The first thing you need to do is buy a pool cue that is either already made or just the tip and shaft. You can tell if your cue is pre-made by looking at the ferrule (the piece of plastic on the end of each shaft where they meet). If there are no colors below the line where it meets, then it is a pre-made cue.
If you have an already made cue, then you can skip this step. You will need a pool cue that has the tip and shaft separated (they come like this from the store) and some masking tape. Put the masking tape on the part of the shaft between where it meets with the ferrule and where your hand is when you play. You will be putting paint on this part so it must have tape on it at all times, or else the cue will have a hole in it from where the paint goes through to the shaft.
Just about any kind of spray paint can work for this project. The good thing about painting a pool cue is that it doesn’t matter if you paint the tip or the shaft, because we will be removing it. You might want to practice by painting a piece of wood and seeing how it looks before actually doing this with your pool cue.
When you go out and buy your spray paint, make sure that you check the back of the can to see how long it takes for a coat of paint to dry. You will need a minimum of two coats before going on to the next step, so having fast-drying paint is very important.
Once your cue has dried from its second coat, you can get some acrylic paints and begin painting on the pool cue. You can use any design you want. For this project, I decided to paint a different color on each part of the cue so that it would come out looking very colorful. Make sure that when you are painting your pool cue, all four sections are painted evenly! If one part is brighter than another, then your final product will look messed up.
When painting on the cue, you can paint whatever is on your mind. You could have a zebra pattern or a dead-on replica of an existing pool cue. There are many different things that you can do when painting a pool cue, but in the end, it doesn’t matter what color you use because all that will be seen is the tip or ferrule when you are playing.
You have to wait for each coat of paint to dry before moving on to the next one. You can use up all of your acrylic paints or just use two-three coats, depending on what kind of design you are trying to accomplish with your colored cue. Once everything has dried, you will need some sandpaper to sand down the shaft where you put on your masking tape before painting.
When it comes time to remove the paint from the shaft, try using some lighter fluid and a cloth to wipe off all of the paint and get your cue back down to its original wood color (or whatever color the pool cue originally was). You can also use nail polish remover (acetone) to remove the paint. Whatever you use, make sure that it is safe for some of your clothes or other things near you so that you don’t ruin them with what you are using to clean up.
After this, all there is left to do is put the tip back on and play! You can also put a coat of varnish on your pool cue if you would like, but that is totally up to you.
Many people who have a pool table in their home will also have a pool cue for when they want to play by themselves or with friends. It is easy and fun to paint a pool cue because it doesn’t matter what design you use because you are only going to be seeing the tip or ferrule. Paint your pool cue with whatever colors are on your mind and start playing!
