Hi,
Some interesting discussions on shaft wood has been going on so I thought I would share my take on the subject.
If you are a new to cue making and wish to have a long term presence building quality in your shafts over time here is my experience on the topic. If you talk to 10 cue makers you might get many areas of agreement but also many areas of disagreement.
Here is my take on it:
If you are buying your shaft wood in dowels from someone, be prepared to throw out a lot of wood in your future. The only way you can get the highest quality shaft wood is to collate, classify and cull only the finest pieces from a high quality source.
I have a source that receives it's maple from UP Mich. and has a huge Kiln for drying the lumber after the trees have been fallen and stored. After kiln drying they rehydrate the lumber for stress relief. I am also lucky because my supplier stores all of it's clear maple indoors in a 60 degree heated building in the winter.
I feel the straightest maple for shaft wood and CM economics comes from 5/4 planks that are generally used for stair stock not 4/4. When I go thru 100s of planks the cupping and the crowning incidence in 4/4 is way higher. I don't mind paying a little more because I feel that I am wasting too much of my time with the 4/4 boards.
The most important features IMO are straight grain from one end of the board to the other when viewing the face of the board in plan view on a plank that has no crown, twist or cup.
The next most important feature is density for me and the type of hit I want on my cue. I have a chart that I can calculate the density per board inch so when I find that plank with all of the right stuff I can measure the square inches in the 5/4 thickness plank and calculate if I will have 1" dowels that are over 10.2 oz. as a minimum average. If not I reject the board that is perfect if not for weight.
Finally growth rings, color and mineral content must be evaluated. This is up to the individual's own values.
I have been doing this for quite some time now and have been getting more selective each time I buy lumber. I am now at the point where I stop by my source about once a month and my expectation is only one plank. Here are some pics of a plank that I just got 3 weeks ago and I browsed through about 50 before I just bought this one which will yield only six shafts. Last month I was lucky and got 2 planks that gave me 20 shafts dowels. I viewed over 200 planks for that find.
In closing I believe that after finding a reliable source that processes, treats and stores the raw material correctly the number of boards that is premium pedigree shaft wood is about 1% or less and still there is some wood areas in those planks that culled.
The shaft wood hunting is like mining for gold. You find it if you are persistent. In the end it shows up and people will understand quality in the long run. You must take the time to be anal in selection or you will be compromising.
If you disagree with my methods I can empathize. This is just my way of skinning the cat using my process system of reading the product.
IMO, There is nothing more important to your cue than the shaft and it's taper concerning playability. Everything else is secondary or less.
Good Cue Making,
Rick G.
This was just one plank that I had them put a cross cut on so it would fit in my car. Notice how straight this plank is. No crowning, cupping or twisting. There are 6 shafts here for under $20.00. Why buy dowels that are a pig in a poke when you can have the best stuff cheaper? I will bandsaw this plank after a few weeks in my shop and dowel and fat taper it for vertical storage.
According to my calculations this piece should yield 1" x 30" dowels that weigh 10.6 oz. I like that number!:
Straight grained from end to end or no go on any plank, no run out
4 Shafts at final all over 4.4 oz. from a nice piece that was stored for 5 years
Some interesting discussions on shaft wood has been going on so I thought I would share my take on the subject.
If you are a new to cue making and wish to have a long term presence building quality in your shafts over time here is my experience on the topic. If you talk to 10 cue makers you might get many areas of agreement but also many areas of disagreement.
Here is my take on it:
If you are buying your shaft wood in dowels from someone, be prepared to throw out a lot of wood in your future. The only way you can get the highest quality shaft wood is to collate, classify and cull only the finest pieces from a high quality source.
I have a source that receives it's maple from UP Mich. and has a huge Kiln for drying the lumber after the trees have been fallen and stored. After kiln drying they rehydrate the lumber for stress relief. I am also lucky because my supplier stores all of it's clear maple indoors in a 60 degree heated building in the winter.
I feel the straightest maple for shaft wood and CM economics comes from 5/4 planks that are generally used for stair stock not 4/4. When I go thru 100s of planks the cupping and the crowning incidence in 4/4 is way higher. I don't mind paying a little more because I feel that I am wasting too much of my time with the 4/4 boards.
The most important features IMO are straight grain from one end of the board to the other when viewing the face of the board in plan view on a plank that has no crown, twist or cup.
The next most important feature is density for me and the type of hit I want on my cue. I have a chart that I can calculate the density per board inch so when I find that plank with all of the right stuff I can measure the square inches in the 5/4 thickness plank and calculate if I will have 1" dowels that are over 10.2 oz. as a minimum average. If not I reject the board that is perfect if not for weight.
Finally growth rings, color and mineral content must be evaluated. This is up to the individual's own values.
I have been doing this for quite some time now and have been getting more selective each time I buy lumber. I am now at the point where I stop by my source about once a month and my expectation is only one plank. Here are some pics of a plank that I just got 3 weeks ago and I browsed through about 50 before I just bought this one which will yield only six shafts. Last month I was lucky and got 2 planks that gave me 20 shafts dowels. I viewed over 200 planks for that find.
In closing I believe that after finding a reliable source that processes, treats and stores the raw material correctly the number of boards that is premium pedigree shaft wood is about 1% or less and still there is some wood areas in those planks that culled.
The shaft wood hunting is like mining for gold. You find it if you are persistent. In the end it shows up and people will understand quality in the long run. You must take the time to be anal in selection or you will be compromising.
If you disagree with my methods I can empathize. This is just my way of skinning the cat using my process system of reading the product.
IMO, There is nothing more important to your cue than the shaft and it's taper concerning playability. Everything else is secondary or less.
Good Cue Making,
Rick G.
This was just one plank that I had them put a cross cut on so it would fit in my car. Notice how straight this plank is. No crowning, cupping or twisting. There are 6 shafts here for under $20.00. Why buy dowels that are a pig in a poke when you can have the best stuff cheaper? I will bandsaw this plank after a few weeks in my shop and dowel and fat taper it for vertical storage.
According to my calculations this piece should yield 1" x 30" dowels that weigh 10.6 oz. I like that number!:
Straight grained from end to end or no go on any plank, no run out
4 Shafts at final all over 4.4 oz. from a nice piece that was stored for 5 years
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