cue shafts
- Thread starter player77
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Heres what I mean, look at the shaft in the first link compared to the second link. See the difference in wood?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/lord_shar/MeucciOriginal-1024x500.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v421/lord_shar/MeucciOriginal-1024x500.jpg
Sugar/mineral content in the wood primarily.
10-15 years ago, there was a huge surge of interest for the whitest shaft wood that could be found. Dont know where it started or why, but it did. Probably somebody suggesting it was better cosmetically, and it got taken wrong and people thought it was just better. You even have makers bleaching shafts trying to make them whiter. White wood was IMO a cosmetic fad, to the extent people are now cleaning their shafts with anything they can find to keep them "pretty". Seems to be dying out a bit these days with cue makers, even though magic eraser sales are probably up.....
Chuck
10-15 years ago, there was a huge surge of interest for the whitest shaft wood that could be found. Dont know where it started or why, but it did. Probably somebody suggesting it was better cosmetically, and it got taken wrong and people thought it was just better. You even have makers bleaching shafts trying to make them whiter. White wood was IMO a cosmetic fad, to the extent people are now cleaning their shafts with anything they can find to keep them "pretty". Seems to be dying out a bit these days with cue makers, even though magic eraser sales are probably up.....
Chuck
According to qbilder recently:
"I could go on & on about maple. It's kinda my thing LOL But to keep it short, maple is naturally bright white. It's the handlers that change the color & it's because they either don't care or they don't know what they're doing. Whether the tree is 10yrs old or 300yrs old, it will have bright white sapwood, and you'd never be able to identify the tree's age by looking at a finished shaft. Brown wood is either heartwood, or the log sat too long before milling, or else the kiln overcooked the lumber early in the drying process. In either case, it's pallet grade wood. The log that sat too long can still make good shafts, but they'll be yellow. The heartwood technically 'could' produce some good shafts, but the wood will be very heavy, hard, stinky, & brown. The wood ruined by the kiln is trash, pallet lumber, a step below railroad ties, too low quality to be worthy of pool cues. White wood is what you want in a shaft, IF it's dried properly. Even proper air drying leaves the wood its naturally bright white color. Maple that is handled properly will be as white as holly, even if it's old growth."
"I could go on & on about maple. It's kinda my thing LOL But to keep it short, maple is naturally bright white. It's the handlers that change the color & it's because they either don't care or they don't know what they're doing. Whether the tree is 10yrs old or 300yrs old, it will have bright white sapwood, and you'd never be able to identify the tree's age by looking at a finished shaft. Brown wood is either heartwood, or the log sat too long before milling, or else the kiln overcooked the lumber early in the drying process. In either case, it's pallet grade wood. The log that sat too long can still make good shafts, but they'll be yellow. The heartwood technically 'could' produce some good shafts, but the wood will be very heavy, hard, stinky, & brown. The wood ruined by the kiln is trash, pallet lumber, a step below railroad ties, too low quality to be worthy of pool cues. White wood is what you want in a shaft, IF it's dried properly. Even proper air drying leaves the wood its naturally bright white color. Maple that is handled properly will be as white as holly, even if it's old growth."
I've never noticed that in Meuccis, how many is this "all" number that you are talking about? Are you looking at OLD shafts that people have used? Have you seen NEW Meucci shafts in a dealer room where there were a dozen+ new shafts lined up.
Dirt and chalk will turn shafts brown over time.
Also, some shafts are bleached for the desired "white" effect.
Yeah, people wanted the whitest shafts available. Just like teeth.
It is said that the darker wood shafts hit a little stiffer. Some find the darker wood pleasing. Maybe the darker wood is also a little denser.
I have at least one, if not 2 dark wood shafts. One that I am thinking of has a European taper anyway but it is probably the ugliest shaft around. Grain isn't very pretty and lots of sugar marks.
A maker wouldn't use that type on a custom. No one would take it. But, it plays real good so I over look the beauty spots.
In the case of this shaft, Looks aren't everything.
It is said that the darker wood shafts hit a little stiffer. Some find the darker wood pleasing. Maybe the darker wood is also a little denser.
I have at least one, if not 2 dark wood shafts. One that I am thinking of has a European taper anyway but it is probably the ugliest shaft around. Grain isn't very pretty and lots of sugar marks.
A maker wouldn't use that type on a custom. No one would take it. But, it plays real good so I over look the beauty spots.
In the case of this shaft, Looks aren't everything.
They are darker if you are referring to the black dot series because they are laminated and typically are darker in nature, also ob shafts are a darker color as well.
Darker wood doesn't mean denser, stiffer, older, better, or anything else except that the wood was handled improperly and/or carelessly. If anybody cares to read, here's a USDA study that investigates the color differences in maple: http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn0193.pdf
The study is pretty basic & simple, but gets obvious results. Maple begins as white wood, and if correctly handled will remain white. Believe myth if you want to, but truth is a mouse click & a few minutes of reading away. If you care to go further yet, you can also find out why & how the wood turns brown. It's worth knowing. Regardless, for the purpose of color conversation, this study pretty much nails it.
The study is pretty basic & simple, but gets obvious results. Maple begins as white wood, and if correctly handled will remain white. Believe myth if you want to, but truth is a mouse click & a few minutes of reading away. If you care to go further yet, you can also find out why & how the wood turns brown. It's worth knowing. Regardless, for the purpose of color conversation, this study pretty much nails it.
Most pool cue shafts are made of a Canadian Maple, whilst other types are made of Holly or Ash. Some pool cue makers have opted to enfold their shafts in graphite or fiberglass.
Eric, would you saw there was a push in the 90s towards whiter wood? And that shafts in the 80s and before were darker, and in a lot of peoples opinions were considered better?
Chuck
Yeah I noticed it. I even used to believe it myself. What I see happening is a sense of nostalgia. People seem to think that old wood is somehow better. With shafts, they relate brown with old because old cues have brown wood. The reality is that the wood is brown not because of age, but because of the way it was dried or handled before drying. Two things can happen to discolor maple. The grey stain & some pink/red coloring comes from bacteria. The bacteria feed on the sugars in the wood, and the excrement literally colors the wood. This results from insufficient air flow and/or high humidity. The other type of staining comes from cooked sugars because the kiln heat is too high in early stages of drying. Maple sap/sugars turn brown when cooked. Think of maple syrup.
To be quite frank, in my experience, the dictating factor in whether a shaft will be a good player or not, is determined by the tree. Not the way it was milled, dried, or the season it was cut, or the region it came from, or anything else plays as much role as the genetics of the specific tree. Some trees are good and some are not. It follows all the way through to the shafts. Some are good & some are not, and you can't tell by looking at them.