HELP - cue won't unscrew!

[Gwynston]

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me. What possible problem can come from having smooth shiny brass on the flat parts which lie against each other? (Except maybe that having now "interfered" with the finish, it might be more prone to faster corrosion in the future). It's certainly now a big improvement over having tarnished surfaces, as I'm pretty sure it's those that had practically become fused.

It's possible I over-tightened as the whole connecting process was stiff, but having finally got it apart, there's no way I could leave it in that state. It was bound to get stuck again.

It would be good to hear definitive info from John Parris, but bearing in mind he hasn't responded to my contact from last week when it first got stuck, I won't be holding my breath.

[cazmac1]

You'll have to ask John, John will get back to you

[Mellow Yellow]

i have this problem with a new cue and sending it back is not an option, i have contacted the maker for a response, i have tried gentle heat, twisting and tapping and nothing seems to help? the cue has just arrived from china so a change in temp may have caused the joint to expand???

[YDJ]

If you polish the faces of the joint you can increase the chance that it may lock up.
This is based on the same principle as wringing two slip gauges together.
i.e. if you take two highly polished, flat, steel blocks and rub them together they will stick to each other. The longer you leave them together the harder it will be to get them apart.
I believe that freshly polished surfaces where oxide has not been allowed to form will stick more easily. So a newly polished joint which is put together may be harder to get apart.
If you want more info, Google things like, cold welding, vacuum welding, nano fabrication, or wrung slip gauge/gage blocks.
Anyway, this is just one principle why it might not be such a good idea to polish the joint too much.

[Gwynston]

That kind of makes some sense I suppose.
But leaving it all tarnished like it was simply wasn't an option as it would definitely be prone to sticking again. The oxidised surfaces would simply have more friction between them, especially after being banged together during play.

I suspect that ongoing, as long as I play regularly enough, the joint will remain free moving. I certainly don't intend on leaving it screwed together when I'm not playing.

I couldn't help myself when I last played though - I kept taking it apart after every couple of frames just to make sure it was still alright!

[poolqjunkie]

That kind of makes some sense I suppose.
But leaving it all tarnished like it was simply wasn't an option as it would definitely be prone to sticking again. The oxidised surfaces would simply have more friction between them, especially after being banged together during play.

I suspect that ongoing, as long as I play regularly enough, the joint will remain free moving. I certainly don't intend on leaving it screwed together when I'm not playing.

I couldn't help myself when I last played though - I kept taking it apart after every couple of frames just to make sure it was still alright!

I see what you mean. Just clean up the threads with some alcohol, then apply a bit of vaseline to the threads will keep the joint well lubricated. It should not lock up again. I think polishing the joint is fine but if you have taken out too much metal you may have a problem with the face no longer facing properly (not completly touching) so just need to be careful.
If you want to remove the tarnish you dont need to sand it at all. Just some tarnish removal compound will do. You can polish it up nicely afterward with some brass polishing compound. You can make it look very shinny and nice that way.

[DeanH]

I couldn't help myself when I last played though - I kept taking it apart after every couple of frames just to make sure it was still alright!

I know what you mean, when I was playing with an old 2pc cue of mine, I had a habit of when judging the next shot, etc, I would be clicking it unlocked/locked. So much so that it became an unconcious action and when I got a 1pc I wondered what I was trying to do the the cue!
Only a few times did I go down to the shot with it slightly unlocked! You don't do that many time I tell you!