any opinions on birdseye maple shafts?

poolplayer2093 · Mar 12, 2009

i just watched the what's in the case interview with scott frost and saw he was using an "eye shaft".

any makers on here have an opinion on BEM shafts? i heard that BEM was a result of a sickness in the wood. i also heard that that is why cue makers core it when highly figured BEM is used in the forearm of cues?

Does Mr. Teague post on az? maybe he could chime in. i've seen other cue makers on here using BEM in shafts maybe they could shed some light on this for me.

thanks in advanced

BLACKHEARTCUES · Mar 12, 2009

poolplayer2093 said:
i just watched the what's in the case interview with scott frost and saw he was using an "eye shaft".

any makers on here have an opinion on BEM shafts? i heard that BEM was a result of a sickness in the wood. i also heard that that is why cue makers core it when highly figured BEM is used in the forearm of cues?

Does Mr. Teague post on az? maybe he could chime in. i've seen other cue makers on here using BEM in shafts maybe they could shed some light on this for me.

thanks in advanced

The "I" shaft is made by Mcdermott & has nothing to do with BIRDSEYE anything. I have made many shafts that had a few birdseyes in them & never noticed a difference, good or bad. However I have never made one that had a lot of eyes in them...JER

ragbug74 · Mar 12, 2009

BLACKHEARTCUES said:
The "I" shaft is made by Mcdermott & has nothing to do with BIRDSEYE anything. I have made many shafts that had a few birdseyes in them & never noticed a difference, good or bad. However I have never made one that had a lot of eyes in them...JER

Jer, McDermott has the "I Shaft" while Frost is sponsored by and uses the "Eye Shaft". Check out their website: www.eyeshafts.com

kiinstructor · Mar 12, 2009

Ive made a few shafts with very small eyes almost the size of a pencil lead. These shafts are some of the nicest hitting due to their stiffness. The ones Ive used with very high growth ring count mostly over 30 rpi. They are heavier also. Im sure they were from old growth trees. Cant seem to find enough of them these days.

Mark

poolplayer2093 · Mar 13, 2009

BLACKHEARTCUES said:
The "I" shaft is made by Mcdermott & has nothing to do with BIRDSEYE anything. I have made many shafts that had a few birdseyes in them & never noticed a difference, good or bad. However I have never made one that had a lot of eyes in them...JER

I'm talking about the "eye shaft" made by Dale Teague not the "I" shaft made by Mcdermott

mrinsatiable · Mar 14, 2009

i'm also curious about this type of shaft wood. For years people were looking for straight tight grain shafts. Recently i've seen woods such as curly maple and now bem used for shaft wood.

I understand that these types of woods are stiff but aren't they also variants of imperfection in woods. Bird's eye maple are woods with knots in the wood.

Unfortunately Dale Teague was ripping people off in the pacific northwest for sometime and eventually moved to Arizona before the Attorney General could prosecute him. He was selling cheap plastic as westinghouse micarta and sanding down chinese knock off cues and putting his own label on them. As well as taking deposits from customer and not delivering cues. As creigh dumo whom lost $2K.

gwjackal · Mar 14, 2009

A Birdseye Shaft is still maple.....

It is only a look, I don't think you could or would get any better playbility with these shafts. I kinda feel like once it has been through a few cleanings and if the owner is a shaft beater that this might be more of a problem as some of the knots might require some sanding thus losing some of the shaft. I think these would be cool if you were to match them to one of KJ's awesome birdseye cues. I just don't think I would ever play with it.

poolplayer2093 · Mar 14, 2009

mrinsatiable said:
i'm also curious about this type of shaft wood. For years people were looking for straight tight grain shafts. Recently i've seen woods such as curly maple and now bem used for shaft wood.

I understand that these types of woods are stiff but aren't they also variants of imperfection in woods. Bird's eye maple are woods with knots in the wood.

Unfortunately Dale Teague was ripping people off in the pacific northwest for sometime and eventually moved to Arizona before the Attorney General could prosecute him. He was selling cheap plastic as westinghouse micarta and sanding down chinese knock off cues and putting his own label on them. As well as taking deposits from customer and not delivering cues. As creigh dumo whom lost $2K.

Thanks that's nice to know

Paul Dayton · Mar 14, 2009

Regardless of how good a shaft is in other respects, if there is something in the top 20 inches that might catch the eye of and distract the shooter, that shaft gets the band saw/garbage can treatment.

Birdseye and tiger maple are weaker than straight grain.

dave sutton · Mar 16, 2009

Paul Dayton said:
Regardless of how good a shaft is in other respects, if there is something in the top 20 inches that might catch the eye of and distract the shooter, that shaft gets the band saw/garbage can treatment.

Birdseye and tiger maple are weaker than straight grain.

i agree. not only dont i like the looks but i am a light eye kinda guy. the straighter the grain the better the feel IMO. my player has a light curly waves about 6-8'' down and it makes me crazy, without a finish i can see feeling some eyes from time to time

no disrespect to dale but just not for me

Eric Wynne · Mar 16, 2009

My experience with BEM and Curly is that there are hard and soft spots in the wood and they don't sand evenly , so you get relief spots on the shaft . The eyes are harder in BEM and the streaks in curly don't sand even . Sealing them with CA doesn't help much either . You might find an exception , I haven't . No substitute for good ole hard rock maple , and ring count doesn't matter as much as density ...

mrinsatiable · Mar 20, 2009

....

i always felt like curly maple had a hard time being completely smooth. I'm glad my assumptions are confirmed. Tight Straight grain all day for me.

Snooker Theory · Oct 7, 2019

Bump, is the views expressed in this thread still the general consensus?

Thunder Thighs · Oct 7, 2019

Wow, a 10 year BUMP

any opinions on birdseye maple shafts?

poolplayer2093

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BLACKHEARTCUES

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ragbug74

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kiinstructor

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poolplayer2093

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mrinsatiable

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gwjackal

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poolplayer2093

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Paul Dayton

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dave sutton

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Eric Wynne

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mrinsatiable

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Snooker Theory

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Thunder Thighs

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