.58mm tip bought new in 1974. Upon inspection prior to any work I have noticed there is a quite thick varnish/lacquer on the butt section about 1-2mm which is dented with pieces missing. The broken pieces resemble glass crystals and I need to resolve this problem but I am unsure weather to remove it or if it can be repaired. Any tips, opinions, expert knowledge or suggestions will be gratefully welcomed.

Best regards rapidh32

I refinished a similar one a couple of years ago for a neighbour, onlyt this one was maple. I took off the laquer with a scraper, very messy but like yours the laquer was quite thick and had chips out of it in many places. When that was done I sanded it down with 300 grade paper, then 0000 grade steel wool, polished the ferrule again with the steel wool and gave it an oil finish. Page 16 on the supplied link.

https://www.thesnookerforum.co.uk/bo...ent/cues/45014

[rapidh32]

Thanks everyone for their response and and advice regarding the cue, I bought the cue for my late Father as a Christmas gift in 1974 and started using recently. Although I have another cue I find this one feels so much better on my bridge hand and the 10.5 tip seems to have improve my game ( only time and frames will tell ) Regarding cleaning off the lacquer would scraping or gentle chipping off at the butt end be better ? As I have recently retired I have both the time and patience to enjoy tackling this project and will ask for any help or expert tips when necessary. Once again grateful thanks for everyone's input.
Cheers rapidh32

[DeanH]

please give us progress reports and piccies

[Cue crafty]

Thanks everyone for their response and and advice regarding the cue, I bought the cue for my late Father as a Christmas gift in 1974 and started using recently. Although I have another cue I find this one feels so much better on my bridge hand and the 10.5 tip seems to have improve my game ( only time and frames will tell ) Regarding cleaning off the lacquer would scraping or gentle chipping off at the butt end be better ? As I have recently retired I have both the time and patience to enjoy tackling this project and will ask for any help or expert tips when necessary. Once again grateful thanks for everyone's input.
Cheers rapidh32

Here's a decent video showing the scraping technique and process.