I would like some opinions about this as to whether this looks like $18 a square wood? Or is this wood to be found at a better price generally?
If you buy by the 1,000 ft or by the truckload (aprox 7 - 8,000 ft) sapele can probably be had for about $6 -7/ bd ft for 8/4 material. It may or may not include a few boards with pommele or other great figure (IOW, total crapshoot but sometimes you get lucky)
If usual purchase quantity is around 100 ft, the price is probably going to be in the range of $9 - 15/board ft for 8/4 unselected, but sometimes you can go where they stack this stuff out on a rack, and find an interesting piece. Again, still a crapshoot.
If you want selected pommele, it will be necessary to shop where they select it, and the price will be, as you intimate, "priced per board" and the price will tend to be whatever the seller thinks the market will bear for that specific board based on size and figure.
Buying one
figured wide board only, something in the range of $15 - $20/board ft does not strike me as out of line. You are competing with the guy who might want it for a bench or table top at that price. Many of us in the business might not pay that without an identified customer, but it could be well "worth" it for the right figure. As others have noted, that specific board does not appear to be highly figured, and there is a lot of waste unless you make multiple piece cored butts with multiple small sleeves and sections. OTOH, that exact figure may well grab you personally.
Cutting it up for pool cue butts, there is a lot of waste around the knotty sections. The most figured wood tends to be around or near knots and defects, and is the most unstable. (It might still be stable enough for cues with good handling or coring, but is less stable than straight grain). Another factor for pool cues is how the material was dried. Fast dried wood will have a lot of stress and you should buy the board and put it in a dry but space but one where the temp and conditions fluctuate, where it will acclimate for a few years, then work it slowly for a cue.
Short answer, is, for personal use it depends how well you like the figure. If you sell cues, it depends how much material costs affect the selling price of your cues. I'm a pro wood-whacker but a hobby cue maker. So if i sell cues, the price i could get doesn't support putting much more than about $80 total materials in a cue. (sell basic cue for 5x materials) It is difficult to make nice cues without about that much in materials value (counting all your waste); though, so that easily does include some moderately expensive wood. If OTOH your cues are collectible, wood price doesn't matter, only quality/uniqueness.
If you see wood you absolutely love at a fair price, grab it. It is not that figured wood is rare, but the figure that "grabs" you might not be seen again when needed. I have found that in common burls & common lumber, waiting is generally better than grabbing if the price seems high. It's like anything, when the "have to have it now" mood wears off, will you still love it in the morning after? I'm lucky that i can grab wood for millwork or furniture projects and use the scrap for cues. Or if i "over pay", know that within 10 years, that board will later seem reasonable priced for some special project. I used to over pay for ebony sometimes. Sure wish "back then" i had over paid for a lot more, lol. :smile:
Sometimes you know in your heart it will be a mistake not to go for it. Other times you know you are just afraid of missing a good deal. Other people can't really help much with that economic equation. Sapele is a commodity wood available in quantity at commodity prices. However, pomelle or other highly figured boards are serendipitous finds usually priced as such. Serendipity and technical chops will determine your success making cues out of it.
smt
