question a bout types of cored woods

S

sluggerknuckles

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I recently read a post about purple heart as the core for a cue and there was a comment about how great it plays?

Can some of the cue makers comment on the validity of this statement? Are certain woods better suited to core a pool cue than others?

Thanks in advance
 
The only requirements that are set in stone for coring woods are:

Straight and tight grain and stability

After that, there are many variables that come into play, reducing weight, adding weight, characteristics of certain woods hit or feel, and so on and so forth.
 
Cues have been made for a 100 years & then some, without the advantage of coreing. Cues do not need coreing. Cuemakers like coreing, because they end up with what they feel is a more stable & consistant hitting piece of wood. If you find a cuemaker that cores his wood & you trust him, then have him build your cue. If your choise of a cuemaker persuades you that he can give you what you want in a playing cue, than go with him or her. It's just a matter of preference in construction. Diffent woods bring different & exciting qualities to a pool cue. Coreing makes them all just average & predictable.IN MY OPINION...JER
 
sluggerknuckles said:
I recently read a post about purple heart as the core for a cue and there was a comment about how great it plays?

Can some of the cue makers comment on the validity of this statement? Are certain woods better suited to core a pool cue than others?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Purpleheart is one of the stiffest and pingiest woods there is . A purpleheart core on a cue with a light forearm and still weighing around 19 oz or heavier will hit better than one with maple core and weight bolts ( to get to the heavy target weight ).
 
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JoeyInCali said:
Purpleheart is one of the stiffest and pingiest woods there is .
Click to expand...

You haven't tried IPE yet have you? Sounds like glass breaking when used as a break shaft. I have a break cue that is almost ready with a non-cored ebony handle, IPE forearm and IPE shaft that weights in at 23.4 oz. - no weight bolt. It is an amazing wood. There isn't any noticable deflection when breaking normally, but a hell of a spread, if racked normally. I believe Mike Sigel may have problems trying to bend it on a break:D:D
Dave
 
JoeyInCali said:
Purpleheart is one of the stiffest and pingiest woods there is . A purpleheart core on a cue with a light forearm and still weighing around 19 oz or heavier will hit better than one with maple core and weight bolts ( to get to the heavy target weight ).
Click to expand...

I do agree about PH, it's a great coring wood, and forearm wood. I currently use a break cue that I made with solid purpleheart forearm, cored ebony handle with a purpleheart shaft and it breaks really well.
It's a stiff wood and can have some great figure as well, plus most people love the deep purple color of it.
Dave
 
Dave38 said:
You haven't tried IPE yet have you? Sounds like glass breaking when used as a break shaft. I have a break cue that is almost ready with a non-cored ebony handle, IPE forearm and IPE shaft that weights in at 23.4 oz. - no weight bolt. It is an amazing wood. There isn't any noticable deflection when breaking normally, but a hell of a spread, if racked normally. I believe Mike Sigel may have problems trying to bend it on a break:D:D
Dave
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Dave,
Have you tried Brazilian ebony/gombeira as it is known in Brazil? I am selling here on AZ.
You drop one of those squares in the ground and the ping is so loud that will scare all the dogs in the neighborhood.
I am making out of that my break or playing cue, but most likely break cue. The wood is super dense and heavy and very hard.
 
have a BEM forearm customs cue with PH core that hit so solid with the Ping i wanted, being amazed how the PH work i ask another CM to build me customs cue, this time a a gaboon ebony forearm with PH core. Some people question my idea of coring the ebony but i still continue.

After completion, luckily i am not disappointed on the outcome.....it gives me the satisfaction i want. The hit is very much solid and the Ping really is so sweet music to my ears. Those who questioned me before upon trying the cue was also speechless with its performance
 
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Hi,

I core all my cues with select very dense maple dowels. I have used PH. I prefer the hit of the maple.

Rick

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sluggerknuckles said:
I recently read a post about purple heart as the core for a cue and there was a comment about how great it plays?

Can some of the cue makers comment on the validity of this statement? Are certain woods better suited to core a pool cue than others?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

I've used Purple Heart and Ipe for coring burls, they work well, help with balancing cue and very solid hitting woods.

Mario
 
I use maple and jatoba. I have used purpleheart with success. Rosewoods as well. I'd imagine ipe should a great core wood, too, if weight was wanted. I like coring for the purpose of controlling weight, balance, & tone.
 
qbilder said:
I use maple and jatoba. I have used purpleheart with success. Rosewoods as well. I'd imagine ipe should a great core wood, too, if weight was wanted. I like coring for the purpose of controlling weight, balance, & tone.
Click to expand...

Most of my cues are cored with purpleheart. I would add elimination of the "A"
joint as a major factor in my decision to make a full length core for all my cues.
 
a joint

QMAKER said:
Most of my cues are cored with purpleheart. I would add elimination of the "A"
joint as a major factor in my decision to make a full length core for all my cues.
Click to expand...

could you elaborate? i'm putting together a full length cored ph cue and wanted to know what your opinions as to pros and cons.

thanks
 
Coring

rheester said:
could you elaborate? i'm putting together a full length cored ph cue and wanted to know what your opinions as to pros and cons.

thanks
Click to expand...

Most of the pros have been all listed above. I cannot think of any cons except it may take more time and equipment than the conventional method. My word of advice would be to make sure your 29" core is dead straight, your core holes are dead straight and all your faces are dead square. If they are not you will put a bow in your core and cause yourself a lot of problems. The "A" joint (actually there is no "A" joint) end of my forearm has a 7/8"x1" socket bored into it and the core has a matching tenon. This way the forearm has a firm seat to sit on when you screw on your joint sleeve. On the butt end I thread the core 3/4-11 and thread on a matching butt cap in order to make sure the handle and butt sleeve are also in compression. The "A" joint end of the handle sits against the 7/8" tenon which is faced off square to the forearm. My website has some pics of this procedure. Good luck.
 
QMAKER said:
Most of my cues are cored with purpleheart. I would add elimination of the "A"
joint as a major factor in my decision to make a full length core for all my cues.
Click to expand...

I have tinkered with the concept & personally found none of the benefits commonly mentioned. If there were benefits, it was too little to make any difference. The only benefit I could attribute to it would be "maybe" eliminating the buzz that comes from incorrect or faulted "A" joints. Now keep my words in perspective as i'm speaking out of my own experiences & not theory or perception of what somebody else does. I like to learn things on my own before judging whether a technique is for me or not. It's very possible that folks doing one piece cores found something I didn't. There's nothing set in stone saying that you & I can do the same task & will get the same results. It's just that in this case I found no benefits that got me excited & ready to change. I actually found it cumbersome & difficult to balance & weight just as it is building a solid wood cue or full splice. With an "A" joint I can factor in the weight & balance of the cue with the design and only have to fine tune it if needed once built.

As for benefits, I cannot recall. Playability always seemed the same no matter what technique I used to assemble a cue. Longevity, well I guess only time will tell. I had already eliminated "A" joint buzz so there was no benefit there. I liked the idea & gave it a full experiment because of continuity of a solid piece of wood and thought it might enhance feel. But it didn't, any time. I tried both purpleheart and maple. On the same token I found nothing wrong with the design, either. In fact, I found little if any difference once the cue was completed. My conclusion was that regardless of technique used, the importance lies on how well the technique is executed. What matters is how solidly & cleanly joined all components are. In essence, I guess i'm saying it's not so much the technique as it is the builder. Cues can't be judged so much by the assembly technique, but more so by the craftsman executing that technique.
 
QMAKER said:
Most of the pros have been all listed above. I cannot think of any cons except it may take more time and equipment than the conventional method. My word of advice would be to make sure your 29" core is dead straight, your core holes are dead straight and all your faces are dead square. If they are not you will put a bow in your core and cause yourself a lot of problems. The "A" joint (actually there is no "A" joint) end of my forearm has a 7/8"x1" socket bored into it and the core has a matching tenon. This way the forearm has a firm seat to sit on when you screw on your joint sleeve. On the butt end I thread the core 3/4-11 and thread on a matching butt cap in order to make sure the handle and butt sleeve are also in compression. The "A" joint end of the handle sits against the 7/8" tenon which is faced off square to the forearm. My website has some pics of this procedure. Good luck.
Click to expand...

awesome.

thanks
 
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