Anyone used Rambutan or Umthunzi wood?

T

Trez Hensley

Guns & Pool Gotta Love Em
Silver Member
I have a couple of different woods that I think are quite attractive and was wondering if anyone uses them for cues. I have a couple pieces and thought of getting more but I don't want to add them to my wood stash for long term aging if they aren't good choices. I can always use what I have for other turning projects. If they are used are they used for structural parts? Thanks for any info you can give me.

The woods are from NC Wood and Westpenn and are called Umthunzi and Dimocarpus longan (also called Rambutan or Longan berry).

Thanks in advance for your thoughts,
Trez
 
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You're really asking someone to Google this right?
Well, I did. You know what I found? Your post on AZB. Again.
There was a site that had a description with numbers, etc. and they all look good. Density, specific gravity, etc. A word that got my attention was 'elastic'. I don't know what to tell you there.

The best I can tell you is to build a cue and find out.
I've bought from both of those sources. NC Woods is kinda dry.
WestPenn will be guaranteed to be wet. The only thing I've gotten from them that was under 20% was their E.I. Rose. Amazingly, that was about 8-10%.
Even their 'kiln-dried' Coco was over 20% by my meter anyway.

No, you've got to find-out for yourself. Build a cue. Get a meter first.
 
Actually,
I wasn't trying to get someone else to do my work for me. I haven't built a cue yet and am simply putting together a stash of wood for future cues I hope to build. I have a fairly sizable collection so far but was curious about these woods. I have done several searches already but found very little. I'm really into research and learning before I spend a lot of money in any pursuit. Since it seems no one uses it, it most likely isn't a winner. I have several pieces of all the most commonly used cue woods as learned from this site, Chris H's book and videos, Joe B's videos, etc...

Since I figured to stabilize my woods for several years, I thought I'd ask. I didn't want to find out in several years that these woods worked well and I like them but only have a couple of pieces ready.

My main wood working right now is with custom gun stocks. I have a moisture meter but know for a good stock the wood should be aged or stabilized for at least 4-5 years before using it even if it is dry. As with cues, any warpage is bad news as it can change the impact of a bullet by several inches. I have wood that is 20+ years old and a lot in the middle. Several varieties of walnut are all I use for guns, so my knowledge of other woods isn't vast.

I can hardly wait to start building cues and be able to talk with you guys with a bit of experience behind my questions but for now they are a bit vague.

Here is my most recent project.

Trez_Beauty2.jpg


Thanks again for any info you all can give me and all of the info you have already shared. This site is a vast storehouse of information. Your sharing is much appreciated!
I love all of the shooting sports and look forward to one day being able to shoot with my own cues as I do with my guns now.
Trez
 
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Hey Trez,
I'm pretty much in the same position you are. Been doing cue repairs for almost 14 yrs, making a few sneakys from 1pc cues, and dabbling with point blanks etc. I'm also hoarding wood and buying a few more machines as I go. I'm very eager to make that first "sellable" 2 pc cue myself. Good luck pal!
 
Would all you wood hoarders please stop. It's making it realy hard for me to hoard any.

Larry
 
It's true, I confess. Right now, my "river of wood" has been made into a nice lake with no outlet. Although if you put all of my wood back together it wouldn't be a very large tree. A wacky hybrid but not a large one.
 
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Trez, that is an awesome looking gun. When you're ready to build, I can fall in line. I love great looking woods in cues. =)
 
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Now the trick is to incorporate the gun into a cue, never know when you may need to shoot more than cueballs:D:D

That is a great looking stock, If I didn't just spend my money on a Deluxe HT, I'd be talking to you about a new stock for my Ithica. If you take to cuebuilding like you do to gunstocks, you'll make some fine cues in the future!!
Dave
 
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