Vera-Argentine Lignum Vitae

Proper_English

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Has anyone ever used this wood in a cue? it's supposed to be the 2cnd densest hardwood in the world with mostly slight greens and the occaisional blue hues...with all the preference for stiff hitters, I'm suprised I've never seen it in a cue.

I'm very interested in the woods you don't often hear about in cues, please share your experience with the lesser known and why you like or don't like them.

I'm not a cuemaker, but I've found Tarara Canarywood (a lesser known that I've got a cue of) to be more responsive than BEM and CM...I think it's a great cue wood...I'm wondering what other hidden gems may be out there.

I'll probably be ready for another custom in late summertime...I'd appreciate your thoughts, thank you.
-Aaron Silva
 

Rak9up

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I too like unique woods

I had a custom cue made from Jarrah

I had a unique taper and love it. I'm making a few minor changes like joint size/type and trying a harder wood bacote.
 

Paul Dayton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
lignum makes a fine mallet head because it is very tough, heavy, and won't damage the handles of the chisel. It is used in wooden pulleys because it is also slightly resinous and stands up well in almost any environment. Unfortunately it isn't very nice looking (greenish brown) and if you were to use it in a cue it would come in at about 23 ounces.
 

Craig Fales

Registered bubinga user
Silver Member
Also known as ironwood. Back in the day it was used in industrial applications, pulleys, bearings and the such. I suppose you could come across a halfway good looking piece to make a cue from. Coring would be a good option.
 

Proper_English

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
:) I appreciate the replies, I learn a lot on this forum...thanks Paul, thanks Craig, thanks rak9.

I did a google image search on Lignum Vitae...I'd have to say that most of what I've seen isn't too attractive, buuut...I did find several carved art pieces (and vases) that had some very nice looking colors and figure...most of what I liked was varying shades of dark and light brown, very tight wavy figure...I read it finnishes with a very high luster, but is difficult to dry, with art pieces being sold with the expectation that they will have lots of fine cracks as time goes by...I think it would be cool to find a really green piece and pair it up with purpleheart!

But given the density and resin content, it'd probably have to dry for a lot longer than other hardwoods, and cracks would be expected.:frown:

That Jarrah is really exotic, I've only seen Jarrah burl knife scales before, huge color contrasts, it looked like ketchup and mustard on some pieces! Where's that from AUS? I'd like to see that cue rak9 if ya got pics.:grin-square:

Thanks,
-Aaron
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
It's one really hard and UGLY wood ( when it gets old ).
 
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JC

Coos Cues
I make full cores out of it to use light wood and it hits pretty good IMO. A full core weighs about 2 and half ounces more than maple. The stuff I have is extremely stable. Straight as a pin after sitting a couple years or more as a core.

JC
 

Snooker Theory

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I make full cores out of it to use light wood and it hits pretty good IMO. A full core weighs about 2 and half ounces more than maple. The stuff I have is extremely stable. Straight as a pin after sitting a couple years or more as a core.

JC

Thanks JC, I was trying to find some pictures of a cue with it(hence me bumping this old thread). I like a heavy cue, tried to get away from it, but just can't, 25oz to be exact. Cue maker I have chosen mentioned this wood due to my proclivity towards heavy cues.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It`s really hard on tools, that`s for sure. If I want to use a dense, heavywood, I use Jatoba, it`s easier to work with.
 

thoffen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think it's an interesting idea and probably someone would be willing to work with it for cue construction as sort of an experiment, but otherwise there's no realistic reason it's worth using. It could look interesting with the right piece and design, but by no means would it be chosen for its looks. It's so damn heavy it isn't practical to make a cue that isn't seriously heavy or else would require coring and other materials selection to offset the weight that undercuts the idea to use it anyway. It's also not kind to tools. People aren't going to be eager to dull their tools and make you work extra hard for something that amounts to an experiment.

Its characteristics might be worth something in, say, a masse cue, though there's not much of a market for those.

Otherwise, stiffness of a cue has to do with a whole lot more than the density of the butt woods, so using lingum probably isn't the best path for a stiffer cue.
 

S.Vaskovskyi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I did not work with Lignum Vitae but I'm also interested to try some woods I don't see using much in cue-building. I was lucky to find and get some rare wood which is very old. It is amazingly hard and stiff and I really like the look of it. I'm looking forward to build a cue using this wood one day and I believe it will be the one for those who appreciates fairly stiff hit. I have not seen or heard about this wood ever used in cue-building yet. I believe if it is good for musicians and building guitars
it may also make a good hitting cue. We'll see when the time comes.
I'm curious who will be the first with the right guess for this wood).
 

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JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
I did not work with Lignum Vitae but I'm also interested to try some woods I don't see using much in cue-building. I was lucky to find and get some rare wood which is very old. It is amazingly hard and stiff and I really like the look of it. I'm looking forward to build a cue using this wood one day and I believe it will be the one for those who appreciates fairly stiff hit. I have not seen or heard about this wood ever used in cue-building yet. I believe if it is good for musicians and building guitars
it may also make a good hitting cue. We'll see when the time comes.
I'm curious who will be the first with the right guess for this wood).

Central American ironwood?
Looks really off-grain too.
Looks unusable unless cored.
 

S.Vaskovskyi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Central American ironwood?
No, it would be too easy).
When it comes to the grain being off... The wood is naturally dried and aged for more then 20 years and still I know it needs to be done right to make it stable in a finished cue.
 
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JC

Coos Cues
Had a local duck call maker bring me two nice squares of desert ironwood and he told me I could have one of them if I turned them both round on my saw machine.

Good god this is the hardest, heaviest wood I had ever seen. They were just gorgeous but I let him keep them both. The piece was only long enough for a handle and there was no way in my mind I could make a balanced cue with it. Plus I was afraid for my gun drill.

JC
 

CuesRus1973

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Also known as ironwood. Back in the day it was used in industrial applications, pulleys, bearings and the such. I suppose you could come across a halfway good looking piece to make a cue from. Coring would be a good option.

Also used as propeller bearings in large ships.

"Dense" does not always = "stiff-hitting". To me, it's a very ugly wood. And yes, too much in a cue will be very heavy.
 
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