Cue butt material

JC

Coos Cues
I do like the looks of Ebony also.

The best ebony is jet black according to conventional wisdom.

When you have it on a finished cue next to black juma it looks pretty much identical.

So that's the "look", black plastic. I understand it looks good but not in a "wood" way.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Kim, when the cue is cored, what goes inside to fill the void? I have a SP cue butt that somebody cored out. The cue is cored out about 18" or so, then a smaller hole drilled and tapped, to hold a brass weight which basically was a 1/2" brass rod, 4" long and about 3/4" inch of threads.

Depends on what you want to achieve, but usually a lighter core in very dense woods and a denser wood in very light woods. Purpleheart and maple might be the two most common woods used, but there is nothing wrong with IPE, hornbeam, Lignum Vitae, Jatoba or Shedua just to name a few..
Lots of ways to do the A joint too. I think whatever core wood/diameter and A joint construction is best left to the cuemaker to decide.
 
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Ssonerai

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When you have it on a finished cue next to black juma it looks pretty much identical.

So that's the "look", black plastic. I understand it looks good but not in a "wood" way.

Nailed it!

Being a cabinet/millwork maker i still have a couple solid ebony 8/4 x 6's on hand & have never been inspired to cut it into cue-size blanks for that factor - looks just like black plastic with any film finish. WTF :confused:

African blackwood (a true rosewood/dahlbergia) at least has a little grain and highlights. Cocobola is an old favorite for cues, but another wood that has gotten difficult to source easily in wide widths that i resist cutting it up, too.

Bocote, cocbola, & ebony can be had in turning blanks but the quality and grain run-out keeps getting lower. (Might not matter with good core) Other than accent stuff like snakewood, most other wood is not too difficult to source. If you are looking for a short splice/A joint type cue, the materials cost is much lower than full splice. Depending on fore-arm choice, you can actually just about build a short splice wrap cue on a core, out of the scraps and cut offs from a full splice.

Total price for cue will probably be based on other factors, though.

smt
 
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EddieBme

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nailed it!

If you are looking for a short splice/A joint type cue, the materials cost is much lower than full splice. Depending on fore-arm choice, you can actually just about build a short splice wrap cue on a core, out of the scraps and cut offs from a full splice.

I think the short splice/A joint would work, (I know exactly what you're talking about, uhmm Not: :) . I'm more interested in the feel/feedback and sound of the cue, nothing decorative just plain. I have a couple of shafts I like, but they fit a 3/8 x 10 pin.
 

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wooddatabase.com is your best friend. Compare the shrinkage of African Blackwood and Ebony, then you will understand why I use African Backwood.


Gabon Ebony;
Shrinkage: Radial: 8.3%.
Tangential: 11.2%.
Volumetric: 19.6%.
T/R Ratio: 1.3

African Blackwood;
Shrinkage: Radial: 2.9%.
Tangential: 4.8%.
Volumetric: 7.7%.
T/R Ratio: 1.7

(Please note, storing, drying and properly taking care of your hordes of woods are a different topic and we all understand the shrinkage is BEFORE the cuemaking process.)
 

thoffen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nailed it!

Being a cabinet/millwork maker i still have a couple solid ebony 8/4 x 6's on hand & have never been inspired to cut it into cue-size blanks for that factor - looks just like black plastic with any film finish. WTF :confused:

African blackwood (a true rosewood/dahlbergia) at least has a little grain and highlights. Cocobola is an old favorite for cues, but another wood that has gotten difficult to source easily in wide widths that i resist cutting it up, too.

Bocote, cocbola, & ebony can be had in turning blanks but the quality and grain run-out keeps getting lower. (Might not matter with good core) Other than accent stuff like snakewood, most other wood is not too difficult to source. If you are looking for a short splice/A joint type cue, the materials cost is much lower than full splice. Depending on fore-arm choice, you can actually just about build a short splice wrap cue on a core, out of the scraps and cut offs from a full splice.

Total price for cue will probably be based on other factors, though.

smt

African blackwood is great. Cheaper than gaboon ebony too. Easy to find in blanks suitable for cues as it is a prized wood for woodwind instruments. Not sustainably harvested but not currently threatened either. Very stable wood. Problem with it is that it's even heavier than ebony, so that limits how it can be used in a cue of typical weight. Can be cored of course for weight, but then again that's compromising it's quality as a tonewood.
 

Ssonerai

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
One of the things i have read in the past about African Blackwood was that in the "old days" it was the preferred material & tonewood for anything that needed a black color dense tonewood.
Then it got harvested out, at least as far as they knew then (centuries ago).
So they had to start using that trashwood, ebony. :)

Then ebony got harvested out, so people besides instrument makers started to discover A.B. again.

Rinse, lather repeat......

OTOH, the Egyptians were using ebony for furniture a few millenia ago. So over history, people tended to use what was local, known, or avialable. But it does seem AB was usually preferred for technical applications. Cuesdirectly succintly explains why. Friend i bought one of the 2 x 6 x 5' ebony blanks from a few years ago said that in his opinion, ebony never actually does stop drying. What he had was much drier than what i had at the time, though, even after a decade in my de-humidified shop.

smt
 
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j2pac

Marital Slow Learner.
Staff member
Moderator
Gold Member
Silver Member
One of the things i have read in the past about African Blackwood was that in the "old days" it was the preferred material & tonewood for anything that needed a black color dense tonewood.
Then it got harvested out, at least as far as they knew then (centuries ago).
So they had to start using that trashwood, ebony. :)

Then ebony got harvested out, so people besides instrument makers started to discover A.B. again.

Rinse, lather repeat......

OTOH, the Egyptians were using ebony for furniture a few millenia ago. So over history, people tended to use what was local, known, or avialable. But it does seem AB was usually preferred for technical applications. Cuesdirectly succintly explains why. Friend i bought one of the 2 x 6 x 5' ebony blanks from a few years ago said that in his opinion, ebony never actually does stop drying. What he had was much drier than what i had at the time, though, even after a decade in my de-humidified shop.

smt

I have also heard very good things about Cocus wood. Unfortunately I believe that it is also increasingly rare.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Which Kingwood? The hard to find expensive beautiful stuff (Brazilian) or the super hard to find super expensive super beautiful stuff (Mexican aka camatillo)?

Either one will do./
Got some camatillos too.
More red than the Braz kind. Pretty wood.
 

JC

Coos Cues
Got some camatillos too.
More red than the Braz kind. Pretty wood.

Turns brown on a cue but bleeds purple freshly cut. Which is a problem if there is any light colored wood near by. And it's unstable as hell. Coring only please.

Not a big fan of this wood. If I want a brown finished wood there are a lot of better choices.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Turns brown on a cue but bleeds purple freshly cut. Which is a problem if there is any light colored wood near by. And it's unstable as hell. Coring only please.

Not a big fan of this wood. If I want a brown finished wood there are a lot of better choices.

You might be thinking Bois de Rose .
 

Mcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Kingwood

I like Kingwood

Mario
 

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