Lol ever buy any Honduran rosewood burl? Ebony?
Rarest Exotic woods
- Thread starter Dwalk70
- Start date
That's not really true if you have priced high grade amboyna burl stick lately.
But other than on a South West cue, the chosen cue woods and veneers (if any) seldom add significant value beyond the now common upcharge for Gaboon ebony. Choosing a pleasing combination of woods without uncommon specs will help make the cue appeal to a wider range of people and help it sell easier. True Brazilian rosewood would be an exception but the added value would only happen with a cue made by a top tier cuemaker with demand for his product.
I guess I could have simply said if I pay 300 for a piece of wood my upcharge would be 900.
Most of these woods I am referring to can not be replaced today. If by chance you do find a replacement you'll pay thru the nose.
I'm not talking about a piece of PH or BE maple.
Example... 1.5x18 handpicked BR tulipwood and Kingwood was put on my shelves for $11 ea and very plentiful when I made my first purchase.
If the customer does not pay to replace my inventory I'll soon not have any wood to build a cue with unless I start back at square one.
Just curious how does a business survive if the customer doesn't replace my wood inventory?
My original statement was only an example of how I get there.
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No worries. After your first response to the OP tells me you would never be one of my customers anyway.
No one said the wood was a major cost. However you can have all the knowledge and tools in the world.
No wood.....no cue.
I have many times. I flew to CA and met with man who had containers full of HRB.
Ebony....I only want solid black because that's what my top customers want me to sell them.
Good wood is getting harder to locate and purchase.
I am a big fan of Honduran Rosewood Burl. It does cost more for highly figured, ultra figured, eyes etc. The other thing is for it to be CITES approved I believe cue makers won’t touch it unless so due to penalty under law. I’m not a cue maker just my opinion. I would think all of those parameters would definitely led to a cost increase as well as value.
I went thru the process to acquire the import permits. Time consuming and of course there's an additional cost. You basically give the government the right to show up at your place and confiscate anything they feel necessary to convict you if they feel there's any funny business going on.
You have to be running a legit business and can't be selling product out your back door and not claiming taxes on it. That there alone would cut out about 90% of those who are building cues.
Got me CURLY PINK IVORY.
And I will surely not charge just 3 times it's cost.
That's a great question!
All the pink ivory wood I’ve seen in 6-7 shops was straight grain
Wait. The second reason for how much you charge. I have to pay for the replacement piece and the next guy has to pay for that piece to be used in his cue?Dalbergia woods are the most common for upcharges. Ask someone to build you a Brazilian tulipwood forearm and back sleeve (a nice strawberry colored one)! Last ones I looked at were going to cost me $300 a stick. That means I would need to upcharge $900 for just the wood before I even start the build.
Why you ask?
I need to be reimbursed for my original $300 purchase.
I need to replace the piece I just used for your cue which will cost me $300
Because the wood is highly sought after and very seldom available in the sizes/color I need, I will need to upcharge for cost of the market bearing price.
This is just one example......
The list continues to grow with the sparsity of "quality" true dalbergia rosewoods becoming harder to acquire. These are the woods that quality, solid cues can be built from. Granted, there are other quality woods.....your Hard Maples, PH, Bubinga, Ebonies, Chechen, Grenadillo, etc.
I'll throw a few burls in that group, however, a quality piece of Amboyna is going to create a bit of an upcharge.
So choosing the correct wood does enhance the value of your cue as much as the person who has built it.
of course your stock of wood has to be paid by the customers ! of commun sense...
A stock of materials has a cost , whatever the margin on the wood is, the stock has to be paid, and when it comes to business, the sooner , the better ...
It is a business, not a hobby ...
A stock of materials has a cost , whatever the margin on the wood is, the stock has to be paid, and when it comes to business, the sooner , the better ...
It is a business, not a hobby ...
It looks very different than this finished. I have finished pictures somewhere from 20 plus years ago. Found it. Before I even used a computer.
Lmao
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I’ll be damned, I’ve never seen it, or don’t recall seeing it. I think it’s I’ve never seen it. What I saw was straight grain pink wood with very faint growth rings. I remember the very first piece was at SouthWest. I seen it at Tony’s Black Boar-seems like that was cut round(dowels), Ernie’s shop, can’t recall if I saw it at Barry’s or Searing(he has the all time greatest piece of tulip wood). Another refined had some very small scraps to cut into inlays-too small to tell.
Thank you very much for that pic. I like learning or relearning lol new things.
Again my very best
Fatboy
Edit : I think I have one cue with some in it, seems like it’s a Gus or Barry. I’ll have to have a look
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Well written.Dalbergia woods are the most common for upcharges. Ask someone to build you a Brazilian tulipwood forearm and back sleeve (a nice strawberry colored one
Why you ask?
I need to be reimbursed for my original $300 purchase.
I need to replace the piece I just used for your cue which will cost me $300
Because the wood is highly sought after and very seldom available in the sizes/color I need, I will need to upcharge for cost of the market bearing price.
This is just one example......
The list continues to grow with the sparsity of "quality" true dalbergia rosewoods becoming harder to acquire. These are the woods that quality, solid cues can be built from. Granted, there are other quality woods.....your Hard Maples, PH, Bubinga, Ebonies, Chechen, Grenadillo, etc.
I'll throw a few burls in that group, however, a quality piece of Amboyna is going to create a bit of an upcharge.
So choosing the correct wood does enhance the value of your cue as much as the person who has built it.
Desert Ironwood BURL was my expensived wood ever I had buy.
Yeah dark Tulipwood is really hard to get
AmenI’ll be damned, I’ve never seen it, or don’t recall seeing it. I think it’s I’ve never seen it. What I saw was straight grain pink wood with very faint growth rings. I remember the very first piece was at SouthWest. I seen it at Tony’s Black Boar-seems like that was cut round(dowels), Ernie’s shop, can’t recall if I saw it at Barry’s or Searing(he has the all time greatest piece of tulip wood). Another refined had some very small scraps to cut into inlays-too small to tell.
Thank you very much for that pic. I like learning or relearning lol new things.
Again my very best
Fatboy
Thank you Eric. I like learning too.
I was just thinking about it. I have one Barry for sure with pink ivory wood. It’s a pretty fancy older Barry.