Hi fellas...ok, so i have a boring job now, but it pays ok..so one day, probably when i retire, i would enjoy trying to make cues. [not to worrie, no one on here will ever loose business to me :]..anyhow, i read several post sugestion one start collecting wood if they are ever thinking of building cues. I figure i have 20 years to collect. SO, do i buy boards and store them?, precut wood squares and store it. Any ideas. I figure if i start soon, and go slow it will be easy on my pocketbook, and over time i will have enough to play with then i get older. Thanks for any general guidance!!!
Buying wood for "future" use
- Thread starter ramw5p
- Start date
Good references
Check out Dieckman's website, he discusses the "River of Wood" there, and addresses your questions.in his old articles located on this page: http://www.cuemaker.com/dieckmanwrittenword.htm
There's also a book you can download on his site, too.
Check out Dieckman's website, he discusses the "River of Wood" there, and addresses your questions.in his old articles located on this page: http://www.cuemaker.com/dieckmanwrittenword.htm
There's also a book you can download on his site, too.
Buying highend pieces to build a stock is always a good idea. Even if you decide down the road not to build cues the wood will appreciate in value. Don't waste your time and money with light figured woods. No one ever calls me and asks for birdseye with weak figure to it.
so should i stockpile shafts?
I found several places online that sell dowels, with ring counts around 20 for $15+. Should i start buying these when i can afford and hang them up? I read in the article that he sugested buying boards [lumber] and storing them then cutting them up for shafts. I would have no idea where to get a good board, or how to know if it was good quality. Anyone want to point me in the directiomn of good dowels, or sqaures that i can start buying and store. Or i guess lumber that i can cut later for that matter. thanks, just thinking about starting slow with wood collection. I know i will learn as i go, just trying to start out a little ahead. TIA
I found several places online that sell dowels, with ring counts around 20 for $15+. Should i start buying these when i can afford and hang them up? I read in the article that he sugested buying boards [lumber] and storing them then cutting them up for shafts. I would have no idea where to get a good board, or how to know if it was good quality. Anyone want to point me in the directiomn of good dowels, or sqaures that i can start buying and store. Or i guess lumber that i can cut later for that matter. thanks, just thinking about starting slow with wood collection. I know i will learn as i go, just trying to start out a little ahead. TIA
Well, you're opening up a can of worms asking about shaftwood. A search should yield hours worth of reading regarding shaftwood sources and guidelines. :thumbup:
If you live anywhere near a prime "shaftwood" area, you would probably be well served to drive and pick out your stock. That said, you may also want to consider ordering shafts from a few different sources to get a feel for what's out there and what different people consider "prime." If you live near a seller; go there to get a hands-on feel.
Buyers and sellers have different rating systems, taking into account grain count, grain runout, figure (curl or birdseye), weight of shaft, tone of shaft, color of the shaft, mineral marks or sugar marks... and what side of the hill the tree grew on
. In time, you'll determine for yourself what makes good shaftwood to you.Shaftwood is important and you'll want to stockpile quality shaftwood. That said, it might be easier to pick out "highly figured" woods for the butt. Highly figured is highly figured- 'nuff said. No real big debate there, although you'll probably want to stick to woods that cuemakers are using. The shaftwood you'll buy should all be kiln-dried. If you're buying the butt wood for future use, it doesn't really matter if it is kiln-dried or not. It'll have time to dry if you're building up for use several years in the future.
Good luck,
~Beau
No matter what form I buy my wood in I immediately turn it round. I usally turn the dowels down to about 1.45 and then depending upon the mositure content I may coat it in wax.
From what I have learned wood in dowel form dries better and more consistant, and you will have less checking (Cracking) over time.
That all there is too it...
Except your going to need some type of Lathe, and a small Table saw unless you buy only rounds!!:smile:
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Good that you are planning ahead. I wish I would have started buying wood years ago. I have dreamed about building cues for years and started doing it with in the last few months. Not having wood to turn is bitting me in the butt and will for many years, I am sure.
Larry
Larry
I like buying 1.5" squares by 18 to 30 long.
I don't turn them round until I know what I'm doing with them.
I still have a ton of boards unturned b/c I think the'll be great for points and inlays/windows.
Most are not sealed except the ones I know check too much.
They stay in the uncontrolled area of the shop where they experience dry heat . I've bowed olivewood and pink ivory that way.
I started collecting woods 5 years ago. I am shocked how much more they cost now. What's even shocking is the grading of b'eyes and curly maple are almost nowhere near what it was 5 years ago.
I wish I plunged a few more thousands of dollars then.
Next year, I will buy more shaftwoods from one of my sources b/c the ones I bought from him 5 years ago have become so desirable.
I don't turn them round until I know what I'm doing with them.
I still have a ton of boards unturned b/c I think the'll be great for points and inlays/windows.
Most are not sealed except the ones I know check too much.
They stay in the uncontrolled area of the shop where they experience dry heat . I've bowed olivewood and pink ivory that way.
I started collecting woods 5 years ago. I am shocked how much more they cost now. What's even shocking is the grading of b'eyes and curly maple are almost nowhere near what it was 5 years ago.
I wish I plunged a few more thousands of dollars then.
Next year, I will buy more shaftwoods from one of my sources b/c the ones I bought from him 5 years ago have become so desirable.
How old are you & how long before you think you will use this wood?. A very important thing to remember, is how you store this wood. All of my shaft wood is stored on end. My handle & forearm wood is stored for years, layered " boards, in between the layers. I have wood stored in these 2 manners for some 15 years & have not had any major problems...JER
John Barton
New member
One of my cue making friends was showing me his wood stock that he built up over 20 years time. He now has the ability and luxury of going to his wood stock and picking out round stock that he has been cutting and storing for years and making cues from that. What I mean is that if he decides that today he is going to make a cocobolo cue then he has aged stock already turned sitting there waiting to be assembled and inlaid. He told me that his wood stock comes from making a few trips a year to pick out what he wants and then putting it in the process of being ready to become a cue someday.
My friend is now at a point in his life where he OWNS every piece of equipment, never went into debt for any of it and built his considerable wood stock one piece at a time as he could afford it.
He goes into the shop each morning and decides what cue to build that day based on how he feels, knowing that he already has the wood.
Planning ahead is always good.
The price of exotic wood will go up as time goes on and some might become very hard to find.
Consider the wood cue makers use and buy it as an investment.
Gabon Ebony, Cocobola, old growth maple (if you can find it) and even ivory will all increase in price.
So not only will you be saving yourself money, you will know your wood is well seasoned.
The price of exotic wood will go up as time goes on and some might become very hard to find.
Consider the wood cue makers use and buy it as an investment.
Gabon Ebony, Cocobola, old growth maple (if you can find it) and even ivory will all increase in price.
So not only will you be saving yourself money, you will know your wood is well seasoned.
Here is a can of worms for everyone. While most wood gets better with age, there is a point in many wood's cut and dried life or (should I say death), that they start to deteriate and become brittle. Internal mold or whatever it is called can start in some. So if you are not planning on building cues for 20 years, I would suggest waiting about ten years to start buying wood. Twenty year old wood is not going to be any better than ten year old wood. IMHO.
John Barton
New member
I didn't know that. I guess it makes sense since wood is cellular and everything cellular begins to decay upon death. Learn something new every day.
Which woods get better with age?
Which woods deteriorate and become so brittle that they cannot be used in a cue?
At what point do seasoned woods become useless?
Having been in the wood business from logging to milling, to finishing wood plus my cuemaking experience, which amounts to over 40 years, I have never seen wood that was properly stored deteriorate and become useless.
I think almost all woods get better with age, or seasoning if you prefer that term. But I only think that is true to a point, and then the possibility for the opposite can happen.
I am basing this on working on old pieces of furniture and having worked on some very old cues. I have seen table legs that would splinter just by touching them with any kind of tooling. I have seen rosewood in a Balabushka that was so brittle it just wanted to splinter if even touched with a sharp file. I have seen the inside of pieces of old Ebony turning squares that had what appeared to be mold or some kind of weird stuff inside of it.
When wood like the rosewood I spoke of becomes brittle like that, then it is almost useless in my opinion. Maybe "useless" is overstating the case, but I would not use it for structural parts on a cue. I might still use it for inlays.
So "properly stored" as you put it may be the key. But is wood kept in a non climate contolled shop, out of the rain good enough? Or does it need to be kept in a climate controlled room. Most of the furniture I have seen like that was most likely kept indoors, and with it's age was probably not in air conditioning it's entire life.
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