Old growth maple...

Tramp Steamer

Tramp Steamer

One Pocket enthusiast.
Silver Member
I'm having a new cue made and the cuemaker selected a very dense (high number of growth rings) piece of maple for the forearm and handle. He called it 'old growth' maple.
What, if any, would be the advantage of this particular maple over what one might consider ordinary maple?
 
Tramp Steamer said:
I'm having a new cue made and the cuemaker selected a very dense (high number of growth rings) piece of maple for the forearm and handle. He called it 'old growth' maple.
What, if any, would be the advantage of this particular maple over what one might consider ordinary maple?
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feel... put your ear to something soft and hit it... then on something hard (don't hit hard). Way more sound/feel travels through the hard dense wood
 
Jason Robichaud said:
feel... put your ear to something soft and hit it... then on something hard (don't hit hard). Way more sound/feel travels through the hard dense wood
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Yup, harder and more dense seems to make for better shaft wood, at least. Not so sure about wood for the butt but it would make sense, I think.
Edit: Apparently, you cue maker thinks it's good for the butt, also.
 
Anybody have a close up pic of an old growth shaft? Can't say that I've ever come across one, unless I just didn't realize it.
 
Old growth, as in 150+ yr. old tree before harvesting, will likely be stronger, harder & more resiliant than typical furniture grade white maple. The submerged timber is often referred to as "old growth" and maybe it is, but it's completely different on a molecular level due to being submerged for so long. What you have sounds like typical old growth lumber. It's not as uncommon as many think & often times it's never differentiated from the load of lumber. 150 years is not very old for maple. I'm going north this spring to cut some shaft timber & will get some pics of some old growth trees.
 
Just a question??? If old growth is more dense---wouldn't it be heavier? If it is heavier wouldn't it add to deflection in a shaft?
 
Tennesseejoe said:
Just a question??? If old growth is more dense---wouldn't it be heavier? If it is heavier wouldn't it add to deflection in a shaft?
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Most likely, with the same taper and diameter, yes old growth will add to weight and deflection in a shaft. However, lighter ferrule material can sometimes counter the effect. But, I along with many many many, are more than happy to deal with the possible change in deflection in exchange for the superior hit and feel of a good old growth shaft.

In my own particular case, a cue I used to have with fabulous old growth dense shafts, I was able to have the taper tweaked/shaped/tapered in a way that reduced deflection considerably, AND didn't leave me with a soft whippy shaft. And these particular adjustments probably couldn't have been done without high grade dense material.
dave
 
Tennesseejoe said:
Just a question??? If old growth is more dense---wouldn't it be heavier? If it is heavier wouldn't it add to deflection in a shaft?
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Tennessee, you bring up a good point. The shaft would, of course, be more dense, and therefore have a greater mass due to the increased weight. This greater mass would most certainly cause an increase in cue ball squirt.
My cue, however, will use a Predator 314/2 shaft so cue ball squirt will be minimal.
 
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