Maple shafts dryed by age VS dryed by heat?

al-capool

Imagine all the people...
Silver Member
Maple shafts: dried by age VS dried by heat

Dear Cuemakers,
Why do many of you still prefer to let maple shafts becoming dry, by stocking them many years?
Instead to work with heat (warm air) or other techniques which are faster?
Does the maple wood can still change, move, or work; for ex. the straightness or the colours tone, if it hasn't been dried by age?

Thanks for your feedback.
KR, Roberto

P.S. Please excuse my bad Swiss and Italian influenced English. I hope you still understood everything!?
 
Last edited:

whammo57

Kim Walker
Silver Member
Allowing wood to season is ALWAYS better .....IMO......Ray Weeks

While you are right........... I buy em and use em............ just get quality........... never had to replace a shaft because it went squirrely......... I do toss a few in process,,,,,,,,,

Kim
 

scdiveteam

Rick Geschrey
Silver Member
Unless you are harvesting your own wood, maple is vacuum kiln dried before it is planned square and true. That is why maple planks are so straight.

Without that process they would be twisted.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Dear Cuemakers,
Why do many of you still prefer to let maple shafts becoming dry, by stocking them many years?
Instead to work with heat (warm air) or other techniques which are faster?
Does the maple wood can still change, move, or work; for ex. the straightness or the colours tone, if it hasn't been dried by age?

Thanks for your feedback.
KR, Roberto

P.S. Please excuse my bad Swiss and Italian influenced English. I hope you still understood everything!?

You have the wrong info.
Cue makers do not store them for years to let them DRY.
They are already dry when we get them .
They are turned then let sit to "season".
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Most cuemakers take their time tapering maple to let it rest and season in between turns so it is less likely to warp in the future. Air drying seems to make the wood harder. But most maple is already kiln dried when we get it. A point often overlooked is that most hardwoods like maple and oak also seem to get harder with age. That may help explain why slow turning shafts over many months or years helps them stay straighter even though they were kiln dried when started.
 

desi2960

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
just a thought

i have tried, kiln dried, bought near finished shafts from shaft dealers, bought dowels, bought shafts from hightower, atlas, prathers, and a few other places. i also buy old house cues and recycle the wood.
best advice i can give, no matter where you get the wood or what kind of ageing process is used, CUT THEM SSSLLLLOOOOWWWW, SLOW, take your time cutting them, cut a small amount each time and have patience.

i learned this the hard and costly way.
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Chuck.
Thanks for the plug on shafts. I will add that I try to buy enough shaft wood at a time that it sits here for at least a year before my customers get dowels from me. The wood that I am turning for tapered shaft blanks is dated winter of 2013 and the dowels I am selling in the #1 mix are dated winter of 2014. So the dowels that I am turning on are almost three years since doweled and the #1 mix is almost 2 years since doweled. I feel that using winter cut kiln dried maple and letting it season for over a year before I sell the dowels make my shaft wood a good value for what I sell them for.
 
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