Exotic Woods

poolhalljnkie

poolhalljnkie

House cue conversionist
Silver Member
I just started about 6 months ago with the generous help of a local cuemaker & have started messing around with old valley's making a lot of saw dust, & having the newbie mentality that I can salvage EVERYTHING LoL. So while I am practicing & screwing up wood, and learning how to fix my screw ups, I would like to start stocking up on some good turning squares, blanks, lumber, etc..... since all I have are a bunch of old beat up wall poles.

My question to you is this: Does anyone have a good supplier of good wood, that has been dried or drying for a few years, that will let me in on their little secret. I have looked locally and found a few places.

My problem is that its all one piece here or there. Are there any places that offer 10pks, 25pks, assorted wood "grab bags" of exoctics or anything like that?? Or do you all just buy a few pieces at a time? (seems more expensive that way) I dont mind spending a few hundred bucks a month on stocking up, but I also want more than 4 pieces of wood for that money??? I dont even have any equipment yet, (Ive been told wood, wood, wood, before anything else) so the wood will sit for a cpl of years & I have a little time, but I would like to find some good deals on bigger lots instead of single pieces for more money.

I am looking for mostly all the basic cue woods: Maple (Straight, Birdseye, Tiger) Cocobolo, Ebony, Ambonya, Rosewoods, Tulipwood, Snake, Purpleheart, Walnut, Mahagony, Bubinga, Zircote, Kingwood, Zebra.....well you get the idea :thumbup:

Thanks for any help any of you have to offer!!
 
Last edited:
poolhalljnkie said:
I just started about 6 months ago with the generous help of a local cuemaker & have started messing around with old valley's making a lot of saw dust, & having the newbie mentality that I can salvage EVERYTHING LoL. So while I am practicing & screwing up wood, and learning how to fix my screw ups, I would like to start stocking up on some good turning squares, blanks, lumber, etc..... since all I have are a bunch of old beat up wall poles.

My question to you is this: Does anyone have a good supplier of good wood, that has been dried or drying for a few years, that will let me in on their little secret. I know about Atlas, Bell Forest, Schmelke, Prather, Global, Woodcraft, Gilmer, Cook, Cuewoods, West Penn, Cue Components, Rockler, etc...... I have also looked locally and found a few places.

My problem is that its all one piece here or there. Are there any places that offer 10pks, 25pks, assorted wood "grab bags" of exoctics or anything like that?? Or do you all just buy a few pieces at a time? (seems more expensive that way) I dont mind spending a few hundred bucks a month on stocking up, but I also want more than 4 pieces of wood for that money??? I dont even have any equipment yet, (Ive been told wood, wood, wood, before anything else) so the wood will sit for a cpl of years & I have a little time, but I would like to find some good deals on bigger lots instead of single pieces for more money.

I am looking for mostly all the basic cue woods: Maple (Straight, Birdseye, Tiger) Cocobolo, Ebony, Ambonya, Rosewoods, Tulipwood, Snake, Purpleheart, Walnut, Mahagony, Bubinga, Zircote, Kingwood, Zebra.....well you get the idea :thumbup:

Thanks for any help any of you have to offer!!
Click to expand...

Arnott Wadsworth 111 once said that a shop cannot have enough great figured wood and one piece of bland wood is to much. This is one of the most true sentences that I have ever read on this forum. I only wish that I would have read and adhered to this advice years before I did. I would have saved myself thousands of dollars in useless, bland, no figured wood good for nothing other than the fire place. The cost of good materials in a cue is minuscule compared to the other factors such as labor, rent, utilities, insurance and such. I, now, would no more buy a piece of wood without first seeing it than I would of considering shooting myself in the foot.

Eric Crisp uses no inlays in his cues. They are fairly simple but when you see one amongst a number of other cues you immediately know that it is a Sugar Tree cue as they stand out because of his wood selections. You never see a bland piece of wood in a Sugar Tree.

Years ago I used to buy Cocobolo for as little as 3.00 a turning square. I used to buy Birdseye Maple unseen, along with Purple heart, Bocota, Kingswood and many other species of exotic wood. It all was cheap and it mostly all still sits in boxes or on shelves as I know it won't sell if made into a cue. Today, now that some of the vendors show pictures of the piece that you are actually purchasing you can have your pick of thousands of pieces without traveling around the country to find it. Would you rather have a bland piece of Cocobolo for 10.00 to use to build a bland cue to sit in your case for a year while you beg people to buy it or pay 30.00 for a piece that people are fighting to buy before it's built for twice the money?

Dick
 
That is great advice, so true Dick. I love finding some great pieces, just sitting on my couch with a big grin. lol
 
Bell's birdseye and curly are outstanding, but only buy(like has already been mentioned) the exc. grade....

They have some coco in turning lots of 10 i think, but the stuff i have gotten in those weren't anything I fell in love with. Ideally, you go and pick out your own. That is the only way to get what you want. The curly and bidseye has always been great though.

I really have no complaints about Bell.

That is where I have purchased most of my wood.....

My latest batch of shaftwood was purchased from Geof Dilley and was a disaster. I'll suggest you avoid doing business with him under any circumstance.

I believe my next batch will be from Joe at Cue Components.

Again I couldn't agree more with the statements about NICE wood. I'd rather pay double for something than have boring wood...
 
My curly and birdseye maple from Bell has been outstanding. Some of their handle wood is even worth considering for inlays. Bell also has a section where you can hand pick your wood. I've purchased quite a few boards from ebay. Luckily, I have access to a dehumidifying kiln.
 
pescadoman said:
My latest batch of shaftwood was purchased from Geof Dilley and was a disaster. I'll suggest you avoid doing business with him under any circumstance.
Click to expand...

Been there, done that luckily I only bought 4 squares from him & havent turned it to finish size but it is still straight, no run off, but is not the prettiest
 
I would like to apologize to everyone that is upset by the list I posted of wood suppliers as I have been told that it is against the rules to leak the name of wholesale suppliers. I am new to the addiction & out of the loop so I figured if I knew about them, everybody must know about them, also didnt realize they were WHOLESALE suppliers, seemed they were RETAIL suppliers to me. Either way I apologize for breaking these rules and from now on with any question I post I will "Be Smart", and if Dick wouldnt mind editing his post of my quote, I am going to edit the suppliers out of my post.

Thanks
 
poolhalljnkie said:
I would like to apologize to everyone that is upset by the list I posted of wood suppliers as I have been told that it is against the rules to leak the name of wholesale suppliers. I am new to the addiction & out of the loop so I figured if I knew about them, everybody must know about them, also didnt realize they were WHOLESALE suppliers, seemed they were RETAIL suppliers to me. Either way I apologize for breaking these rules and from now on with any question I post I will "Be Smart", and if Dick wouldnt mind editing his post of my quote, I am going to edit the suppliers out of my post.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Since all the suppliers you listed(that I can remember) sell you anyone who calls up, I'm not sure why they aren't considered retailers.

Out of respect for this forums rules, and because I hate getting yelled at, I'll side with whatever I'm told. :thumbup:
 
as far as the wood wood wood before equipment, i kind of disagree, i mean i wouldnt buy every aspect of equipment to build cues but ebough to build one and see if i like it and if so then start turning bundles of shaftwood over the course of a couple yrs so when you have all the equipment and your ready to build a cue the shaft wood is seasoned and ready. JMO

but i was curious if you dont have any equipment how are you turning diwn those geof shafts???
 
Trent said:
but i was curious if you dont have any equipment how are you turning diwn those geof shafts???
Click to expand...

I was sort of "taken in" by a local cue maker a few months ago to work on a Titlist project from an old Hoppe Pro I had, & he lets me use his equipment to practice on some old one pieces I have. I have done 3 conversions including the Titlist with his help, so I know I want to build, & am wanting to start building wood & shaft stock
 
The only people I know with a supply of wood that has been aged for a few years are cuemakers. Wood suppliers are trying to move the merchandise to make room for more new wood. If you keeep buying more wood than you are using, you'll end up with your own supply. You'll need to constantly get rid of the wood you aren't satisfied with or you will end up with a shop full of wood you don't like.

Todays buyer has an incredible advantage over those from 10 years ago, Google and the internet. You can find what you want and you can see what you're buying.

Buying a bundle of anything usually ends up with some good and some bad. If in the end you are happy with what you have and what you paid on average, great. Look the wood over as soon as you get it and if it is great, contact the supplier and buy more. Get rid of the bad. Garbage, fire, friends, whatever. Get it gone.
 
I want to thank everybody for their input. It seems to me the concensus is that I need to buy my wood a cpl of pieces at a time & spend more for good, quality pieces. It really makes sense & since it will take at least 1 1/2-2 years to get equipment & a shop set up, it will have time to dry and get acclimated to this Texas climate. Now I just have to find a good source for some great shaft wood :thumbup:

Thanks again guys......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top