Olivewood cue handle dirty colour...

[nath205gti]

Hi everyone,

My mates got a Parris Superior cue (about 8 years old) and the olivewood handle has gone a dirty looking grey/brown. He has cleaned it but thinks it need re-finishing.

He was talking about sanding the handle and asked me what to put on it, after reading the "linseed oil" thread thats what I told him.

Was just wondering whether he should lightly sand then wire wool or just wire wool? and will the rich yellow colour come back after oiling??

any advise would be great, cheers.

[trevs1]

Unfortunately, olivewood does eventually turn this kind of shade, a sort of dirty looking grey/brown colour.

It's mainly from handling the cue, but also due to the exposure to air, which darkens the timber as it does many others.

There'not a great dela you can do to restore the colour of it, other than re-finish the butt, which might leave you with more problems than you began with, so be cautious.
To get back to the paler shade you'll see in new..ish olivewood, you'll likely need to remove a fair bit of the surface of the timber, so unless you're willing to have the butt feel thinner, it could be better left alone.

A clean with some very fine steel wool and white spirit might do something to restore it, but it won't get the results you really want I'd doubt.

Good luck with it.

[nath205gti]

Cheers trev, thats great advice thanks mate.

Yeah, he's pretty dam fussy about his cue so I doubt he'd want the butt of the cue any thinner.... I'll tell him to try the suggestion you mentioned with white spirit etc if not he can live with it or take the professionally re-finished route. If he goes for that option he may as well get the whole cue done....

with the DIY method would you use the finest grade wirewool available? and couple of coats of linseed oil after cleaning with spirit? thanks again, Nath

[poolqjunkie]

Do you have a product called "magic eraser" in the UK? It is made by Mr. Clean.

It is a white form, that can be used like a eraser when it is wet. It was sold usually for washing dishes and such? No soap is necessary.

This product is a melamine which cleans by little micro fibers that protrude into the pors of the surface to clean the dirts up when it is wet.
You can also wet this product with rubbing alcohol.

This can take away the dirts and all greasy residues on the surface of the Olive wood. Then apply linseed oil and burnish to smooth it out.

I know it sounds weird if you have never done it, but it really works, without any sanding.