Durable Exotic Woods

MattRDavis

MattRDavis

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just wondering... what are some of the more durable exotic woods? I've heard Snakewood tends to break, and have heard some cue builders even have difficulty with Cocobolo; are there any woods out there that should be avoided, specifically in a break cue where there will be a lot of pressure exerted on the butt of the cue?

Thanks,
-Matt
 
MattRDavis said:
Just wondering... what are some of the more durable exotic woods? I've heard Snakewood tends to break, and have heard some cue builders even have difficulty with Cocobolo; are there any woods out there that should be avoided, specifically in a break cue where there will be a lot of pressure exerted on the butt of the cue?

Thanks,
-Matt
Click to expand...

Some woods are much more stable than others as far as twisting, cupping and just moving around in general. Others are harder to properly dry which causes checking ( linear cracks starting at the end of a board ). The strongest woods are probably straight grained woods with no figure however I believe that nearly any wood is strong enough so as not to worry about breaking while being properly used except pieces with very large knots. The cut of a board more than the type of wood will determine it's strength as far as breaking. If the grains of the wood run at an angle instead of parallell to the length is where weakness is introduced into a cue.
Dick
 
MattRDavis said:
Just wondering... what are some of the more durable exotic woods? I've heard Snakewood tends to break, and have heard some cue builders even have difficulty with Cocobolo; are there any woods out there that should be avoided, specifically in a break cue where there will be a lot of pressure exerted on the butt of the cue?

Thanks,
-Matt
Click to expand...

Matt,

If you Google 'exotic hardwoods', some of the sites will actually have a rating chart at the bottom of each wood's page, with a hardness rating listed, as well as other ratings. I did this when searching for woods to use in my custom currently being built. This information can be very helpful.

Try this link for a start:
http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/woodindex.php

Lisa
 
MattRDavis said:
Just wondering... what are some of the more durable exotic woods? I've heard Snakewood tends to break, and have heard some cue builders even have difficulty with Cocobolo; are there any woods out there that should be avoided, specifically in a break cue where there will be a lot of pressure exerted on the butt of the cue?

Thanks,
-Matt
Click to expand...
I'll vote for bocote and purpleheart.
Heavier or harder do not mean more "DURABLE".
Take Gaboon Ebony for example. It's heavier and harder than bocote or purple but won't stand the abuse purple and bocotes can take.
Some of the brittle woods are Zebrawood, marblewood, gaboon ebony and narra.
 
JoeyInCali said:
I'll vote for bocote and purpleheart.
Heavier or harder do not mean more "DURABLE".
Take Gaboon Ebony for example. It's heavier and harder than bocote or purple but won't stand the abuse purple and bocotes can take.
Some of the brittle woods are Zebrawood, marblewood, gaboon ebony and narra.
Click to expand...

Joey,

The link I provided actually gives a durability rating, as well as anticipated wood movement rating...kinda cool. It is a bit limited on the woods listed, but pretty cool, none the less.

Lisa
 
ridewiththewind said:
Joey,

The link I provided actually gives a durability rating, as well as anticipated wood movement rating...kinda cool. It is a bit limited on the woods listed, but pretty cool, none the less.

Lisa
Click to expand...
Thnks.
They lost credibility to me when I compared the cocobolo and purpleheart numbers.:eek:
 
titlistsucker said:
What about OAK cue ? i'm thinking as i have a nice Oak piece here and yes its time for a conversion...
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Oak is not a very heavy wood, for pool Qs & it is about THE hardest to paint, because of it's deep grain. Except for burls & spalted woods, ANY hard wood is durable, but any Q can be broken. Butts pretty much all break at the same place. Idiots that LEAN on their Qs, when they break the balls, end up snapping the butt about 3" down from the joint(right at the end of the joint screw). I have a nice collection of 20 or so, that players have brought to me & they're all broken at the same place. As far as straightness goes, if they're dryed & turned properly, they all should stay straight...JER
 
JoeyInCali said:
Thnks.
They lost credibility to me when I compared the cocobolo and purpleheart numbers.:eek:
Click to expand...

I defer to your wisdom on this, as you are actually working with the wood. So, do you think all the info is wrong, or just that of the coco and pheart? Inquiring minds want to know...Lol.

Lisa
 
I have a question about the woods used for cuemaking and rather than start a new thread thought I'd throw it in here.

When selecting the woods what sort of cut are you looking for and does the type cut change depending on what part of the cue you want the wood for? In other words is quarter sawn heartwood the prefered cut?

Terry<looking at a wood not used in cuemaking......yet!:D
 
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