Cue Care – Fundamental Rules
Your cue is made predominantly from natural timber and will respond to changes in temperature, humidity and moisture. A little regular care can help keep it in good condition and maintain its feel and performance for many years.
- Always keep your cue in a good-quality case when it is not being used.
- Never lean your cue at an angle against a wall. Store it safely in its case whenever possible.
- Avoid extremes of temperature and humidity.
Never leave your cue near a heat source or anywhere particularly cold or damp. Wood naturally reacts to changes in temperature and moisture content, which can cause swelling, shrinkage or movement.
Think twice before leaving your cue in the car. Cars can experience significant temperature changes and are not a suitable place for storing a wooden cue.
- Don’t use sandpaper or abrasive pads on the shaft.
These can remove the cue’s original finish and, over time, unnecessarily wear away the timber.
- Never bang the cue directly onto the floor or table.
Treat your cue with care. Repeated impacts can potentially damage the tip, ferrule, joint or timber.
- Replace a worn tip when necessary.
Don’t continue playing with a tip that has reached the end of its life. Apart from affecting your play, an excessively worn tip can leave the ferrule more vulnerable to damage.
- Keep your cue and your hands clean.
This helps prevent grease, chalk and dirt from building up on the shaft.
- Avoid using water to clean your cue.
If absolutely necessary, use only a very slightly damp cloth and dry the cue immediately afterwards. Never soak or wet the timber.
What to Check to Confirm Your Cue Is in Good Condition
1. Check the Joint
If you have a jointed cue, periodically check that the joint is clean.
Over time, dirt and residue can build up around the joint surfaces and affect the connection. This can sometimes result in unwanted noise or vibration when striking the cue ball.
A small amount of 0000-grade wire wool can be used carefully to remove a build-up of dirt from suitable metal joint surfaces.
2. Check the Ferrule
The ferrule is a very important part of the cue because it supports the tip and transfers energy into the shaft.
Check for excessive wear, movement or damage. A loose ferrule can often be the cause of unusual noises or vibrations from a cue. In many cases, a ferrule can simply be reset or replaced rather than requiring major work to the cue.
3. Check the Cue for Straightness
The best way to assess whether a cue is straight is to sight down its length, similar to looking down a gun barrel.
Rolling a cue across a table does not always provide an accurate indication of straightness.
The shape of the taper, the shoulders of the cue and, on some cues, the joint can all affect how the cue rolls across a flat surface. A cue can therefore appear to lift when rolled while still being straight when sighted correctly.
We recommend sighting down the cue as the primary method of checking straightness.
4. Check the Shaft
Over time, the shaft can become dry. To help nourish and protect the timber, we recommend occasional treatment with raw linseed oil.
Before applying oil, make sure the shaft is clean. For general maintenance, buffing with a clean, dry microfibre cloth will often be sufficient.
For a more thorough clean, 0000-grade wire wool can be used lightly to clean and smooth the shaft.
If there is a significant build-up of grease or chalk, a very slightly damp cloth can be used if necessary, followed immediately by thoroughly drying the shaft. Avoid excessive water, as moisture can raise the wood fibres and affect the surface finish.
Once clean:
- Apply a light coat of raw linseed oil using a clean cloth or paper towel.
- Allow the oil to soak into the timber for several hours or overnight.
- Wipe away any surplus oil.
- Buff thoroughly with a clean, dry cloth.
The shaft should be left feeling clean, smooth and dry.
5. Check the Butt
Handmade cue butts are commonly made from ebony with decorative splices of other timbers. Because many traditional handmade cues use a natural oil finish rather than a thick lacquer or varnish, the timber benefits from occasional maintenance.
When timber becomes excessively dry, the grain can begin to open as moisture is lost. In more pronounced cases, small openings or “shakes” can appear in the wood.
This can be particularly noticeable during colder periods when cues are regularly kept in centrally heated rooms. Warm, dry indoor air can encourage the timber to lose moisture.
To help nourish and protect the wood, we recommend occasionally treating the butt with raw linseed oil.
Apply a light coat, allow it sufficient time to penetrate the timber, then thoroughly buff away any excess.
A new cue may also benefit from occasional oiling as the timber settles into its environment.
As a general maintenance guide, we recommend oiling your cue once or twice a year, or whenever the timber begins to feel particularly dry.
In our experience, keeping the timber properly maintained also helps preserve the natural feel and responsiveness of the cue.
Shaft Maintenance
For everyday maintenance, a good buff with a clean, dry microfibre cloth is often all that is required to keep your shaft feeling smooth.
If grease and chalk gradually build up, clean the shaft using an appropriate cue-cleaning product wherever possible.
If necessary, a very slightly damp cloth can be used on an older, dirty shaft, but it should never be wet and the shaft should be dried immediately afterwards.
Please Note
Never wipe a new cue down with a damp cloth unnecessarily.
A new cue will normally have a thin protective oil finish. Repeated cleaning with a damp cloth can gradually remove this finish and leave the shaft feeling dry.
Regular use of water can also affect the surface fibres of an ash shaft and make the natural grain more prominent, potentially leaving the shaft feeling less smooth.
What We Recommend
For routine cleaning and conditioning, we recommend:
Both products are simple to use and suitable for maintaining the smooth feel of a cue shaft.
These products are available in the Cue Care section of our website.