bowling alley shaftwood?

[Teddy Harris]

I have a friend that has a poolroom next door to a bowling alley. The bowling alley is replacing the front of the lane that is about a 15' section. There are about 10 x 15' sections I can get for free, but need to know how much can be yielded for shaft wood. I know there will be a lot of loss from nails, but some of it has to be good. Does anyone know if all bowling alleys were constructed the same, and how much waste there will be? This bowling alley was built in 1953, and has lots of growth rings. I need to know what I am up against. Thanks.

 

[blud]

wood

I have a friend that has a poolroom next door to a bowling alley. The bowling alley is replacing the front of the lane that is about a 15' section. There are about 10 x 15' sections I can get for free, but need to know how much can be yielded for shaft wood. I know there will be a lot of loss from nails, but some of it has to be good. Does anyone know if all bowling alleys were constructed the same, and how much waste there will be? This bowling alley was built in 1953, and has lots of growth rings. I need to know what I am up against. Thanks.

Hi Ted, many years ago, I looked at a huge pile of maple alley wood. It was tight, straight grained, and many growth rings. The problem was it had many many small dents from years of abuse with balls droping on it. This caused very small cracks that didn't show up until it was turned.
No good. No need to waist your time.

Shaft wood, I got the best i have ever seen. Call me for a price. Got to buy 100 plus at a time.
blud

 

[bandido]

Efren is known to have used a shaft made out of bowling alley maple when he first showed up in the USA until he finally got the JT-1. The reason for the use of such by Filipino cuemakers, specially back in the '70s and '80s, is due to hard maple boards not being readily available at the lumberyards here in the Philippines. That too is why a lot of hard maple shafts from those decades will show covered up nail holes and yet were sought after because of the rarity of hard maple shafts then.

Blud is right that the first 15' of the lane boards will exhibit a lot of dents as this is where the bowling ball first contacts the lane. With regards to yield, by todays standards for shafts, I'd say very low due to nail holes and surprise fracture lines. But if they're selling it for less than a 1/10th of the current cost of dimensioned maple and you feel like testing your patience or playing treasure hunter.... I would, just for the excitement of facing the unknown.

 

[larrynj1]

would a shuffleboard table give a better yield? it shouldn't be so susceptible to dents from those little pucks. are these glue-ups?

someone near me is selling one, $600, but i'm sure that's negotiable.

 

[bandido]

would a shuffleboard table give a better yield? it shouldn't be so susceptible to dents from those little pucks. are these glue-ups?

someone near me is selling one, $600, but i'm sure that's negotiable.

You've got something there but I never really took notice of how long those maple sections are or if each strip goes all the way to the other end uninterrupted. What are the dimensions of a shuffleboard? $600 might be too much on a per board foot basis with regards to intended utilization.