Are cues being made from this stuff?

gunzby

gunzby

My light saber is LD
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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1016/is_n7-8_v100/ai_15630727/?tag=content;col1

I remember reading about this a long time ago and just started thinking about it right now.

From what I remember when I first read about it is that the logs sink to the bottom of the lake and really don't get water logged nearly as much as you may think even though they've been there for over a hundred years.

They're natural, slow growth timbers which have been sitting at the bottom of a lake under a good deal of water pressure for a hundred years or so. I'd imagine that they would be the holy grail wood of cue making.
 
Keith Josey uses this wood in his "timeless wood" shafts...I'm sure other cue makers use it as well. One of those "extra cost option" things.

I have no clue how good or bad these shafts are...never played with one. They do have a following, though.
 
pwd72s said:
Keith Josey uses this wood in his "timeless wood" shafts...I'm sure other cue makers use it as well. One of those "extra cost option" things.

I have no clue how good or bad these shafts are...never played with one. They do have a following, though.
Click to expand...

I was wondering if those logs were what timeless shafts were. I'd imagine there are some beautiful BEM logs in there as well that could be used.
 
Lake salvage

they are called lake salvage and the reason they are used for shafts is because they produce a more stiff/solid hit, the reason for this is because a 100 years ago the trees that were logged up river were floated down river to the mouth of the great lakes to be harvested now obviously in the proccess from begining to end there are going to be loggs that sink after they set there under water for a hundred years they almost petrifey and you have to realize a hundred years ago trees lived to be a lot older than they do now because of industrial development, acid rain and so on. There for trees back then would have a greater consitration of groth rings thus providing a more stable and solid hitting piece of maple. I have one that is my favorite shaft I bought it about two years ago with my last custom cue and when I sold the cue i kept that shaft and had the rings on my new cue put on my lake salvage to match, and if i sell this cue in the future I will do the same thing with the shaft again. LOL I guess I realy like the hit. :thumbup:
 
AkersCues said:
they are called lake salvage and the reason they are used for shafts is because they produce a more stiff/solid hit, the reason for this is because a 100 years ago the trees that were logged up river were floated down river to the mouth of the great lakes to be harvested now obviously in the proccess from begining to end there are going to be loggs that sink after they set there under water for a hundred years they almost petrifey and you have to realize a hundred years ago trees lived to be a lot older than they do now because of industrial development, acid rain and so on. There for trees back then would have a greater consitration of groth rings thus providing a more stable and solid hitting piece of maple. I have one that is my favorite shaft I bought it about two years ago with my last custom cue and when I sold the cue i kept that shaft and had the rings on my new cue put on my lake salvage to match, and if i sell this cue in the future I will do the same thing with the shaft again. LOL I guess I realy like the hit. :thumbup:
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Thanks for the info Billy...I've been thinking of calling Keith, ordering one of those shafts for my Josey. But "petrify", I'll disagree with...more like wood in cold storage for a century.

There is a lake in the Cascade Mountains not far from me. Called "Clear lake", it was formed by a Volcano's lava flow over 4,000 years ago. It is fed by snow melt and melt from ice hidden in the Lava. On the bottom of this lake are still standing fir trees, over 4,000 years old. Well preserved in the 40 degree temp. water. When scuba diving in this lake decades ago, I did some probing with my dive knife. The outer 3/4" is rot...past that it's good wood.
 
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I think the straight grain maple ones would be great for coring dowels, forearms or handles.
They are too stiff and too heavy for shafts imo. I've played with two and they had too much cueball squirt for me.
Might be great for someone who likes 12MM tips. But, at 13MM, way too stiff imo.
 
reclaimed wood

I believe I have several hanging in the shop ready for final taper, ferrule/tip and joint prep. Currently they are around 14mm but I could complete one in about 2 months. They start around 24gri and go up to about 30-35gri. Yes, they are expensive because of the limited supply.
Let me know if I can help.
Tom Gedris, Triple Cross Cues:cool:
 
I am definitely going to order my next custom cue with shafts made of this
old, dense wood ...

I have always preferred a very stiff hit, so they should suit my needs ...
 
When they first started selling this wood about 15 years ago they sent me to shaft blanks to turn and try out. I tried them but found black bacteria or fungus as I made passes and when completed I never liked the hit. It was sort of a dead feel to me. Some may like them but as far as I'm concerned they are far from the "holy grail" of pool shafts. I gave both shafts to another cue maker to use on a cue he was building.

In another post someone said that this old growth wood had many more growth lines per inch than more modern woods because they lived longer. This is a false statement I'm sorry to say. How long a tree lives is completely immaterial to how many grpi the tree has. How fast a tree grows determines this. What made first growth Maple trees so desirable is the close straight grain of the trees. This was attained because before man came along felling the Forrest's to convert to farm land the trees all grew closer together. Now one chopped them down. Ohio at one time was completely covered with a Maple and Beech tree Forrest. About the only other plant life were ferns as there was no sunlight. These trees would drop their seed but the seed wouldn't grow as there was no sunlight. These trees grew much taller than these same trees grow today and they had no limbs until they reached great heights. This caused a canopy over the Forrest which limited the sunlight penetrating. When a large tree finally died and fell to the ground, the healthiest seedling in the area would quickly shoot up and take it's place. Since the only sunlight that the trees got was coming from the limbs at the top, the growth was slowed so that the yearly growth rings were much closer together as it took longer for the trees to attain large girth. There was also a mini Ice Age from the 1500s through the early 1800s which also slowed trees growth and changes the make-up of the trees somewhat.

Dick
 
Interesting...

rhncue said:
When they first started selling this wood about 15 years ago they sent me to shaft blanks to turn and try out. I tried them but found black bacteria or fungus as I made passes and when completed I never liked the hit. It was sort of a dead feel to me. Some may like them but as far as I'm concerned they are far from the "holy grail" of pool shafts. I gave both shafts to another cue maker to use on a cue he was building.

In another post someone said that this old growth wood had many more growth lines per inch than more modern woods because they lived longer. This is a false statement I'm sorry to say. How long a tree lives is completely immaterial to how many grpi the tree has. How fast a tree grows determines this. What made first growth Maple trees so desirable is the close straight grain of the trees. This was attained because before man came along felling the Forrest's to convert to farm land the trees all grew closer together. Now one chopped them down. Ohio at one time was completely covered with a Maple and Beech tree Forrest. About the only other plant life were ferns as there was no sunlight. These trees would drop their seed but the seed wouldn't grow as there was no sunlight. These trees grew much taller than these same trees grow today and they had no limbs until they reached great heights. This caused a canopy over the Forrest which limited the sunlight penetrating. When a large tree finally died and fell to the ground, the healthiest seedling in the area would quickly shoot up and take it's place. Since the only sunlight that the trees got was coming from the limbs at the top, the growth was slowed so that the yearly growth rings were much closer together as it took longer for the trees to attain large girth. There was also a mini Ice Age from the 1500s through the early 1800s which also slowed trees growth and changes the make-up of the trees somewhat.

Dick
Click to expand...

Thx for sharing. Old growth forrests are a treasure worth keeping and this is just one example of how much value they hold! JMNSHO

td
 
I have access to old growth hemlock from the St. Lawrence river if anyone wants. It is the sunlight which controls the rate of growth rings per inch. Good post.
 
Kinda off the cue topic....but this wood was also used by DW (Drum Workshop) to produce a line of drum sets called "Timeless Timber". They made a line from maple and one from birch. Their sets are normally $3,000-$5,000 for a typical set. The Timless Timeless Timber ran between $8,000-$10,000. I don't know how they would be for cues....but I've never heard such a warm sounding drum set in my entire life.
 
Also most simply dont like the look. We are on an age of white shafts. Looks are more important then play to some. Personally ive always been a fan of the darker stuff
 
Video's about timeless timber- watch and learn Ashland Wis.

The woods do have those toneal quality's we want in a (pool cue). Because of the Fuel Prices- timeless timber hasn't reuped on their maple supplies. there is hope a Saw mill will be built on site, Canada,so boards could be hauled back-not trees! I have birch harder than maple, and white walnut- maple. All to be built into custom cues. they sell buy the pound I have met guitar makers,flute,bell makers there. Very friendly
 
I find this to be a pretty interesting subject considering the trees were cut down years upon years ago. I also wonder if cues are being made from antique furniture that can't be reconditioned, or possibly from old wood planks or floors.
 
has anyone ever made a cue from cowry?

as I understand it cowry is mined from peat bogs and is 10,000's of years old... anything true of lake wood would have to be multiplied in cowry?? right??
 
cue wood

It is not spelled cowry, but Kauri. Google it and read more. I'm working on one right now. It will be a merry widow with mammoth ivory windows in the buttsleeve. That's old toooooo!!!!
Tom Gedris, Triple Cross Cues:cool:
 
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