ANDY TRAVIS latest

[grimreaper]

Really nice looking cue Andy and the smoother the shaft the better.

[perpetualboredom]

+1 for a smooth shaft here - looks excellent to me!

[itx]

ANDY TRAVIS latest

Yeah, I have to agree smoother is better.

[DeanH]

I have never found maple to be sticky, or more so than ash
when playing I the ash grain does not bother me on the bridge but mostly when I am waiting my turn, the grain can and does distract my attention from the game, not massively but enough to make me wish ash could as smooth as maple

[Maverick54]

Yeah, I have to agree smoother is better.

So thats at least 4 of you that shave yr willy then

[thelongbomber]

It's what I like about ash, the minute ridges in the grain is the reason the ash shaft glides over the skin better as the contact is not total. Maple is too smooth and more sticky as a result and making an ash shaft as smooth as maple negates the main reason for using ash in the first place.

You'lll find an old handmade ash cue won't be perfectly round and that is part of it's appeal.

Good post. Never thought about Maple that way before.

[mythman69]

So thats at least 4 of you that shave yr willy then

Seems to be very popular these days

LOL

Smooth cues I mean

[perpetualboredom]

It's what I like about ash, the minute ridges in the grain is the reason the ash shaft glides over the skin better as the contact is not total. Maple is too smooth and more sticky as a result and making an ash shaft as smooth as maple negates the main reason for using ash in the first place.

You'lll find an old handmade ash cue won't be perfectly round and that is part of it's appeal.

How do you explain pear? No grain, ultra smooth and not in any way sticky!

[DeanH]

I have only played with one pearwood cue, and yes beautifully smooth but the cue itself was very whippy for me

[vmax4steve]

How do you explain pear? No grain, ultra smooth and not in any way sticky!

Depends on ones skin and the finish applied to the shaft I suppose. I like to feel that I have a piece of wood in my hand, thus I prefer minimal finish to a cue. When I spin my cue between my fingers I can feel the ridges of the grain and the fact that it isn't perfectly rounded, but when it moves along my bridge I can't and the response from it is great.

When I first bought it nearly thirty years ago it came unfinished and I've only applied a little antique furniture polish to it once a year over this time. It has gained a natural patina in the grain and a deep brown colour from the polish. These finishes applied to cues are only to make them look like an old one.

[MinnesotaSlim85]

sounds great I prefer Ash and love the idea of as finish as smooth as maple

[ste bed]

Depends on ones skin and the finish applied to the shaft I suppose. I like to feel that I have a piece of wood in my hand, thus I prefer minimal finish to a cue. When I spin my cue between my fingers I can feel the ridges of the grain and the fact that it isn't perfectly rounded, but when it moves along my bridge I can't and the response from it is great.

When I first bought it nearly thirty years ago it came unfinished and I've only applied a little antique furniture polish to it once a year over this time. It has gained a natural patina in the grain and a deep brown colour from the polish. These finishes applied to cues are only to make them look like an old one.

what finish are you referring to ? All finishes that cue makes use . Surely the finish does alot more than just make a cue look old I think its more about protecting the wood from sweat and other things that might cause damage to the cue.

[vmax4steve]

what finish are you referring to ? All finishes that cue makes use . Surely the finish does alot more than just make a cue look old I think its more about protecting the wood from sweat and other things that might cause damage to the cue.

You could very easily finish an ash cue with something that doesn't darken the grain or change the colour of the shaft, but that isn't what customers want. They want their ash to look antique like an old one that has darkened over time by polishing and picked up the sweat and dirt into the grain (patina).
Newly planed and sanded ash is white in colour and the grain is a very light brown, mine was when I first got it, but how it looks now took thirty years of use and polishing.
I could make new ash look the same simply by applying the right colour oil finish and dark grain filler.

It isn't needed to protect the wood, a clear oil will do for that and grain filler is not naturally dark in colour either.

It's become the norm for a new ash cue to be antiqued, but because they all look that these days people don't know the difference.

[itsnoteasy]

Ebony, Olivewood with Thuya burr off to Brazil this week.
After using my latest way of finishing, the grain cannot be felt or seen when held up to light resulting with a finish smoother than any other cue i have seen, what you get is a ash shaft with the feel of smooth maple.

I wouldn't call this overly antiqued ,or overly darkened, to me this is bang on.

[vmax4steve]

I wouldn't call this overly antiqued ,or overly darkened, to me this is bang on.

It is antiqued though.

This is mine as it is now, thirty years old and it came unfinished and the grain has naturally darkened over time and the ash itself has gone a golden brown through polishing only. When I first got it the ash was white and the grain a very light brown and hardly noticeable.
Why wait thirty years though when this can be done in a couple of days.