Snooker Cue Maintenance

A slight departure from my usual sort of posts but these are "my notes" so what the heck.

Last Christmas I treated myself (or strictly speaking was treated to) a new snooker cue.  I've always dabbled with snooker, not particularly good, but I can do enough to get by.  My old cue (18th birthday present) was getting a bit tired.  I decided to go with a really nice English make, Peradon, from Liverpool.  They are reasonably priced but the real treat is the quality of the craftsmanship and since I'm quite keen on making things from wood I really appreciate that side of the cue as much as anything else - it's clearly one that's far above the level to which I actually play the game.  I eventually settled on the Ascot ¾ cue.

With such a nice piece of wood I was surprised to see a complete lack of advice on how to care for and maintain it.  I wrote to Peradon for some help and what follows is their advice, and hence the reason for keeping it on my blog so I'll stand a chance of finding it again in the future...

The method is quite simple:

1. Rub down with a very fine steel wool (I use Liberon 0000) and wipe away any residue
2. Apply raw linseed oil (I use Liberon Raw Linseed Oil) with a lint free cloth and leave for 20-30 minutes
3. Buff the cue with a lint free cloth
4. Repeat if necessary (you can also heat or dilute the linseed oil for multiple coats)

It seems to work very well.  Peradon recommended I do this every couple of weeks which seems to be to be rather on the excessive side so I'll probably opt for "every now and then" and since this is the first time I've done it, it looks to be an annual event although I may do it more often now I've got all the gear.