Not debating the merits of your project and addressing your original question you should be able to find some wood that length and the proper thickness in boards and cut it into a turning square yourself. Take a look at Cook Woods in Klamath Falls Oregon. They have a lot of random size boards online to look at. There are a few species I would trust to stay straight at that length if you want one piece. Not many though.
JC
haha thanks PoppaSaun. Im not the one whos gonna work on the cue I just want to pick out the wood myself.
Make sure its Kiln Dried and pick the grain etc.. Thanks for all the input.
I am looking to make a plain jane cue so hard maple would suffice. Looking to make butt 32".
I guess Derlin would do but where do I buy just the studs. I would like to insert that into my own wood to make a custom joint protectors.
I have seen Samsara use a soft plastic material.
Purchase some pre-made delrin radial pin joint protectors, many out there, and have the maker machine them down to fit inside the wood casing of your choice.. Voilà!
And be sure to not rely on glue to hold them to the wood.
Per the joint pins again:
I did some experimenting with casting pins from epoxy a while back. The pure epoxy ones broke pretty easily, even with strengthening fillers. When I cast them around a center rod, they actually worked very well. I have a friend using a cue I converted to a 3/8-10 SS pin to a epoxy/carbon fiber tube pin. He's been using it for well over three years with no problem. The pin weighed about the same amount as a penny.
All you need to do is get a pin with the thread you intend on using and make a RTV silicon mold. After this is done, you can use the mold to hold a rod or tube in the center and cast epoxy around the rod. I found that I didn't even need to split the mold for 4"+ pins. After the epoxy cures for a couple of days, use some 90% isopropyl alcohol and the mold will release very easily.
If you made the pins that way, you can rely on glue to bond them to the wood.