Burl wood

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It seems that burl wood is getting more popular for cues, either that or it always has been an im just now noticing. Anyway, its beautiful wood and makes for a nice cue. I guess my question is, is there any concern about its stability. Is it harder, the same, or easier to find a piece that sill stay straight. Also, do you think cedar burl would be any good for a cue? Thanks in advance.
 
greenlight said:
It seems that burl wood is getting more popular for cues, either that or it always has been an im just now noticing. Anyway, its beautiful wood and makes for a nice cue. I guess my question is, is there any concern about its stability. Is it harder, the same, or easier to find a piece that sill stay straight. Also, do you think cedar burl would be any good for a cue? Thanks in advance.
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All Burls I have seen are inherently weak and subject to cracking. To solve this problem to my knowledge they should be cored with a hardwood, like Maple or Purple heart for stability. Now I am not saying it can't be used but I have never seen a cue with Cedar used in it, but there are many with more experience than me on this board.

Take care
 
All Burls I have seen are inherently weak and subject to cracking. To solve this problem to my knowledge they should be cored with a hardwood, like Maple or Purple heart for stability.
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yes,they are.well said.

they seem to vary from one piece to another,even in the same species.i have several pieces in my shop that i refused to use after cutting them round and finding out they were just too weak.

i will use them as a handle with a big core of .875" if they appear solid,but some just feel too mushy to use no matter how big the core.

i have never used one for a forearm and though i'm sure it would be OK probably never will.

as far as cedar goes,it seems pretty strong for a fir,but other than burning it in the fireplace i don't have much experience with it.
 
masonh said:
yes,they are.well said.

they seem to vary from one piece to another,even in the same species.i have several pieces in my shop that i refused to use after cutting them round and finding out they were just too weak.

i will use them as a handle with a big core of .875" if they appear solid,but some just feel too mushy to use no matter how big the core.

i have never used one for a forearm and though i'm sure it would be OK probably never will.

as far as cedar goes,it seems pretty strong for a fir,but other than burning it in the fireplace i don't have much experience with it.
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Many spinsters have had all of their dreams stored in ceder for years and many an arrow was lofted with it for a spine.

Dick
 
In my opinion, any burl or soft wood can be used, if properly stabilized with polymers and cored with either a maple or purpleheart dowel. If done right, the burl becomes a ' skin' or veneer if you will, and the core handles the real workload. Utilizing the stabilization process properly, will insure that the exotic 'skin' or 'veneer' will not crack or split when in use and just be the decor that it was meant to be.
Dave
 
I agree burl can be used if cored. One of the prettiest and plainest cues I have made was a maple burl.
 

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Mase said:
I agree burl can be used if cored. One of the prettiest and plainest cues I have made was a maple burl.
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Nice cue Is that the natural color, or did you stain it slightly? I have some maple burl that I just finished stabilizing and will start turning soon.
Dave
 
Thanks everyone for the info. Next time i come across a nice cedar burl im going to have someone make a cue from it. At least the butt end and maybye the forearm too.
 
Mase said:
I agree burl can be used if cored. One of the prettiest and plainest cues I have made was a maple burl.
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I have made a few cues out of Ambonia. I use a .750 core so I'm pretty sure they are stable but I was still unhappy with them as the wood is entirely to soft and spongy. Even though I soaked the cue a number of times with hardener while constructing, the surface was still to soft and could be dented to easily. I feel if these types of woods are going to be used they need to be resin impregnated along with being cored. That of coarse is just my opinion.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
I have made a few cues out of Ambonia. I use a .750 core so I'm pretty sure they are stable but I was still unhappy with them as the wood is entirely to soft and spongy. Even though I soaked the cue a number of times with hardener while constructing, the surface was still to soft and could be dented to easily. I feel if these types of woods are going to be used they need to be resin impregnated along with being cored. That of coarse is just my opinion.

Dick
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Same opinion here.
I think using them as forearm is iffy.
Segment handle with 7/8 core, I'd feel better.
 
My experience with burl has been varied. Amboyna, thuya, & manzanita have always been hard & strong for me. Sugar maple burl is hard. I recently have been working with some hickory burl that I believe is the hardest & strongest burl I have ever used. It's ebony like hard.

On the flip, I have used aspen, birch, big leaf maple, madrone, redwood, buckeye, etc. that were all incredibly soft & weak. Some of the big leaf maple & birch were strong & dense, but not all. In essence, the woods i'd expect to be hard were hard. Woods i'd expect to be soft were soft. Any burl I have used that was soft but should have been hard, turned out to be "punky", meaning half rotten.

Right now I have burl in redwood, buckeye, birch, aspen, big leaf maple, sugar maple, pig nut hickory, manzanita, black walnut, madrone, ironwood, mesquite, aligator juniper, & a few other domestics. In exotics I have Afghan olive, cocobolo, bubinga, east Indian roisewood, amboyna, thuya, teak, tambotie, afzelia, camphor, etc. I got lots of burls. All are suitable for cues if processed correctly. I core anything structural because of the grain orientation to the piece, which is most often irregular. Burls are fun. Always something different.
 
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