Cue oil

[vmax]

I recall chatting with Dan Shelton about this and he said he had played around with mixing oils and waxes and experimenting - never got the final answer though

A cue is made of wood so all that's needed is wood oil and all wood oil is based on either tung or linseed oil. Danish oil is a blend and differs from each manufacturer but the difference is so slight it doesn't matter but some are coloured so you pay your money and take your choice.
Myself I mainly use linseed or danish on the shaft and gunstock oil on the butt as that has a glossier finish, sometimes I simply wax it.

[Siz]

linseed (raw or boiled)
... with all [oils] take care with applying, use as little as possible, then wipe off the excess and allow to dry before touching up with more oil or rubbing down with very fine sandpaper and the like. The more you put on, the more you have to take off when it will be difficult to do so.
Patience and care and more patience until you get the experience of doing oiling

I use raw linseed only because I bought 1/2 litre years and years ago and still have lots left
I plan the treatment to allow lots of time to allow drying after application and excess-wipe-off....

I came across this post and was interested in your recommendation to use as little as possible. I have taken almost the polar opposite approach; I splash it on liberally. Leave it a bit to soak in (maybe a hour or so in winter, less if the ambient temp is high); wipe the excess off with a paper towel and leave over night. Then comes the hard work - buff like a crazy man, in multiple sessions, until the cue is smooth and shiny or I am bored and knackered.

Why as little as poss? I am curious to know why you have found that to be better. Perhaps connected to using raw linseed oil (I use boiled)? But maybe there is something I have missed. There often is.

[DeanH]

I am of the "little and often" club, minimual mess, multiple coats
It is amazing how far a little will go.

What I do - open the oil bottle, place the folded paper-towel over the opening, tip the bottle upside-down and then upright, that is enough for a good coat
also if the newbie to cue-oiling accidently forgets about the cue or just leaves it too long and the loads of oil gets to dry then it is a major headache to remove
I err on the side of caution

Of course experienced oilers and cuemakers use lots of oil and may even has a cloth soaking in oil waiting to oil cues all at once, but for a newbie, little is best in my opinion.
In the past I have read even with using a little oil a newbie has forgotten the step to "wipe off the excess" and need to strip and restart

[Siz]

Yes, this chimes with me. It probably does not matter how much you put on initially (esp if you have a 1/5 litre can of the stuff) but if you don't wipe off the excess before it start getting tacky, you will not be in a good place.

[Crucible]

I use boiled linseed a bought froma hardware store and it turned my ash cue yellow which I was not happy about. My preference is that cue oil should be neutral in colour as possible.

[mikeyd100]

I use boiled linseed a bought froma hardware store and it turned my ash cue yellow which I was not happy about. My preference is that cue oil should be neutral in colour as possible.

Raw Linseed will make your cue a little darker, so beware. Personally I like the darker look, kinda vintage style.

[vmax]

I use boiled linseed a bought froma hardware store and it turned my ash cue yellow which I was not happy about. My preference is that cue oil should be neutral in colour as possible.

Your ash shaft will naturally darken with age anyway and oiling/waxing/laquering it is only to protect the wood from losing or absorbing moisture, either of which will make it warp.

[Crucible]

Your ash shaft will naturally darken with age anyway and oiling/waxing/laquering it is only to protect the wood from losing or absorbing moisture, either of which will make it warp.

Tian Pengfei's cue is the darkest i've seen. Is that through ageing or applying too many liquid gold?

[j6uk]

Just like there is very light looking ash, the opposite is true. Ash maple an many other woods come in shades.

[vmax]

Tian Pengfei's cue is the darkest i've seen. Is that through ageing or applying too many liquid gold?

Yes it looks antique but it could simply be olive ash with an antique finish. Olive ash has a brown heartwood and the heartwood is rarely used for cues but I've made one that was close to the heartwood and had brown streaks in it.