Tung oil, a viable alternative to linseed?

[Wity]

I've an old 2 piece BCE Jimmy White cue worth about £5 but so what I play just as poorly with any cue. Knocked about something terrible I sanded it down to the bare wood (100% ash with weight added to the butt 1/2) and thanks to Trev, ADR and other members advice I applied 4 coats of liniseed over about 2 weeks and finished It off with beeswax. I ended up with a cue that is far far better than it was new, even after doing the unthinkable and painting the butt half Ford Metalic Red.
What was very noticable was the colour of the ash as when sanded it was almost white a far cry from the aged golden colour it was and with the red handle I liked the contrast. Using Linseed though the ash has darkened considerably and as I'm going to renew another simlar cue likewise for my son (metalic blue he fancies) I'm wondering if Tung oil will do as good a job as I hear it does not darken wood as much. Anyone tried it?

[Gramayr]

Never heard of 'Tung oil' sounds like something the missus uses to loosen her mouth before giving me an earful..

I just used to carry some fine grade sandpaper around in my cue case when I used to use my 20 year old powerglide since the shaft used to stick something chronic to my bridge hand - wish I'd known about oiling etc. then.

So, what is Tung oil?

[Wity]

Decent description... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tung_oil

Other googled info i've found says it's application and drying times is much longer than linseed and it's often used for wooden spoons bowls plates etc as it is completely harmless.

[Wity]

cut n pasted from new members thread...

craftsman cues
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wity
Welcome. Getting to be a bit of a cuemakers bar this with Trevor White (Trevs1) Andrew Ramsay (ADR147) and you too now

I for one would apprecieate your comments on Tung oil in the cues section if you would please.

Thanks for the welcome,
About Tung oil, we have tried it in the past but takes a long time to dry between coats. Doesnt leave a very shiney finish though, i would say it's OK, but would not be my prefered choice. There are better oils available on the market. One is Liberon finishing oil,avaialble form a good hardware store. This will dry in a day where as tung oil can take 2 or 3 days to soak in properly. Applications of different oils can vary quite a lot, depending how much oil your are applying and how long you let it dry in between coates. Also a must, to matt the cue down finely between coates with fine wire wool grade #0000 or finer.
Its really about experimenting with quantity used and drying times........
Hope this helps

[Blondie]

Hi Wity,

.........and only just seen this thread, but I'm sure my dad has used tung oil on a maple dining table before, to cover up some minor scratches. I remember really because my mum wanted a new one, but dad said a couple of coats of tung oil, and the table would be as good as new. And it didn't darken the table much either.

I think as well one of the drawbacks with the oil is its lack of grain filling ability, and unless your coating/varnishing a smooth and grain free wood, you may not get such a smooth finish. I think that's what dad said anyway, and ok with maple wood, although not really sure about ash. And I think he also said he used some sort of steel wool too, to remove any surface irregularties, but don't quote me on this, knowing me, it's probably cotton wool... It's quite easy to apply too, in a sort of wipe-on-wipe-off method, and very durable.

I think it's great as well all the things you can get now, for repairs, and made me laugh the other day when a friend told me that the best way to clean snooker balls is to dissolve them into warm water with flash, the floor cleaning agent, and then dry them with a soft cloth. Apparently, this is better than washing up liquid as it doesn't leave a film on the snooker balls. [Still not sure if he was winding me up though , probably, I've never done this, but I thought it would have left scratches on them, ah well, there's one born every day...]

Lol......xx

[Wity]

Hiya Blondie, I found theres lots of different oils one can use natural synthetic and mixtures let alone the various ways in which they are applied. Most of them are described on woodworking sites though and the silky smooth slide feel you want for a cue isn't always going to come from a product intended for say glossy finished furniture.

Actually it was only last night i was reading on an aussie snooker forum how some were using ordinary black shoe polish saying it darkens the grain but polishes off the lighter wood in ash. Lemon oil is another one I've heard it's perfect for thoya wood and theres that silicon spray used to shine up the vinyle dashboards in cars, thats quite good, even comes in a nice apple smell.

Think I'll stick with the traditional raw linseed oil to seal the wood and beeswax on top to get the smooth polish though seeing as i've bought both and enogh to last me years it may darken the ash especially with time but it does give a great feel and thats more important.

As for ball cleaning is your friend a magician by any chance?

..the best way to clean snooker balls is to dissolve them...

[Blondie]

Hi Wity,

.........that's funny, , and by the sounds of it that's a definite no no for 'dissolving' the snooker balls with the old flash/washing up liquid then.
[And Dave is my brother's best friend, and you could say he is a bit of a magician, as he always doing a vanishing act, no seriously, he's a policeman, and he's always winding me up, but a v.good snooker player, something I can only dream of being ]

It's an interesting one though, and I've looked on google too, couple of new options inlcude:

The Aramith Ball Cleaner Spray £3.50 @ snookershop.com;
Deluxe Ball Star Automatic Billiard Ball Cleaner $584.10 @
billiardwarehouse.com;
Mini-ball polisher $50 @ easypooltutor.com. [This one made me smile as there is a plastic tube, plus buff pad. And you coat the balls with a ball cleaner, then put the other buff pad on a drill, push down lightly, and drill away for about 5-10 seconds. One of the guys on there who had used it mentioned he cleaned one ball per hour - if that's the case I'd still be cleaning a week later, at the speed I go]..

Think the Aramith ball cleaner spray is probably the best one?, but do like the sound of a ball cleaning machine, so to speak, always makes me laugh when you see the tennis pros practicing their serve, and there's a ball machine in the corner switched on to about 50 miles per hour.[Probably a little man inside the machine saying "that'll teach you, go on, run....."]

And interesting findings on the aussie forum, never heard of using black shoe polish before, or lemon oil, although car dashboard silicon spray I've heard of before, and no doubt this is used for lots of other things as well. Agree, as well Wity, that the linseed oil is still probably best to seal wood/beeswax, plus getting the nice smooth polish. And even though you've arrived back pretty much with what you thought was best anyway, at least you have learnt about some other new things too. That's what life is about, or supposed to be....

Lol.....xx

[ADR147]

Deluxe Ball Star Automatic Billiard Ball Cleaner $584.10 @
billiardwarehouse.com;

or you could buy 10 new sets of balls instead!

[Blondie]

Hi Ad,

......... , agree, and some of the accessories, can't believe sometimes how expensive they are, although I suppose you do pay for quality. [Mind you, with some of the 'descriptions' on google, not so sure. ]

Lol...xx

[ADR147]

there is paying for quality, yes agreed, but there is also being ripped off !

[Wity]

Isn't it true theres an old Scottish tradition to keep a basket in the corner of all snooker clubs where in sits a big black Labrador?

Players give him a couple at at time...

"Here you go Rex, clean them buggers instead."

[ADR147]

Isn't it true theres an old Scottish tradition to keep a basket in the corner of all snooker clubs where in sits a big black Labrador?

Players give him a couple at at time...

"Here you go Rex, clean them buggers instead."

no we keep a couple of well beaten brummies and make them do it between fishing our balls out of the pockets.

[Wity]

Slipped up there mate I'm a Wulfrunian.:P

[Gramayr]

there is paying for quality, yes agreed, but there is also being ripped off !

There's always someone with more money than sense and is daft enough to spend it. And there are those out there able to give these people things they don't need for money they won't miss.

[Gramayr]

Slipped up there mate I'm a Wulfrunian.:P

So is my missus