Wax vs oil

[culraven]

Have just took all the old finish off a cue and was wondering about the pros and cons to using wax or oil for it's new finish. have some craftsman wax I've always used before and some Aurora oil on it's way from one of the forum members.

[Woolf147]

Apply oil on the shaft and butt leave over night 12-24 hours than buff with a dry cloth. Than apply wax to the cue butt. Its not recommended to use wax on the shaft. There are also cue silk on the market that you can apply and its quite good and it will give you a nice silky finish.
Hope it helps

[DeanH]

The usual oil is Raw Linseed Oil, which as mentioned, lightly apply to the cue, ensuring an even coat. Lightly wipe down to capture any drips or runs.
Leave over night and then wipe and buff.
Another application may be needed, depending on the condition of the woods.

Do not apply too much in one go and also do not apply too often as you will have a sticky result. If this happens you can gently rub down with very high sandpaper (800+) and rebuff.

You can use a wax (bees I think) on the whole cue if you like but as Woolf147 says you may want to only apply 100% wax to the butt.

Many of the cue makers also make their own oil, which (without nowing the full formula) probably is a mixture of linseed and wax, type and proportions differing. These blends can be used on the whole cue.
Mike Wooldridge has his own oil which has had very good reviews.
Aurora cue (pooljunkie on TSF) also has his own, also so with good reviews (I have just purchased one bottle, in his latest offer, to try out soon)
Generally, over the years, I have used raw linseed to great effect and for a start cannot do any harm.

I have not used Cue Silk personally and have not heard anything good or bad about it - except it does not seem to last long on the cue and frequent applications are needed to maintain finish.

[culraven]

thanks for the advice guys, just have to wait for my oil to arrive.

[danam1]

The usual oil is Raw Linseed Oil, which as mentioned, lightly apply to the cue, ensuring an even coat. Lightly wipe down to capture any drips or runs.
Leave over night and then wipe and buff.
Another application may be needed, depending on the condition of the woods.

Do not apply too much in one go and also do not apply too often as you will have a sticky result. If this happens you can gently rub down with very high sandpaper (800+) and rebuff.

You can use a wax (bees I think) on the whole cue if you like but as Woolf147 says you may want to only apply 100% wax to the butt.

Many of the cue makers also make their own oil, which (without nowing the full formula) probably is a mixture of linseed and wax, type and proportions differing. These blends can be used on the whole cue.
Mike Wooldridge has his own oil which has had very good reviews.
Aurora cue (pooljunkie on TSF) also has his own, also so with good reviews (I have just purchased one bottle, in his latest offer, to try out soon)
Generally, over the years, I have used raw linseed to great effect and for a start cannot do any harm.

I have not used Cue Silk personally and have not heard anything good or bad about it - except it does not seem to last long on the cue and frequent applications are needed to maintain finish.

What ever you do DONT sand it down if you add too much oil!!
Just keep buffing it with a dry soft cloth, it will come off eventually.
And yes, mike wooldridge cue oil is very good. I would say forget about wax.
ATB
Danny

[DeanH]

What ever you do DONT sand it down if you add too much oil!!
Just keep buffing it with a dry soft cloth, it will come off eventually.

That is true, yes, but once I had a mate that way-over-did the oil, drips, runs the whole sticky shebang and it was quicker to use very fine sandpaper (2000) to get back to a good base, removing oil only not wood, then reoiled and got a nice finish.

And yes, mike wooldridge cue oil is very good. I would say forget about wax.

Wax on its own, again 100% agreed but some people do. Even MW himself states that his Cue Oil is a blend to a secret recipe (never to be told ) which probably somewhere has a wax component, along with the sweat of a thousand-virgins!

[jim evans]

as mike found an island somewhere and how did they breed

[poolqjunkie]

I will say forget about the wax on the butt. Oil the whole cue, wipe off the excess, leave 24-48 or even longer,then buff it well and often with a soft dry cloth.

[culraven]

Thanks again guys.
It's an old north west cue I'm cleaning up, found it in a pawn shop, no badge greasy as hell but apart from a couple of dints it's in pretty good nick, and as they didn't know what it was got it for £10, even had the cheek to haggle them down from £12!!!!!
Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[DeanH]

A good find
The trick is slow and steady; if in doubt, don't
all the best

[rasul68]

Not sure if I did make a bad mistake.....took the varnish of my old cue and just used soft cloth to keep it clean and smooth...noever had it sticky to my hands again, not sure if I would ruin my cue in the long term

[culraven]

Would recommend aurora oil, you can get it from poolqjunkie on here, Just refinished my cue with it and had about 4 hours of play with no sticking at all! Very impressed goes on easy and buffs up silky smooth!

[poolqjunkie]

Would recommend aurora oil, you can get it from poolqjunkie on here, Just refinished my cue with it and had about 4 hours of play with no sticking at all! Very impressed goes on easy and buffs up silky smooth!

Thank you very much. Very happy to hear that.:-)

[DeanH]

Aurora oil - I will second that, I have only put one coat on my pool cue due to having a lot of matches play recently but the finish is lovely and as stated no stickiness. Once I get a small break in my schedule I will be putting another coat on and probabaly leave it for sometime before it will require any further treatments.
Rasul68: I would not leave the wood untreated, even though you may be wiping it down this will not remove grease that comes from the skin and eventually it will not be as nice as it is. If you cannot get Aurora oil (not sure if pooljunkie ahs any in stock at the moment) you can also maybe try Mike Wooldridge's own oil (some good reports on here in the past); if not go to any hardware store and get a small bottle of Raw Linseed Oil and apply that as mentioned previously. You may need several applications before you get a good result due to the bear nature of the wood but take it slow and easy and you should not be disappointed.

[sootyvrs]

I purchased some MW cue oil some time back but not applied any yet as I don't want to risk changing the playing characteristics of my playing cue at this moment in time.

I have found that my cue is a little sticky after a few frames and have to wipe it down with a damp cloth before it's smooth again. I think there is a layer of something on the cue e.g. wax/oil and but I wish to prepare it for the MW oil.

Is it worthwhile preparing properly before the oil by using something abrasive to take all the surface crap off e.g. very fine sanding/wire wool?