Canadian Hard Rock Maple shaft

Actually it was Joey who hijacked it with his conspiracy theory. I offered an opinion based on conversations with wood dealers. Than Dick hijacked it with his theory about maple growing 1000 miles north of the border. I showed where he was incorrect. You offered facts based on preferences such as white. Which makes your facts not so much fact but preferences. As for you last remark about you knowing where to buy good wood and that I don't - what a childish bunch of dribble.

Bob
 
I have not read all the posts, but have bought thousands of shaft dowels through the years and turned them into shaft blanks. So I know a little about the shaftwood business. If you don't care if you get light weight shaftwood or heavy weight shaftwood then asking for Canadian Hard Rock Maple will probably get you what you want. Saying most use maple from Northern Michigan is probably true part of the time. You notice they pin it down to a small region of the USA where most of the quality shaftwood from the USA comes from. The same thing is true for Canada. The quality heavier weight denser shaftwood comparable to the Northern Michigan maple also comes from a smaller region in Canada also. There are only a handful of Northern Michigan suppliers of really nice shaftwood and there are only a handful of Canadian suppliers of really nice shaft wood. So yes most on here can supply you with a Canadian Hard Maple shaft. I can give you wood from either Michigan or Canada. But don't think for a moment that just because the wood comes from Canada that it is better than the wood from Michigan.
What you would be better is asking for certain qualities in a shaft that you are hoping for. And you can probably get those qualities in a Canadian grown shaft dowel as well as a Michigan one. But you can also get junky shaftwood from either Michigan or Canada.
 
bdcues said:
Actually it was Joey who hijacked it with his conspiracy theory. I offered an opinion based on conversations with wood dealers. Than Dick hijacked it with his theory about maple growing 1000 miles north of the border. I showed where he was incorrect. You offered facts based on preferences such as white. Which makes your facts not so much fact but preferences. As for you last remark about you knowing where to buy good wood and that I don't - what a childish bunch of dribble.

Bob
Click to expand...

Having a preference is an opinion, not a fact.

Having knowledge of someones opinion is knowing a fact - that is,
knowing what their opinion is.

The ability read with at least minimal comprehension is a handy skill.

If you do, in fact, know the source of good blanks from Canada,
why did you buy furniture parts.

AND STILL, not a single sylable about shaft blanks
boomeranging around the border.

Dale
 
Dale,

I used to buy from a Canadian supplier. I believe his last name was Coleman. He used what they call furniture grade lumber to cut shafts. In the cutting process this furniture grade allows for a certain amount of runout over 30", actually more than you would want for a shaft. My point, which you continue to fail to comprehend is that he did not pay a duty or tariff sending the wood into the US because he called it furniture parts, on which there is not duty or tariff.
Harp all you want, to say that knowing someones preferences makes that a fact is logic gone wrong. Yes, you might know someones preference. But that does not constitute facts about superior quality of shaft wood. Lets take a poll about breasts. And say that more men like bigger breasts than small. It is a fact that more men like bigger breasts but it is not a fact that bigger breasts are better than smaller breasts. Can you follow that????
 
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This is a funny thread, grown men arguing over tariffs paid or not paid for shaft wood. What does that have to do with anything when it comes to wood preference. It is all opinion on what is better, and some how that starts a bunch of drivel about tariffs. Funny Stuff, keep it coming.

~trying to find a spare scruggs graphite shaft for my joss sneaky...anyone have one?~

btw..big or small makes no difference as long as they are real.
 
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bdcues said:
Dale,

I used to buy from a Canadian supplier. I believe his last name was Coleman. He used what they call furniture grade lumber to cut shafts. In the cutting process this furniture grade allows for a certain amount of runout over 30", actually more than you would want for a shaft. My point, which you continue to fail to comprehend is that he did not pay a duty or tariff sending the wood into the US because he called it furniture parts, on which there is not duty or tariff.
Harp all you want, to say that knowing someones preferences makes that a fact is logic gone wrong. Yes, you might know someones preference. But that does not constitute facts about superior quality of shaft wood. Lets take a poll about breasts. And say that more men like bigger breasts than small. It is a fact that more men like bigger breasts but it is not a fact that bigger breasts are better than smaller breasts. Can you follow that????
Click to expand...
OK, now we're finally getting somewhere on this thread and are talking breast talk!!!
 
Well said sir. It comes down to the quality of the log, how it was dried and sawn. Generally, the shaftwood producers cannot afford to buy (or use) top veneer grade maple logs for shafts. There are, of course, some exceptions to this and perfectly fine shaftwood can also come from good cheap saw logs. I've made it my business to visit several maple mills and suppliers when visiting my home state, Michigan. I highly recommend the educational experience.

Martin


cueman said:
I have not read all the posts, but have bought thousands of shaft dowels through the years and turned them into shaft blanks. So I know a little about the shaftwood business. If you don't care if you get light weight shaftwood or heavy weight shaftwood then asking for Canadian Hard Rock Maple will probably get you what you want. Saying most use maple from Northern Michigan is probably true part of the time. You notice they pin it down to a small region of the USA where most of the quality shaftwood from the USA comes from. The same thing is true for Canada. The quality heavier weight denser shaftwood comparable to the Northern Michigan maple also comes from a smaller region in Canada also. There are only a handful of Northern Michigan suppliers of really nice shaftwood and there are only a handful of Canadian suppliers of really nice shaft wood. So yes most on here can supply you with a Canadian Hard Maple shaft. I can give you wood from either Michigan or Canada. But don't think for a moment that just because the wood comes from Canada that it is better than the wood from Michigan.
What you would be better is asking for certain qualities in a shaft that you are hoping for. And you can probably get those qualities in a Canadian grown shaft dowel as well as a Michigan one. But you can also get junky shaftwood from either Michigan or Canada.
Click to expand...
 
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Good post Cueman. I don't know that much about shaft wood, but being from Canada, I know about the weather. (damn cold) The climate in northern Michigan is probably an exact match for Quebec.
 
I am getting into building my own shafts and am looking for a good supplier. I want to order a batch from Canada and a match from the US and give them a test spin. PM with any help to point me in the right direction.
 
Patrick, if you search the forum archives, almost every worthy US and Canadian maple supplier has been revealled. For Canadian dowels, try the AA sample box from JM Champeau.

Martin


patrickjuhlin said:
I am getting into building my own shafts and am looking for a good supplier. I want to order a batch from Canada and a match from the US and give them a test spin. PM with any help to point me in the right direction.
Click to expand...
 
bdcues said:
Dale,

I used to buy from a Canadian supplier. I believe his last name was Coleman. He used what they call furniture grade lumber to cut shafts. In the cutting process this furniture grade allows for a certain amount of runout over 30", actually more than you would want for a shaft. My point, which you continue to fail to comprehend is that he did not pay a duty or tariff sending the wood into the US because he called it furniture parts, on which there is not duty or tariff.
Harp all you want, to say that knowing someones preferences makes that a fact is logic gone wrong. Yes, you might know someones preference. But that does not constitute facts about superior quality of shaft wood. Lets take a poll about breasts. And say that more men like bigger breasts than small. It is a fact that more men like bigger breasts but it is not a fact that bigger breasts are better than smaller breasts. Can you follow that????
Click to expand...

Another post, yet another nuddleheaded deflection.

I give up on you, but perhaps you have a friend who can read,
if so, please have him explain this to you.

1. The discussion was about Canadian maple shaft blanks, do any
cuemakers use them.

2. You barged in to whine about Canada buying US wood and selling it back to us.

3. When asked if this practice had anything to do with shaft blanks,
you told a story about once-upon-a-time avoiding duty.

4. When asked repeatedly what connection this has to shaft wood,
you have refused to answer.

Dale<who predicts a reply dealing with tariffs>
 
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Although maybe nobody reads the stuff I post, one item in this thread could be cleared up easily if one asks to see the NAFTA Certificate of Origin. I believe it should identify the country of origin on and and all goods that cross our shared border. You can't hide these things folks.

Dave
 
DaveK said:
Although maybe nobody reads the stuff I post, one item in this thread could be cleared up easily if one asks to see the NAFTA Certificate of Origin. I believe it should identify the country of origin on and and all goods that cross our shared border. You can't hide these things folks.

Dave
Click to expand...

That is good info to know - thanks.
Now get back to maling chips of the metal type:)

Dale
 
Shaft Wood

Hi,

I have only been in the cue repair and cue building business for six years but I have over 600 dowels and tapered shafts in different stages of seasoning. I know that most guys out here can smoke me with experience and professional track records as cue builders as I am constantly learning from their threads. After reading all of the stuff about shafts here I just had to put my 2 cents in respectfully.

I feel that the shaft wood on your cue singularly is the most important component to playability of your cue. There may be some who disagree with me about that and I am fine with a difference of opinion.

I buy all of my 5/4 stock maple boards from a hardwood supplier who gets them from northern Michigan. They are all vacuum kilned to 4%, then rehydrated back to 6 or 7 % before being shipped to the place where I hand pick my 1/4 sawn boards.

I have my own doweling machine and a dedicated table saw shaft machine for roughing the taper and a dedicated metal lathe for the final tapering passes.

There are a few things I have learned through my experience & research:

1. Chris Hightower knows what he is talking about.

2. Density of the shaft wood is more important than the number of growth rings. Depending on what section of the board or tree you take your square from is your growth ring count variable. It's not like the growth rings are some magical re bar that adds strength or something.

If one section of the tree produces 14 growth rings and another section of the tree produces 18 that does not mean that the wood fiber is any better or worse for density or strength. It is a random thing. One area of the tree is older than another area but that does not mean that older is better either. There could be seasons with record rain fall or drought effecting the tree cross section thus producing a myriad of effects. Some may be good for a pool shafts, some bad.

3. You can not know how good the shaft is until you get close to the final taper and you have that unit running between centers at a higher speed. If the center of that shaft is quiet and does not look blurry, then you have a good specimen for a quality cue. The ones that are 3.8 oz or higher generally the ones that spin quiet. The lighter ones want to vibrate and some want to jump right out the lathe if you don't keep your hand on them. This is where your quality control needs to out rank your pocket book.

I have known and talked to many cue makers over the years and every cue maker in the world thinks his cues have the best hit. In reality his cues with the best hit have the best shafts. The cue maker who makes the cue with the best hit is the guy who knows how the throw away the shafts that wiggles in the lathe and understands that this is nature's work not his.

The best hit is determined by the player who selects a cue from trying a bunch of cues. When he finds the one he likes, bingo that is the cue that hits the best. That is a very subjective selection process where personal preference rules.

The guy who thinks he is going to get a better cue because his shaft comes for Canada could be right. The question is from what tree and what section of that tree?

Rick Geschrey
 
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Thank You

I want to say Thank You to everyone that contributed to this thread.

To everyone else, including myself, this has been an opportunity to learn a small part about cue building.

Roger-Illinois
 
bdcues said:
Dale,

I used to buy from a Canadian supplier. I believe his last name was Coleman. He used what they call furniture grade lumber to cut shafts. In the cutting process this furniture grade allows for a certain amount of runout over 30", actually more than you would want for a shaft. My point, which you continue to fail to comprehend is that he did not pay a duty or tariff sending the wood into the US because he called it furniture parts, on which there is not duty or tariff.
Harp all you want, to say that knowing someones preferences makes that a fact is logic gone wrong. Yes, you might know someones preference. But that does not constitute facts about superior quality of shaft wood. Lets take a poll about breasts. And say that more men like bigger breasts than small. It is a fact that more men like bigger breasts but it is not a fact that bigger breasts are better than smaller breasts. Can you follow that????
Click to expand...
Now we are Talking about something I can relate to!!!!
 
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