birdseye maple blanks pricing

M

mrinsatiable

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Like most great collectors i know what I like in a cue and was on the search for some premium birdseye maple for a project I had in mind.

I was recently offered these two bem blanks from a wood supplier who knew that i was looking for pool cue material. They gave me a price of $35 each. Am I getting ripped off? Feel like they bumped up the price because it was for a billiards project.

I understand that great birdseye is difficult if not impossible to find now a days. I just don't want to be taken for a ride. -What are the average prices of these worth?
-How good are these pieces?
-How rare is to find great birdseye? i.e. the kind seen in searing and sugartree cues?
 
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That does seem a little steep to me.

Bell Forest has them in the $15 range.
Thats who I use. EXC. grade looks alot like what you have in your pics.
I have gotten quite a few pieces from them and have never been disappointed.

Here is the link...
http://www.bellforestproducts.com/birdseye-maple/

I'm sure there are quite a few sites with this grade of wood, but you will be hard pressed to find nicer people than Eric and Boone.

Hope this helps.

Lee
LP Custom Cues
 
Wood is only worth as much as you are willing to pay for it. I know that is cliche but BEM is a unique wood. The eyes vary. There I loaded pieces I love and others I don't like. Bottom line is, if you like the piece, buy it.

Plus, it isn't going to get any cheaper....
 
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For the quality you got the price was not bad. I would put those pieces in the 4A to 5A range and that would be $25 to $30 each on my site. So those prices are not far off. They will make nice looking cues.
Birdseye and high figure Tiger maple are getting harder to get. The forests are not producing as nice of a yield and the guitar industry snags up most of the really high end stuff, so that makes it hard to get.
 
You can spend more than $70 on dinner and a movie for two, and that doesn't last for 10 years like your custom cue will . . .

IMO, if you're only buying two pieces, and these are the ones that you really want, just pay the man and say thank you. From the cue maker's perspective, buying premium materials is the easiest part of making a quality cue.
Mr H
 
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Thanks for everyone's input.
i've seen pieces of bem for turning stock for $15 avg-$18 exc without pictures.

since i have limited experience on purchasing high grade bem. I'd figured it would be best to get the opinions of those who purchase it regularly.

Nobody wants to over pay for anything unless they know what they're getting.

Guess I don't want to be charged doubled simply because it's used for pool cues.

PM me with your replies.

Thanks.
 
mrinsatiable said:
Like most great collectors i know what I like in a cue and was on the search for some premium birdseye maple for a project I had in mind.

I was recently offered these two bem blanks from a wood supplier who knew that i was looking for pool cue material. They gave me a price of $35 each. Am I getting ripped off? Feel like they bumped up the price because it was for a billiards project.

How long are they. When buying wood, be sure you can get both the forearm & butt sleeve from the same piece. Otherwise you willl never get another piece to match the color & grain pattern. I like to buy mine 18" long...JER
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They are 18" long. Thanks for the tip. This will be used as either a handle for wrapless or fullsplice front end.
 
Mr Hoppe said:
You can spend more than $70 on dinner and a movie for two, and that doesn't last for 10 years like your custom cue will . . .

IMO, if you're only buying two pieces, and these are the ones that you really want, just pay the man and say thank you. From the cue maker's perspective, buying premium materials is the easiest part of making a quality cue.
Mr H
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that was the logic that got me to buy my first cue.
 
I can still find pretty good BE $1 to 1.50 an inch depending on the figure. Not a lot of the really high end stuff but most is pretty good if I shop around.
 
looks like pretty good stuff,probably a solid 3A.the top square may be a weak 4A.i usually buy my Birdseye in boards and rip the squares so it's cheaper,maybe $10 a square tops.i might go $20 on those squares being able to see exactly what i am getting,but $35 would be steep.

however seeing as how you are not a cue maker and probably don't buy much wood from these guys $35 isn't all that bad for a one time deal.

if you go around lots of wood websites and buy lots of wood,you will get it cheaper.

as far as Bell Forest goes.i love their Birdseye.not sure why,but i guess their drier or they way they dry it just makes for great wood.i highly recommend them for Birdseye.
 
Who's Bell Forest?????

masonh said:
looks like pretty good stuff,probably a solid 3A.the top square may be a weak 4A.i usually buy my Birdseye in boards and rip the squares so it's cheaper,maybe $10 a square tops.i might go $20 on those squares being able to see exactly what i am getting,but $35 would be steep.

however seeing as how you are not a cue maker and probably don't buy much wood from these guys $35 isn't all that bad for a one time deal.

if you go around lots of wood websites and buy lots of wood,you will get it cheaper.

as far as Bell Forest goes.i love their Birdseye.not sure why,but i guess their drier or they way they dry it just makes for great wood.i highly recommend them for Birdseye.
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:thumbup:<><><>TAP...TAP....TAP....:thumbup:<><><>
Good call Mason...
 
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