Question for all you cue builders. I have a friend that has removed a Black Maple tree from his residence and is cutting this into some workable lumber. He has offered me a piece approximately 3" x 3" x 13'. Would this type of wood be any good for any parts of a cue, like a butt or shaft?
Black Maple
- Thread starter yankee817299
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Black maple | The Wood Database (Hardwood)
www.wood-database.com
Thanks for the replies. The tree has been down for about a month now, so when it gets dried out I'll see if someone here would want to fashion me a butt out of it??
If the intention is to use it for lumber or cues, it needs to be sawn to lengths & sawn or split now.
Attempting to dry it in the log will degrade the wood through both macro and micro cracking, and with variable dampness could yield spalting. (That not necessarily bad for butts, but will ruin it for shafts). It will also take years.
If you can read lumber in trees & all was intended for cues, the best approach might be to cut 40" balks between major defects, and quarter split the balks for drying. As has been already noted, splitting it will yield the straightest grain indication for further processing.
If there are burls, BE, or curl in the tree, deal with those sections separately to optimize the feature wood & yield.
If you have a mill, obviously you already know what to do with it.
The best yield for cue wood will have a lot of waste.
The best sawing for lumber will diminish the amount of useful cue wood.
good luck!
smt
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Just happened to be passing through. I remembered seeing a $450 Helmstetter with "black maple" rings in butt sleeve. https://www.billiardbills.com/cues-under-2k/
It doesn't look like I'm going to get anything that can be quarter sawed. I'm just getting a rough cut board approximately 4" thick. Probably not going to be any good to use in cue building?
4" thick by ?? Wide by ?? Long
4" x 4" x 13'. What should I do with it?
Alot.
Forearm 1 1/4" x 13?
1 3/4x13 left less cutting.
Butt bottom?
Points? Add veneers. Less is required if veneers are mitered or just a single black veneer to separate making it a ghost cue but you'll use more length in the point stock.
Add a handle of course.
You can get a cue
Boxed heart? Or off to one side?
Can you read grain?
Unlike many hardwoods, premium wood in maples and birches is the sapwood, not the heart.
Boards with mixed heart/sap are not as stable as boards of only one or the other.
Is any of it BE (birdseye)?
Any curly, quilted, blistered or other figure?
smt
The owner of this tree is cutting it into small blocks for wood turning. He is stabilizing the blocks in a liquid called "cactus juice" and pulling a slight vacuum on it to pull the air out of the wood. From what I understand a 6oz. piece of cut wood weighs in at a little over 16oz. after being stabilized. He is selling these for $40 a pop on ebay. So Deruki is probably 100% right on this wood being too dense for cue making.
I guess so? The tree was taken down about 6 weeks ago.
You have not answered most of the Q's people have asked to get a perspective on how to help you with your Q.
What makes the wood special enough to stabilize with a plastic infusion? Is is spalted, quilted,burl, BE or????
Generally straight grain non figured maple is not going to absorb much "stabilizer" and generally will not have enough value to be worth the effort.
Nor will non dry, (very dry) wood. 6 oz 40lb/ft^3 material = aprox 16 cu in.
1-1/4" x 1-1/4" x 10-1/4", e.g. Or 1 x 1 x 16. etc.
What size is he actually making and how dry are they (MC) before treatment.
for butts, nearly any wood that is dry enough, stabilized enough (both infusions and over the machining process period), & cored where applicable can make a cue. Some are more likely to be attractive or at least interesting than others.
For shafts, wood with the characteristics of Hard maple, ash, good yellow birch, purple heart, would be benchmarks. A dense piece of straight close grain black maple might or might not make an acceptable, or faintly possibly even "exceptional" shaft depending on the dimensions you want. Janka hardness is down from Hard maple, though. But all published figures for natural products like wood are averages or even medians. Meaning there is a range of wood in the same species, some of which likely will be somewhat better and some worse.
smt
What makes the wood special enough to stabilize with a plastic infusion? Is is spalted, quilted,burl, BE or????
Generally straight grain non figured maple is not going to absorb much "stabilizer" and generally will not have enough value to be worth the effort.
Nor will non dry, (very dry) wood. 6 oz 40lb/ft^3 material = aprox 16 cu in.
1-1/4" x 1-1/4" x 10-1/4", e.g. Or 1 x 1 x 16. etc.
What size is he actually making and how dry are they (MC) before treatment.
for butts, nearly any wood that is dry enough, stabilized enough (both infusions and over the machining process period), & cored where applicable can make a cue. Some are more likely to be attractive or at least interesting than others.
For shafts, wood with the characteristics of Hard maple, ash, good yellow birch, purple heart, would be benchmarks. A dense piece of straight close grain black maple might or might not make an acceptable, or faintly possibly even "exceptional" shaft depending on the dimensions you want. Janka hardness is down from Hard maple, though. But all published figures for natural products like wood are averages or even medians. Meaning there is a range of wood in the same species, some of which likely will be somewhat better and some worse.
smt
I do not know enough about wood to answer most of these questions. I haven't seen what he has set aside for myself, but I intend to pick it up tomorrow. Would a few pictures answer some of these questions?
Black maple (Acer nigrum) is a hard maple. It is 10% lighter and a bit softer than sugar maple. It is now considered a subspecies of sugar maple and is often harvested and sold along with sugar maple. Not anything special for cues, no reason to target it over sugar maple given it is lighter and softer and does not come figured like a crazy western big leaf.