Birdseye vs Straight Grain Maple
- Thread starter manopr350
- Start date
Figured maple is decorative and not as stable and strong as straight grain maple. For a shaft I would always choose the best quality straight grained maple I could find. I use the decorative stuff, Birdseye or Curly for the butt of the cue and will often core it for stability.
You open your statement for my next question.., if you core the Figured maple with, for example, carbon fiber, will it still make a difference or it will only be for decorative purposes?
What Kim posted is traditional, and most of us with a conservative bent (in a good way - we want our products to be stable and durable) would agree.
However, there seems to be room with modern processes, including torrefication, to experiment.
Check out post # 367. This guy is really prolific and makes a lot of very attractive "oddball" cues or using unique materials.
If you've ever intentionally broken thin sections, i think BE & striped are weaker or at least respond less uniformly in compression, and will "behave differently" than straight grain. But striped sure can be spectacular. FWIW, "torrefied" wood is also weaker than wood that has not been torrefied, but in the size of a cue shaft, it seems to be strong enough. It is reputed to be more stable. Given the mass (weight) loss, it probably has less deflection, but i have not messed with it yet.
However, there seems to be room with modern processes, including torrefication, to experiment.
Az Members who build their own cues please post photo's of your new and old work!!!!
Hello, I am certain that their are a large number of AZ Members who build their own cues. I have not seen a thread to date where everyone posted photo's of their work. This thread could kinda be used as a trade mark index of cue makers that post...
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If you've ever intentionally broken thin sections, i think BE & striped are weaker or at least respond less uniformly in compression, and will "behave differently" than straight grain. But striped sure can be spectacular. FWIW, "torrefied" wood is also weaker than wood that has not been torrefied, but in the size of a cue shaft, it seems to be strong enough. It is reputed to be more stable. Given the mass (weight) loss, it probably has less deflection, but i have not messed with it yet.
The decorative figure is what gives the wood its value. So by coring you are essentially using the wood as a veneer, although depending on your core diameter the exterior wood will still add to the structure of the cue.
The original question was about shafts, so I'm going with straight grain all day on that. As far as coring figured maple it's been my experience you almost always have to to hit your target weight. Not many people like 17 ounce cues, I do, but not many customers.
I believe that when you core a piece of wood.., no matter the type of wood, you “subtract/ reduce/ eliminate “ the true qualities of that particular specie.
What is left of the wood in comparison to the wood that goes inside the coring is minimal at best, eliminating the qualities of that particular wood. Therefore, imho, the outside wood is only cosmetic.
So,,,,,,,,
It looks the same and I then have more control of final weight in the right places.
What do you think happens if I put a superior wood in for the core?
