Favourite wood for playability?

Redwing4114

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What is you favourite wood for a solid hit.

I bought a entry level cue made of maple mostly and the hit has something missing from it.
The maple hit isnt very solid. The look of maple is very nice though. What type of core would you recommend?
 

rhinobywilhite

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I am a big fan of a purpleheart core. This works very well even when one uses a wild burl wood(stabilized) for the front(it is like using lots of makeup on an ugly date, lol).

In regards to playability of different woods, I like either Brazilian rosewood or Ebony for the points.
 

cueman

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Maple is my favorite wood for a solid hit. Just not a one piece butt made of Maple. The normal three piece butt made correctly of all Maple will be hard to beat as to how it plays.
 

pdcue

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Maple is my favorite wood for a solid hit. Just not a one piece butt made of Maple. The normal three piece butt made correctly of all Maple will be hard to beat as to how it plays.

+1...

If the hit is bad, something is wrong with the cue... OR...

Dale
 

fish2

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Got several cues mostly maple forearm and 2 with Macassar ebony front, The 2 mac ebony front has the best hit. It has Paduak handle. When you hit the CB, it has a "ping" sound
 
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Redwing4114

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Do you find the cue spins more or hits straighter on your Mac forearm cues compared to the maple forearm?

Rhino - that is the set up I was looking at it re assuring to hear that it plays good. Cored all the way through?
 

fish2

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spins and hitting straight ? I doubt it, hard to explain, but it just felt right....
Kinda like comparing my Ferrari and Lambo, both are fast and corners well, but the Ferrari just feels better :)
No coring..

Last night i did the tap with the the forearm test on a couple cues and the paduak handle / mac forearm cues had the least vibration, basically its stiffer.

The maple forearm cues felt "dull" even with the same tip.

BTW,,, i heard Brazilian Rosewood hits even better.. got to get my hands on those woods,.




Do you find the cue spins more or hits straighter on your Mac forearm cues compared to the maple forearm?

Rhino - that is the set up I was looking at it re assuring to hear that it plays good. Cored all the way through?
 
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Nuts4Tascarellas

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hit

Hit is subjective. Your maple cue should hit as solid and stiff as any cue out there - IF it's made right. If it has an A joint - it's got to be faced right and joined right. The joint has to be faced properly also. Zero to zero tolerances makes a solid hit. What you can do to try to improve the feel of your cue is to change the ferrule. An Aegis ferrule or ivorite ferrule is about as hard as you can get. I feel that a capped ferrule is not only structurally stronger - but it produces a more solid hit. (many will argue that isn't true) Lastly, put on a good quality medium hardness tip that has been pressed. Cut it down to slightly over half height. We aren't trying to get the most tip life at this point - we are trying to get your desired effect/hit. Tall tips hit softer. This is your best chance to solve your problem. Hope this helps.
 

cueman

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Got several cues mostly maple forearm and 2 with Macassar ebony front, The 2 mac ebony front has the best hit. It has Paduak handle. When you hit the CB, it has a "ping" sound

Maple is not a tone wood like Ebony and has a duller sound, but has a much more lively hit. Do these cues have stainless joints? Do you feel the sound of the cue makes it play better? I have built many Ebony forearm cues and they do not move the cue ball as easily as Maple except on follow shots. They also cause more misses when applying English.
 

fish2

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No stainless steel joint. Either ivory, phenolic or buffalo horn. First time i heard about maple being more accurate than ebony on the butt section.

Does stiffness of the cue play a part in increasing deflection ?

Maple is not a tone wood like Ebony and has a duller sound, but has a much more lively hit. Do these cues have stainless joints? Do you feel the sound of the cue makes it play better? I have built many Ebony forearm cues and they do not move the cue ball as easily as Maple except on follow shots. They also cause more misses when applying English.
 
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QMAKER

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Brw

Like Joey said, BRW, G-10 and stag collar. No stag, then Axis is the same thing.
 

cueman

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No stainless steel joint. Either ivory, phenolic or buffalo horn. First time i heard about maple being more accurate than ebony on the butt section.

Does stiffness of the cue play a part in increasing deflection ?

Maple has what I call compression action and that is desirable for draw shots and pocketing balls to me. Something has to give when the cue hits the cue ball. To stiff and it sends the cue ball off aiming line too much and too limber will do the same thing. Ebony falls on the too stiff side and Maple falls in the middle and it is no accident that maple has been the number one wood in quality pool cue shafts for longer than any of us have been alive. Maple compresses just the right amount and springs back where as Ebony does not.
There are people who love Ebony forearms feel and will adjust their game to it in time and never like a Maple forearm. So it is each to his own, but as far as I am concerned Maple is the Goldie Locks of cue woods.
 
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skipthorp

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Given your example, what is a wood that would fall too far to the soft side? Also, how does the effect of coring change the stiffness. I understand it depends on the coring material, glue used and construction method of the A joint. Just trying to figure out if some could hit with a cue and tell you if it was cored and with what wood?

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fish2

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I thought maple was chosen for its tightness of grain which makes it smooth on the bridge hand....

if maple was more accurate why do snooker players use Ash wood ?
 
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Schwinn

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Maple has what I call compression action and that is desirable for draw shots and pocketing balls to me. Something has to give when the cue hits the cue ball. To still and it sends the cue ball off aiming line too much and too limber will do the same thing. Ebony falls on the too stiff side and Maple falls in the middle and it is no accident that maple has been the number one wood in quality pool cue shafts for longer than any of us have been alive. Maple compresses just the right amount and springs back where as Ebony does not.
There are people who love Ebony forearms feel and will adjust their game to it in time and never like a Maple forearm. So it is each to his own, but as far as I am concerned Maple is the Goldie Locks of cue woods.
That's interesting. Do you think curly/tiger or birdseye takes away from this or does it matter?

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cueman

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I thought maple was chosen for its tightness of grain which makes it smooth on the bridge hand....

if maple was more accurate why do snooker players use Ash wood ?

Smoothness of grain is one benefit, but not the only benefit. Ebony also has a fairly smooth grain. I think you will have to ask a Snooker player that question. Not all Snooker players like Ash better than maple. I have played with Ash before and it plays good, but feels kind of rough like oak. I am not sure why some prefer it as it seems to hit a lot like maple and is not a smooth grain wood. So Maple is still king with Ash being Prince.
 
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cueman

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That's interesting. Do you think curly/tiger or birdseye takes away from this or does it matter?

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In a forearm I think they both play pretty much the same as regular maple does, if they are all hard maple from the same region.
 

Joe Barringer

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This thread poses a very interesting question. Since we need more components than just wood to feel "playability", one then has to ask: what combination produces the best "playability"? Of course we have to also discuss who's playability because my "playability" is much different than your "playability" which is different than Hightower's "playability" or the next guys "playability".

Granted maple has been used for over a century and in many opinions produces the 'best' hitting cue. I think that's a stretch. Then, please define "best". I think it's the 'best' solely because it's the most available and the least expensive. But let us not discuss that statement and focus more upon the question of the thread.

Let's take a maple forearm with a maple handle joined with a steel connecting pin, stainless 3/8-10 joint pin, black phenolic collar and a maple shaft.

Let's also take a ebony forearm with a maple handle joined with a G10 connecting pin, ivory joint, G10 joint pin and a maple shaft.

How about a cocobolo with various combinations of the above. How about Bloodwood or other woods with various combinations. Would any of those create better "playability"?

And while we're at it let's take a maple forearm cored with .750 purpleheart and a cored maple handle with a .750 maple core with a G10 connecting pin, black phenolic collar and a stainless joint pin and maple shaft.

Let's also try out a Ebony forearm cored with a .750 maple core, and maple handle cored with purpleheart connected with a aluminum connecting pin, stag collar, 5/16-14 pin and maple shaft.

How about Ebony forearm cored with a .750 maple core, and maple handle cored with purpleheart connected with a titanium connecting pin, ivory collar, 5/16-14 pin and maple shaft.

And while we're at it let's take a maple forearm cored with .625 purpleheart and a cored maple handle with a .625 maple core with a G10 connecting pin, black phenolic collar and a stainless joint pin and maple shaft.

Let's take a maple forearm with a maple handle joined with a G10 connecting pin, stainless 5/16-18 joint pin, black phenolic collar and a maple shaft.

In fact, let's add 100 more combinations and then answer the question, which wood produces the best "playability"? You can probably make a balsa wood forearm, connect it with more favorable components and make the cue have better "playability" than the plain maple with a phenolic collar or should it be an ivory collar or should it be a stag collar or maybe a impregnated cocobolo collar. But to do that you'd have to test all those combinations with various other combinations and in the hands of myself, Hightower, Charlie, Fred, Sam and Pete. With so many possible combinations and so many different human beings, there can never be a definitive answer.

So why the heck did I type all this up? Because I'm amazed how a topic which can never have a definitive answer gets tossed around for days. There is no definitive answer to this age old question. Personally, it's an exercise in futility better known as mental masturbation.

And that's my 2¢.

And BTW... maple form Northern New York will be different from maple in Wisconsin and maple in Maine or the upper peninsula of Michigan. Exactly what maple are you using to make the comparison? :) It could go on for a month.


 
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Redwing4114

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There is never a definitive answer to ANY question unless it is a fact or statistic. There are many topics and discussions going on that people find useful and you want to say that you dont approve of it. From this information I can narrow down to what type of cue I would want so I am able to have more insight when I get a custom cue created.

Im not angry or annoyed im curious what is your actual point.
 
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