Wood in custom cues vs Production models.
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It's hard...and getting harder. That's the number one thing I'll tell anyone getting into the hobby or even just thinking about getting into the hobby. Buy as much wood as your storage and extra dollar budget will allow you to do. If you have no wood, you have no end product!
You can never have too much wood! That thought was engrained into my brain from the day I decided to make an attempt at building cues.
It's all about making phone calls and connections. I learned in the beginning you shouldn't buy wood from someone else who is building cues unless they have "quit and are selling out!" 9 times out of 10 they'll be unloading their seconds on you to pay for their firsts that you will never see except in their cues!
Unless you can physically see
the wood (especially shaft wood) or you can return the wood and the seller pays for return shipping, good luck!UNLESS you have established a long standing relationship with a seller that you can trust.
Over the course of my building experience I have sellers that will send me wood and after I look at it and decide if it's a keeper then and only then do I need to send out the $. Those are the types of solid relationships that need to be built to help you be successful. It doesn't happen overnight...in a week or even a month or a year. Some of these relationships, even after 30 yrs, are still being worked on to get what I need
I've traveled around the US, I've flown to foreign countries, I've made countless phone calls and talked to sellers about their families, vacations, and some of their dreams and desires also just to acquire woods. (and too make a friend for life) It's all about making relationships to acquire the woods needed to be successful in this craft. Every week there may be a package at the door and I would be asked "What did I get this time?"
I would say WOOD!! ...and I would hear "AGAIN? You haven't done anything with the last 3 packages yet but put them in your shop." And I would just smile!
If you don't have "good" wood you're dead in the water.
As far as the larger companies that run production, it's all about the buying power. (the magic dollar) We buy shaft wood at 50 or 100 pieces at a crack. They make purchases of containers full of woods. It wasn't too long ago one of the largest companies out there selling shaft wood quit selling to the small guy because they were too busy filling orders for container after container of Canadian maple to be shipped out to....you guessed it! They just recently started selling small batches again of their AAA best but at a premium of 3 times what it used to be.
I'll say this again...buy as much wood as you can possibly afford and store before it's too late OR you're building cues out of oak and walnut because you either can't afford to buy at prices it's being sold at. OR it simply is just not available anymore. It's happening right under your nose. Don't get fooled into thinking it's going to be around forever, because it will not. There's a reason laminated maple and carbon shafts and butts are infiltrating the business.
Call me a conspiracy nut if you will.
Wow!!! Eye opener!!It's hard...and getting harder. That's the number one thing I'll tell anyone getting into the hobby or even just thinking about getting into the hobby. Buy as much wood as your storage and extra dollar budget will allow you to do. If you have no wood, you have no end product!
You can never have too much wood! That thought was engrained into my brain from the day I decided to make an attempt at building cues.
It's all about making phone calls and connections. I learned in the beginning you shouldn't buy wood from someone else who is building cues unless they have "quit and are selling out!" 9 times out of 10 they'll be unloading their seconds on you to pay for their firsts that you will never see except in their cues!
Unless you can physically see
UNLESS you have established a long standing relationship with a seller that you can trust.
Over the course of my building experience I have sellers that will send me wood and after I look at it and decide if it's a keeper then and only then do I need to send out the $. Those are the types of solid relationships that need to be built to help you be successful. It doesn't happen overnight...in a week or even a month or a year. Some of these relationships, even after 30 yrs, are still being worked on to get what I need
I've traveled around the US, I've flown to foreign countries, I've made countless phone calls and talked to sellers about their families, vacations, and some of their dreams and desires also just to acquire woods. (and too make a friend for life) It's all about making relationships to acquire the woods needed to be successful in this craft. Every week there may be a package at the door and I would be asked "What did I get this time?"
I would say WOOD!! ...and I would hear "AGAIN? You haven't done anything with the last 3 packages yet but put them in your shop." And I would just smile!
If you don't have "good" wood you're dead in the water.
As far as the larger companies that run production, it's all about the buying power. (the magic dollar) We buy shaft wood at 50 or 100 pieces at a crack. They make purchases of containers full of woods. It wasn't too long ago one of the largest companies out there selling shaft wood quit selling to the small guy because they were too busy filling orders for container after container of Canadian maple to be shipped out to....you guessed it! They just recently started selling small batches again of their AAA best but at a premium of 3 times what it used to be.
I'll say this again...buy as much wood as you can possibly afford and store before it's too late OR you're building cues out of oak and walnut because you either can't afford to buy at prices it's being sold at. OR it simply is just not available anymore. It's happening right under your nose. Don't get fooled into thinking it's going to be around forever, because it will not. There's a reason laminated maple and carbon shafts and butts are infiltrating the business.
Call me a conspiracy nut if you will.
Wallet too. Lol
Some of the big production brands saw the writing on the wall years ago, that's why most of their cues now are made from cheap maple, often laminated to reduce stress and then coated in a metallic automotive finish or with painted on points and details. Some production brands that still use real hardwoods have much smaller output or are in a position where they themselves process woods, like Pechauer.
Sourcing quality wood or interesting woods have become harder and much more expensive and some woods that where readily available are now getting difficult to source in the quantities a production cue brand needs. I think this trend will continue as the resources are finite and changes in climate affects the conditions some of these species grow in, add to that the fact that many of the desired hardwoods come from places with unstable political systems and massive corruption, illegal logging continues to be a huge problem and there's no system for planting new trees, so when the trees are gone it takes a generation or more for the trees to grow back, if at all.
Sourcing quality wood or interesting woods have become harder and much more expensive and some woods that where readily available are now getting difficult to source in the quantities a production cue brand needs. I think this trend will continue as the resources are finite and changes in climate affects the conditions some of these species grow in, add to that the fact that many of the desired hardwoods come from places with unstable political systems and massive corruption, illegal logging continues to be a huge problem and there's no system for planting new trees, so when the trees are gone it takes a generation or more for the trees to grow back, if at all.
I bet!!
Sad but true.
I got lucky and got a hold of a bunch of old growth shafts, but the pins are 5/16-18 with nylon inserts. Old Heublers'. They're new, but how much of a pain is it to change pins and what does it cost now on avg to have that done??
Well Sir
That depends on where you shop.
It's part of my 201K so the plan is to sell all left over woods before I croak so I can enjoy all that $What Dave said exactly!
Except keep a spread sheet to keep track of what you have because if you do it right your heirs will be selling most of it and it will be helpful for them to know what you have and what you paid.
The shafts are 5/16-18? with nylon?
Bore the shafts. insert (glue) in a maple plug and you can make it any pin size you wish. Don't put 18tpi pins in the cues. That in my opinion is backward thinking.
Thanks for the tip!!
I'm thinking 5/16-14, piloted if I can get it done.
I'm a fish out of water in that regard. The guys I used to deal with have all passed on, rip, and I don't know any of the new guys doing work. I'll probly pm some of the fellas on here about this. Seems like a few of them know what's up. Like you good sir!! Maybe Terry and one other.
Coos Cues
Coos Cues
Best laid plans of mice and men. I'll continue to update my spread sheet just in case.It's part of my 201K so the plan is to sell all left over woods before I croak so I can enjoy all that $
Yea, once you bore out the nylon insert and plug it with a maple dowel, you can pretty much turn it into any pin joint you desire.
That's why I'm with an accountant! I do the work...she counts the beans! I'm not a spread sheet type of guy but I did sleep at a holiday inn express one time!Best laid plans of mice and men. I'll continue to update my spread sheet just in case.