Cutting shaft dowels

Bill the Cat

Bill the Cat

Proud maker of CAT cues
Silver Member
I just got around to cutting some shaft dowels and ran into one that has a fair amount of bow/warp. The bow will "turn out" in the process of cutting the shaft to size, but who knows if it will stay straight. It made me wonder. How do others deal with this? If a dowel has a certain level of bow/warp, do you simply discard it or do you always turn it and wait to see if it stays straight?
 
What I do is offset the center hole in the tip end toward the high side of the bow of the shaft dowel before starting to turn it. What this does is it allows you to cut the warp out much sooner in the turning process and it really increased my yield of straight shafts in a batch of dowels.
 
If the bend is too large, don't use it.

If not, offset the center on the ferrule end and turn the shaft. Mark it with a magic marker. When you have finally made enough passes that to where you are cutting the entire surface of the dowel,and it is straight make another mark and if when you come back to it for another truning it is warped again, throw it out.

I usually throw out 40% of the dowels I buy for one reason or another.
 
Cone them to .900 by .650 ends.
Look at the grain orientation.
If it has terrible runouts, don't waste your time.
 
cut them and wait for a month or two before you cut again and again and again,etc.if it stays straight after the first cut don't sweat it.if it keeps moving after every cut scrap it.

i run across lots of dowells that are bowed or flail around in the lathe before i cut them,then after the first cut they stay dead nuts straight the rest of the way out.
 
warp

Bill the Cat said:
I just got around to cutting some shaft dowels and ran into one that has a fair amount of bow/warp. The bow will "turn out" in the process of cutting the shaft to size, but who knows if it will stay straight. It made me wonder. How do others deal with this? If a dowel has a certain level of bow/warp, do you simply discard it or do you always turn it and wait to see if it stays straight?
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For many years, I have made shafts, and most warp while I'm turncutting them. Stop and think about it, if the dowel warps while maching it, this is great for the cuemaker, I would much rather have it warp on me, from the get go, than warp on the customer. If it's not to bad, and you wait long enough for it to settle down, between cuts, it will most likly stay straight. Then you can complete it and send it out with pride, knowing you have done your best. Off setting is not the way to go, leave the center as it started, turn cut it slowly over several weeks or month's. Worked for me for almost 40 years...
blud
 
I was hoping I'd get responses like the last two.

We have now definitely entered the realm of conflicting opinions. Please dont' let this thread turn ugly;)

To continue, I was hoping someone would confirm my hypothesis. I don't have the years of experience that some on this forum have. However, my guess was that once wood has found it's equilibrium, it should remain that way. Small cuts over a long period of time should result in a usable shaft in all but the most extreme cases. Besides that, I'm too cheap to throw away a shaft dowel till I have no choice:p
 
Bill I have to agree with Blud. However when I get a dowel or square I check the grain first. Then drill my centers from that. Time, nelsonite more time small cuts. Sometimes you get an angry piece of wood and it is just ignorant. Judgement call..
 
It's wood. It's as unpredictable & dynamic as women. I have had shafts hanging for months or years that were straight & perfect, then for reasons unknown to me just take a warp. I take about a year from dowel to finish size, and around two years of aging before I even begin making the first cut, giving a solid three years from the time the square is dowelled until it's a finished shaft. If the shafts still warp after three years of aging & thin cuts, then it's a science i'll never understand completely. What I do is just throw them away and use the straight shafts. I have accepted it as something out of my control & just eat the losses.

But yes, warped dowels can become great shafts. I cut warped dowels all the time. I put straight squares into the dowelling machine & they come out warped. It's wood. There's internal stresses that need to be releived. Every cut releives a little stress. You just gotta take the bad with the good, and expect some loss.
 
Just as a point of clarification, the dowels we buy are not turned. They are cut by shapers and what comes out is a rounded stick. The bend came after the wood was ripped to width and resulted from tension being released in sawing. If it was straight when it went into the shaper it will be straight when it comes out. If it had a bend, then it will be a bent piece of rounded wood that may warp again or might not.

Until it has been turned straight between centers and allowed to acclimate to its surroundings you can't tell if it will warp. If it has warped when you get back to it, mark it after turning straight again and if it warps again, it is trying to tell you something. I seldom turn shafts more than once a year and if after 3 years a shaft warps, it goes

If you value your time less than whatever you paid for the dowel then don't throw it away, but understand that chances are very good that in the end, the best you will be able to make is a shaft that has proven it will warp. All you need to do then is throw it away and start all over with the turning, drilling, tapping, putting on the ferrule, the tip, and the finish. What's that worth?
 
I have found dowels that have been run through a doweling machine are the worst. I have searched high and low to find suppliers that do not use this technique to initially round over the wood. I would much rather take the squares and work with them from the beginning. A little more time...a little more work....but the end results seem to have been less stress on a 30" piece and more usable product at the finish line for me.


<~~~shouldn't be no hurries when it comes to shafts?................
 
BarenbruggeCues said:
I have found dowels that have been run through a doweling machine are the worst. I have searched high and low to find suppliers that do not use this technique to initially round over the wood. I would much rather take the squares and work with them from the beginning. A little more time...a little more work....but the end results seem to have been less stress on a 30" piece and more usable product at the finish line for me.


<~~~shouldn't be no hurries when it comes to shafts?................
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tap tap tap
Got victimized by a doweling machine ripper supplier once.
No rush here.
I'd rather have square, wet a sponge with alcohol, and wet two sides of the square and look for images of the Virgin. Center and turn round.
My 3-wing cutter can turn square to round on one 10 minute pass.
 
I haven't noticed any differences in shafts dowelled. The only difference I have seen is the initial warpage of some shafts after dowelling, but one cut alleviates this & they are fine again. I used to cut them from square to round down to .880" in a couple cuts, then begin the taper cuts. Now I dowel them to .940" & then cut down to .880" & so-on. I have seen no change in end yeild. The only differences I see in end yeild is quality of wood variances causing some batches to yeild less or more depending on the quality of the wood.
 
You are correct. There is no difference between a 1" round and a 1" square other than the missing flats. They are both ripped from 1" boards. The shaper doesn't change the wood.
 
I cut 1" rounds down to about .650 on the first turn.
Second turn, down to about .580, marking any that moved after the first turn.
Nelsonite.
Third turn - .560 most should be very straight still. Mark any that move significantly.
Fourth turn - .540, any still moving = junk.
I usually wait at least a month between turns, sometimes they'll sit for 6 months or more though. I get to them whenever I feel like it....
I might add that I only buy A+ quality shaftwood. I can't be bothered with lower quality wood.
 
qbilder said:
I haven't noticed any differences in shafts dowelled. The only difference I have seen is the initial warpage of some shafts after dowelling, but one cut alleviates this & they are fine again. I used to cut them from square to round down to .880" in a couple cuts, then begin the taper cuts. Now I dowel them to .940" & then cut down to .880" & so-on. I have seen no change in end yeild. The only differences I see in end yeild is quality of wood variances causing some batches to yeild less or more depending on the quality of the wood.
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Did you cut the slabs yourselves?
That's a big factor.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Did you cut the slabs yourselves?
That's a big factor.
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I cut everything myself, sometimes even the tree. Usually I buy lumber, picking through pallet loads hoping to find a nice board or two. I pick the boards for weight, straightness or grain, tightness of grain & straightness of board. It's tricky talking the lumber yards into letting me hack open a pallet of 1000bf to pick through, but being neat & orderly helps. It's easier when I mill my own trees. Then I can cut the boards along the grain, and give the face of the board the most grain count. I'll be milling one this winter, a big ole' bastard of a tree, but still rigid & strong. I can't wait. I'm doing all the logistical research this summer for building a kiln specifically to dry shaft wood. The idea is to no longer depend on the timber industry for finding quality shaft wood, but instead do it all 100% self sufficient & 100% in control of the wood from log to shaft.
 
I might add that I only buy A+ quality shaftwood. I can't be bothered with lower quality wood
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i know there are many different ways that cuemakers cut their shafts.some wait 3-4 years,some cut them for 3-4 years,some cut them quick,some cut them about every month.i usually make 5 cuts over 4-5 months.

i believe the above statement is the key.if you start with excellent straight and consistent grained shaftwood,then your overall production of usable shafts is going to be much higher.

i cut mine quick by some people's standards,but i buy only premium shaft dowells or squares like sheldon said.there are lots of shafts i have seen on cues or in dowells that i wouldn't even cut the first time.i just set them off to the side,and might use the straight grained part for a handle or dowell or something.
 
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