Old Cues!!!!!!!!

Old wood usually always hits great. Because its made in the 1940's, that doesn't mean that's really how old it is. Many times, the wood was aged prior to it being turned into a cue, so the wood could be well over 100 years old.

If its your first cue, I would saw keep it as it is. Why convert it? It might not turn out the way you want it to and the hit may change as well. If you want a conversion similar to your first cue, find a cue that's similar that will make a great blank and use that. You'll need to research different cue makers that will do the conversion and maybe even try some of their cues if you can convince people in your area that may have some cue made by those cue makers. Hit a rack or two, see if it hits how you like it. Make know of what materials are used in that cue. Develope a list of what you like.

I love old wood.
I do tip work for local players and I have one 'client' who has a shaft that
he has traced back (father & grandfather) to be over 90 years old.
It is beautiful and straight as an arrow. Just imagine how old the wood
could be.

It's not necessarily the age of the wood. In fact it's nothing to do with the age of the wood in technical terms. It's how dry the wood is. A kiln can get wood down to around 6-8% moisture in a relatively short time. But to get it any dryer takes a lot of energy & time from the kiln and that is unnecessary for furniture, flooring, etc. So it's not done. And cue making isn't a large enough industry to demand anything drier so we use what we can get. This is why most major musical instrument manufacturers have in house kilns. They buy kiln dried wood & dry it some more in their own kilns. Otherwise, by letting the wood sit for years & years, it naturally & slowly dries out completely. The wetter the wood, the more elastic it is & less flex memory it has. The drier it is, the stiffer it will be with much higher flex memory. So in essence, cues get better with age. Depending on where you live, this could take a very long time or it could take just a few years. Cues in Phoenix will dry in total within several years. Cues in Atlanta may take 50+ years. So technically, it has nothing to do with age but everything to do with dryness & complete dryness takes time & ultimately is dictated by climate. Hope that helps

Your close about the drying nature of wood but keep in mind that regardless of how low you dry the wood it is constantly going to take on and off put water till it reaches equilibrium with its environment. Check the forest products lab webpage for regional EMC information.

Chris