Figured shaft wood: opinions wanted

Drawman623

Drawman623

Box Cue lover
Silver Member
I recently acquired several shaft blanks of highly figured rock maple. They have been hanging more than 20 years and I expect they were old when first turned.

I want player and cuemaker opinions about use of figured shaftwood. The color is dark, the grain is super tight. If anyone has direct experience with the stability or playability of this kind of wood, I would like to hear about it.

Deacon sold me a figured heartwood shaft that was turned by Ed Young and DPK. It plays like nothing else I have ever owned.

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They're ugly.
Sell them to me.
They're very dense and stiff at 13MM.
Great at 12-12.5MM with a long "taper" imo.
I'd put a short ferrule too.
 
figured shafts

I travel alot and have occasion, when in Mooreland OK, to stop and visit (read: try new cues on their shop table) with Jeff and Dan Prather. Normally I find that their cues, even the steel jointed ones, hit a bit to "whippy" for me. On one memorable occasion Jeff had turned some shafts out of over the top figured tiger maple and the feedback of the hit and the stiffness that I had previously never experienced using their cues almost sold me on them. The one negative that I couldn't get past was that all of the figuring really bothered me in my peripheral vision when shooting long cut shots. I suppose with enough time spent I would eventually get past this but I wasn't really looking to change my game to fit a cue. Must say those shafts hit great.
 
JoeyInCali said:
They're ugly.
Sell them to me.
They're very dense and stiff at 13MM.
Great at 12-12.5MM with a long "taper" imo.
I'd put a short ferrule too.
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I agree. I have a very dense curly maple shaft and agree with Joey on the recommended taper and ferrule. I prefer 12.5-12.75 for this shaft. You'll never notice the figures in the shaft.
 
Tennesseejoe said:
Wouldn't a very dense (heavy) wood like this cause more deflection than a light weight wood?
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I dont know about the deflection but the the old maple that is tight grained, darker and figured doesn't have to mean its heavy from what I have experienced.
Also, I have had some problems ignoring some of the figuring, but they play so good.
 
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on the Gus I use(main player) both shafts have some figuring in them, neither of them have birds eye's but some figuring and they are triple hard, there is very very little deflection, both shafts I have for my cue have the same taper and play exactly one has figuring 8" behind the ferrel and the other is in the middle and towards the butt. When wood gets old and stops moving around it dosent mater and they play great.
 
I think they are beautiful, and at my level of play, it won't make any difference "how they play."

It seems to me that wood is a natural product and no two pieces are the same, so no two shafts will play the same, unless they have been highly re-engineered through lamination or wedging, and even then, who knows?

I am not sure there is a universal answer for your question.

Other than weight and length, we have never objectively quantified the other characteristics of pool cues. Until we do, "playability" will allways be subjective.

It should be easy to measure and report "stiffness" and "radial consistancy," but we have never demanded that from the suppliers.
 
Thanks for the input and opinions.

I should have been clear from the onset that the shaft blanks are not for sale.

I appreciate everyone's comments and pm's
 
It's hard to beat brown, dense maple heartwood, whether figured or not. I wish every shaft I have was ugly & brown.
 
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