can i make the grain darker on my cue?

[sydlox]

hello,

i have a lovely old one piece ash cue, and i would love to make the grain darker, is this possible without harming the cue?

also everyone tells me that i should not sand any cue,
will it still absorb any oil or wax ok if i dont sand it?

or is this just a stupid idea?

thank you,

sydlox

[The Doctor]

You can darken the grain by using a quick drying wood stain in ebony or dark colour. it looks horrible when doing this but after you sand it down the grain remains dark and the wood comes up lighter. It has been discussed in more detail on here before not sure where.

[T.C.]

get some black shoe polish and rub it into the cue, then remove with a clean dry soft cloth. works a treat!

[The Doctor]

I would be very wary of doing that, as shoe polish is obviously wax(oil based) and will therefor stain the white of the ash too. A quick drying woodstain(sadolin quick drying) is water based and will not. It does take a bit of work, but well worth it if you want a good finish.
I have done this many times and it works very well.

[Woolf147]

Do not listen this crazy advise.
If you want to make grain darker just apply cue oil than live over night than dry with the paper towel and polish with the cue wax. Never ever sand the cue shaft if you haven't got experience.
My advice is to take the cue to the cue maker and ask them for a grain re-fill and complete re-finish. It cost around £30.
Hope it helps

[Watford]

If not sure get a cue maker to do it.

If brave find out what they use to darken grain. Sorry I don't know what it is I've seen JP doing it on the telly though
Sand it back, fine finish it, darken grain, finish again with oil, then wax if you like wax.

I wouldn't do it with out a practise which ever way.

[sydlox]

thanks for your help everyone,
im still i little confused as the best thing to do,
so i think that the best thing that i can do is to not do anything, untill i am certain what the best course of action is.
thanks again,
sydlox

[The Doctor]

Do not listen this crazy advise.
If you want to make grain darker just apply cue oil than live over night than dry with the paper towel and polish with the cue wax. Never ever sand the cue shaft if you haven't got experience.
My advice is to take the cue to the cue maker and ask them for a grain re-fill and complete re-finish. It cost around £30.
Hope it helps

I would agree that you should not do anything to a cue if not experienced, but please don't say this is bad advise. This is precisely what a cue maker will do for your £30.
The thread was how to make grain darker and that was the reply i gave, and i know this works as i have done it loads of times.
Applying oil will only darken the whole shaft slightly.

[Freddie Ng]

I would agree that you should not do anything to a cue if not experienced, but please don't say this is bad advise. This is precisely what a cue maker will do for your £30.
The thread was how to make grain darker and that was the reply i gave, and i know this works as i have done it loads of times.
Applying oil will only darken the whole shaft slightly.

Agree .. there are no crazy advise. They just try their best to reply to the question ask by thread starter..

[coveg]

I would be very wary of doing that, as shoe polish is obviously wax(oil based) and will therefor stain the white of the ash too. A quick drying woodstain(sadolin quick drying) is water based and will not. It does take a bit of work, but well worth it if you want a good finish.
I have done this many times and it works very well.

Hi Doctor. I have a few questions on you advise.
I have stained a cue with normal water based ebony stain, It works as a treat but it does not fill the grains.
What do you do to fill the grains then.
I have mixed sanding sealer with ebony stain, works well and it fills the grains, but leaves the cue sticky if not oiled.
I tried ebony dust mixed with wood glue, works very well but one uses sheets of sanding paper.

What do youi do???

[unclevit]

hello,

i have a lovely old one piece ash cue, and i would love to make the grain darker, is this possible without harming the cue?

also everyone tells me that i should not sand any cue,
will it still absorb any oil or wax ok if i dont sand it?

or is this just a stupid idea?

thank you,

sydlox

Use it as often as possible. Time aging process

[Acrowot]

I would not like to advise you either way, but some of the advice should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The best is to go with the linseed oil, but without the wax.
:snooker:

[perpetualboredom]

Hi Doctor. I have a few questions on you advise.
I have stained a cue with normal water based ebony stain, It works as a treat but it does not fill the grains.
What do you do to fill the grains then.
I have mixed sanding sealer with ebony stain, works well and it fills the grains, but leaves the cue sticky if not oiled.
I tried ebony dust mixed with wood glue, works very well but one uses sheets of sanding paper.

What do youi do???

This might help: wood grain filler

I should stop being sarcastic really, I only know that because I asked Simon at craftsman what they use.

[The Doctor]

Yes you can obviously get grain filler, the only thing is finding the correct colour. A lot of cue makers use their own mixture. I mentioned the quick drying wood stain, as a top London cue maker(and i don't mean parris) told me to do this and it worked.

[Cossie]

An old snooker club trick for darkening the ash that a professional friend of mine showed me was to rub in cigarette ash from an ash tray with a cloth. Worked a treat but you might struggle to find a full ash tray in the clubs nowadays.