Properties of the woods used in Cues

[breakshot]

I thought this might be a good way to all of us to share some of the knowledge that we have on the properties of woods that are used in cues being built today, so that when we go to have a custom cue built we might be better informed and we can make choices in selecting a cue that will play great.
I thought that I would start by listing a few of the common woods and some of the properties that I'm aware of. FWIW.

Please feel free to list more woods and expand on comments, I am always looking for more info.

Thanks
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Ebony: dense, heavy, machines well, stable, good for controlling weight distribution
Cocobola: dense, heavy, machines well, stable, good for controlling weight distribution, gets darker as it ages
African Blackwood: very dense, oiley and heavy, nice deep tone tone, machines very well, very stable, good for controlling weight distribution, gets darker as it ages
Burl: very pretty, good for inlays but not structural components, very light like cork
Rosewood: there are many different varieties, check and look for the dense, heavy rosewood with alot of character, most of todays rosewood is light weight and lacking character
Birdseye & Curly maple: Great tonal properties because of highest exposure of its end grain in the eyes and the curl. great for use anywhere in the cue but its very lacking in its stability, very susceptible to warping and moving, best used with a core.
High growth ring maple: for shafts, nice deep tone, more stable
Hard rock maple: good for a core of a cue, stable, not very pretty

 

[The Schwartz]

I love the look, feel, and hit of Bocote, although I don't really know of its properties...

 

[Fat Ivory]

Coring

I'm not a fan of the widespread coring being done by many cuemakers these days. I understand the benfit of (possibly) enhanced stability, but the properies of the species you listed is virtually negated by this procedure.
Cuemakes also cite the consistency of hit from cue to cue as a benefit. I just think it's a shame.

 

[digitalcrack]

Great thread. I would love to hear what Eric Crisp, Tim Scruggs, John Showman, Joel Hercek, Ed Prewitt, Joey Bautista, and Dennis Searing would say about this subject. Maybe this thread should be moved to ask the cuemaker.

 

[ELBeau]

I thought this might be a good way to all of us to share some of the knowledge that we have on the properties of woods that are used in cues being built today, so that when we go to have a custom cue built we might be better informed and we can make choices in selecting a cue that will play great.
I thought that I would start by listing a few of the common woods and some of the properties that I'm aware of. FWIW.

Please feel free to list more woods and expand on comments, I am always looking for more info.

Thanks
-
-
Ebony: dense, heavy, machines well, stable, good for controlling weight distribution
Cocobola: dense, heavy, machines well, stable, good for controlling weight distribution, gets darker as it ages
African Blackwood: very dense, oiley and heavy, nice deep tone tone, machines very well, very stable, good for controlling weight distribution, gets darker as it ages
Burl: very pretty, good for inlays but not structural components, very light like cork
Rosewood: there are many different varieties, check and look for the dense, heavy rosewood with alot of character, most of todays rosewood is light weight and lacking character
Birdseye & Curly maple: Great tonal properties because of highest exposure of its end grain in the eyes and the curl. great for use anywhere in the cue but its very lacking in its stability, very susceptible to warping and moving, best used with a core.
High growth ring maple: for shafts, nice deep tone, more stable
Hard rock maple: good for a core of a cue, stable, not very pretty

I encourage your search for more information. Since you asked for input, I'll chip in on a few points of things I've discovered in my experience, limited though it may be.

"Good for weight distribution" is puzzling to me. Depending on what you're going for, light or heavy wood would do well for weight distribution.

Both Cocobolo and African blackwood are true rosewoods- members of the Dalbergia family which also includes East Indian Rosewood, Camatillo, Tulipwood, Palisander, Bois de Rose, Kingwood, Honduran Rosewood and Brazilian Rosewood among others. Some are as a rule more dense than others, but there are always exceptions to every rule. Most Dalbergia woods are good cue woods, though some are more stable than others.

Referring to wood simply as "Rosewood" is dangerous, because there are many woods called Rosewood that are not members of the "Dalbergia" family, such as Bolivian Rosewood, Santos Rosewood, African Rosewood (Bubinga), New Guinea Rosewood (Narra), etc.
I'm not saying those woods aren't good in cues, they're just not true Dalbergia.
That said, learning the scientific name of the wood you're looking at is better.

Burl- I have burls that are heavier than maple; others are lighter. As a rule, they're not very dense, though, and anyone using them in a cue is coring it for anything structural.

Birdseye maple and hard curly maple are from the same Acer tree as the hard rock maple and high ring count maple you're referring to as good shaftwood. It is called Acer saccharum. There's also soft or "red" maple, called Acer macrophyllum. Some cuemakers have good experience with it; others not so much.

High growth ring shafts may be more stable, but, like most things, I think that varies more with the individual piece of wood that the ring count. I'd be interested to hear about cuemakers experiences.

With all that said, it is probably best to let your cuemaker decide how best to build your cue. He should have wood in stock to be able to choose what piece will fit best in the build.

It never hurts to have an idea of what woods are and are not suitable, though, with coring, more and more types of wood show up.

Hope this was what you were looking for.

Best,
Beau

 

[Bob Jewett]

Here is a reference for the mechanical properties of various kinds of wood:

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr190/chapter_05.pdf

Here are some more references from the same site:

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/p...opic.php?groupings_id=106&sort_criteria=title

 

[RackemBilliards]

Walnut?

I was covering a table for a gun stock maker the other day and he was telling me all of the reasons they use so much walnut -mostly english walnut, I think. The properties he spoke of all seemed like ones you would want in a cue, yet I rarely see cues made using walnut. Does anyone know why? It sure made for some beautiful gun stocks.

 

[SK Custom Cues]

I was covering a table for a gun stock maker the other day and he was telling me all of the reasons they use so much walnut -mostly english walnut, I think. The properties he spoke of all seemed like ones you would want in a cue, yet I rarely see cues made using walnut. Does anyone know why? It sure made for some beautiful gun stocks.

Walnut is very light. I made a shaft out of it and i really liked the hit, but the tenon cracked. I also made a purple heart cue with a walnut handle and it hit pretty good. If I were going to use Walnut, I would definitely use some heavier woods to go along with it. Oak is also a wood that we don't see often and mahogany as well. I consider those woods to be rather boring when you have all the others to choose from, that is unless you get an exceptionally nice piece.

Bob, that PDF file is priceless. Thanks for posting it.

Also, I want to add that ebony is not stable. Out of every piece I work on, at least one out of three develop small splits here and there. Ebony is one of the more unstable woods. Also Cocobolo is a great wood and looks good, but I do not like working with it. I am slightly allergic to it as are most people. I always cover my whole body when using it.

Rosewoods are great, but as mentioned earlier, there are many different species. East Indian Rosewood is one of my favorite woods and has a nice, crisp hit to it.

Overall, straight grain maple with a nice, contrasting darker wood makes one of the best hitting cues.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I was covering a table for a gun stock maker the other day and he was telling me all of the reasons they use so much walnut -mostly english walnut, I think. The properties he spoke of all seemed like ones you would want in a cue, yet I rarely see cues made using walnut. Does anyone know why? It sure made for some beautiful gun stocks.

Not only is it light (relatively speaking) as KW said, but it is not too hard, nor not too soft, which means it checkers well (I'm sure you've seen the checkering patterns on grips and forearms). Also, some of the walnut burls and crotch woods available for gunstocks are beautiful in the extreme. :smile:

 

[Bob Callahan]

This might be useful, too:

http://www.csudh.edu/oliver/chemdata/woods.htm

 

[manwon]

I think this is a good topic for some one building cues, however, for those who are not interested in building cues the properties of the woods themselves are not as important. I personally think that there are far to many other factor's that go into purchasing a cue should be considered. Today it appears that the cues that sell very quickly are made from highly figured woods, beautiful Birdseye or fiddle Back (Flame or extreme Curly) Maple, Beautiful / Highly figured Burls, or standard woods with outstanding figure. The property that is most consistent with almost all of these different woods, is that they are in many cases not straight grained and because of their beauty will need to be cored for stability which makes the beautiful surface basically a Veneer.

Now sometimes in the case of Birdseye or Extreme flame maple the core will also be Maple which will give the buyer a hit similar to what they see on the surface but this is not always case. Many woods can be used for coring stock, and this will depend upon the balance point / weight distribution of the cue, and the desired hit that the builder is looking for.

When using heavy / dense woods such as Ebony or Lignum Vitae even though they are very stable and they hit firm to hard based upon this fact they in many cases must also be cored to again control balance / weight distribution with a less heavy / dense wood to meet a customers requirements, now this is an important point to remeber the is set in the core not in the exterior wood.

I could go on and on, I hope I have been helpful and I hope the information provided will give other something to consider when making a cue purchase.

JIMO

 

[thefonz]

to a certain degree, I don't think the type of wood being used makes as much of a difference in regard to "feel of the hit" than does the techniques and design that are used in constructing the cue especially in regard to segmented cues. i personally by cues by looks first and feel second, and i think most people do, however might not think about it that way, kinda like how our sense of taste in food is associated more by sight than it is by our tastebuds or oalfactory senses. for example, i like cocobolo burl, although it doesn't hit as nice for me as ebony, damn does it look good.

i believe the only way to fully appreciate the tonal qualities of different pieces of wood, one would be looking towards one piece full spliced cues. without a question, there is a definite discernible difference in tone and resonance when comparing once piece cues constructed of different woods. ie. soft hit - rosewood/cocobolo and ash, firm hit - maple and ebony, hard hit - purpleheart and maple....etc.

curious as to whether full splice cuemakers have a range of demo cues, all constructed from the same design (joint type, dimensions, tip and ferrule type..etc)however differing in wood combinations so that a customer can sort out a type of hit that's right for them. after all, when it comes to full splice, it's all about the hit right?