Cutting season shaft dowel? Wait time?

Cuemaster98

Cuemaster98

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Hi Guys,

I just want to get some feedback on wait time on cutting shaft dowel. I did a few tests myself and I'm curious what other opinion on amount of time needed to cut a shaft from 1 inch dowel to finish taper.

I've read and have tried cutting down a shaft from a dowel into a finish shaft in one day and it seem to be still straight after 3 months. I've also taken a dowel down every week with 2 passes for last 6 weeks and it's not straight. I was told that if the wood is already season or is properly stress that it will remain straight. So if the dowel are seasoned and stored for a while...should it be cut down to taper size? If the shaft wood is going to move anyway, it doesn't matter how many cuts or how long you take to bring it down to taper size it will still warp on you, is this true?? I originally thought that the small pass over time will help eliminate warpage as you cut down to size...but I'm slowing finding it's just a check measure that tell you if the shaft is going to remain straight over time. Any feedback would be appreciated on this topics.

Thanks,
Duc.
 
Last edited:
well I've seen shafts warp right after being cut if that tells you anything..
 
Last edited:
It all depends on the wood itself. Simply stated, if it's going to warp, it's going to warp no matter how you cut it. By it's nature, some wood will have internal stresses. On say a shaft, as you are cutting off layers, you are allowing the internal stresses to move the wood (if it's so inclined). Some wood has stress & some doesn't. There is no way to tell until you start cutting. It's a 'pick-um' (guessing game).
 
We don't do things with wood to prevent them from warping. We do things with wood to reduce the probability of the final product warping to as low a number as possible. Wait time between turnings is one of those "things".

Hard cutting one shaft down to final size and it staying straight (and the opposite scenario you described) is just indicative of the way wood is. You have to decide whether wait times between turnings, and how long of a wait, is one of those "things" you will employ to reduce the warping probability.

Hard cut 100 shafts down to final size, and then cut 100 slowly, and THEN compare 100 to 100 instead of 1 to 1. That is a sample size large enough to try and interpret the results. Expensive experiment though...

Kelly
 
I originally thought that the small pass over time will help eliminate warpage
That's one of the measures that HELP minimize warpage or wood movement.
Look at the woods that warped the ones that do not.
More often. they have one common denominator.

Wait time for me in between cuts was taught by Kerry Zeiler. Let the wood experience differeng weather conditions.
If it's been wet and rainy since the last cut, I won't cut again.
 
Wood is friggin weird stuff. It'll warp at the most unexpected moments, or sometimes the ugliest shaft with goofy grain will never warp. You never really know for sure. It's something you'll need to learn on your own by creating your own schedule. After a few hundred shafts you will have your schedule fine tuned & will lose much less. I cut lots of shafts, think I have a pretty good grasp on things, but still lose 20% or more from dowel to finish size. I have learned to accept the fact that wood is wood & if it's going to warp then nothing I can do will ever effectively prevent it. Sometimes we lose outstanding shafts that we really want to become a perfect shaft, but they warp. I have lost 35 grain shafts that had dead nuts straight & evenly spaced grain. No explanation, it just happened. I have had wiggly grained & high runoff shafts stay straight even after years in the trash bin. It's weird stuff, cutting shafts. Welcome to cuemaking.
 
The age old question.................
Which came first...the warp or the wood?
Was the warp in the wood or did you make the wood warp?

I'm sure you'll get 10 different schedules from 10 different builders.
I'm a one year kind of person.......from dowel to .550 on the business end.
Hangs from there till it's needed for a finished product.
I'm also a big believer in major multiple small passes compared to one larger bite. I'll take the extra consucutive passes and cut it three times to remove .015 (.030 over all). Especially after it has the collar and ferrule on it.

I do not and will not use any additives to the wood until it gets into final size when I seal it. I know thats for another debate..... but it kills the wood and helps very little with movement..... IMO.

If it's moving through the tapering process........junk it.


<~~~ wishing I had a dollar each for all my junk.........
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top