Curly Maple Shafts
- Thread starter PoloBob
- Start date
cm shaft
i get a lot of my shafts from old house cues and about 5 years ago i cut one and it was the most beautiful curly maple shaft i have ever seen. i decided to set it aside and wait until i found a matching piece for a butt. about 3 - 4 years i found a piece and got the shaft down to compare the curl, but so sad the shaft has warped bad. i almost tossed it but decided to hang it back up.
earlier this year for some reason i got it down and put it on the lathe, it is dead straight. i was suprised, but hung it back up, going to respin it about ever 6 months, just to see what happens.
i get a lot of my shafts from old house cues and about 5 years ago i cut one and it was the most beautiful curly maple shaft i have ever seen. i decided to set it aside and wait until i found a matching piece for a butt. about 3 - 4 years i found a piece and got the shaft down to compare the curl, but so sad the shaft has warped bad. i almost tossed it but decided to hang it back up.
earlier this year for some reason i got it down and put it on the lathe, it is dead straight. i was suprised, but hung it back up, going to respin it about ever 6 months, just to see what happens.
There's no difference between curly maple and straight grain maple, except for the figure. If you don't get distracted by the curls, or think the shafts look nice, then there's no reason to not use them. Either they stay straight or not, same thing with straight grain wood. Toss the junk and keep the good.
I have one made by Bob Meucci (Meucci PRO) and it hits very good. It was a bit "distracting" when I first used it, but I've gotten used to it now and I don't notice it.
If only everyone understood that Eric and that Some wood will move and then go back straight. It doesn't always happen but it can. I had a shaft move right after final pass, tossed it under my bench, came back two weeks later to see where the warp was and Bam! It was straight and has been for 2 years and counting.
Generally I avoid any shafts where the grain of the wood can catch your eye. Tiger male shafts are inherently weaker across the grain as it is wavy. An exception to what I have said is the case where there is just a hint of tight curl in the wood, you have to have the light just so and look closely to see it but there sare actually my favorite shafts.
Yeah, it happens more than you'd think. It's been understood in the furniture and ship building realms forever, and is actually accounted for in the build. With cues, folks seem to be behind the learning curve. They expect wood to be stable, when it really never is. A new day brings new atmospheric conditions, which could cause any piece of wood to move at any time. Nature of the beast.
It's called seasoning for a reason.
I have a house cue that warps on summer and straightens on fall.
IMO it doesn't hurt to let your 13.25MM shaft stock sit for two years in a semi-controlled room. If they just sit on 75* and 45% room all the time, I don't know if I can trust them to face the real world.
I torture them. The climate swings here are the most extreme and sudden I have ever experienced. It was nearing 90* and the RH was in the teens just a couple days ago. Within hours, it was raining and in the 50's-60's. Talk about seeing wood do some weird things, it happens here for sure. I don't even mess around anymore. I hog the wood to 15mm from dowel, and the ones that stay straight after a few weeks get cut slowly to size. The warpers get tossed. No reason to waste time on junk.
Here in TN one minute its raining and the next its sunny and humid as all hell. Temps vary every few days or less. . I let my shafts sit in the garage shop, no heat no a/c and see which ones can take it for a few days. Some move a little and go back some...well they end up as tomato stakes lol. Wood, its a natural product, you can only do so much to aid in it staying straight, the rest is a roll of the dice, it either will or it won't. Some of the ugliest shafts have stayed straight and played better than the "pretty" ones.
:thumbup: This.