Is anyone interested in bowling alley wood. I may be able to buy an old bowling alley that has been destroyed by a storm. If anyone thinks the lanes could be used for shafts let me know.
It is my understanding the lanes are not good for shafts as the planks are too narrow and are bolted/nailed together the whole legenth. They do make nice tables though. If you can lift and inspect the wood there may be some usable pieces but everyone I have asked says no. Chris.
Thanks for the info Chris. I also did a search on here and found a couple of threads that discussed the old lanes. It sounds like the only way it would be any good for shafts is if it was free. Great feedback.
It really depends on how old the lanes are. Some of the older lanes used thicker wood than the modern 3/4" stuff. If the boards are one full inch you might find some usable material. Some cuemakers have used it successfully in the past. But most find it more trouble than it is worth to try and find the usable pieces among the mass of unusable. You will have to cut around holes and all kind of hassles.
It is alot of work to extract shaft wood from bowling lanes ,and like cueman stated it must be the older 1" contruction , but some excellent shaft wood can be retrieved with high ring count and darker , denser wood . Excellent playing shafts ...
Its alot of work ripping apart the wood to find pieces long enoungh without nail holes or grain run off. But with hard work I have goten alot of great wood from it, its ugly work but I feel the rewards are worth it.
Some of the bowling alleys and especially old gym floors have beautiful figue in them. I seen some super curly and highly figured birdseye maple in both floors. So if you can access some for points, trim and other inlay you still have very nice wood that does not need to be shaft length. Also if the floor is old it sometimes is an inch in thickness as another member mentioned and if long enogh can be turned down for shafts.
I have shot with a bowling alley shaft from a Ron Black cue that my friend bought in 1996. The shaft wood looked like my old Tru Balance shaft. Nice and tight. Amazing wood. If you can find something thick enough, I would assume you can get some really great shafts out of it.