Redwood Forearm????

Kid Dynomite

Kid Dynomite

Dennis (Michael) Wilson
Silver Member
Has anyone made a cue with a redwood forearm instead of typical maple and how did it play/come out. Would you do it again? Did you have to core it?

I got a nice peice and was curious never seen it used before and was wondering??? I am not a cue maker, just liked the peice and noticed it weighted close to maple and was extremely similar.

Thanks for all input!
Kid Dynomite
 
I had a customer who owned a small woodmilling business that only dealt with cedar. He wanted a cedar cue, but in my opinion cedar is to light and prone to too many problems for cue making. We talked about doing a cedar forearm cored with rosewood, and a thin cedar butt sleeve. In the end he found some extremely dense cedar that actualy turned out very nice. It was unlike any cedar I had ever seen, and turned like it was ebony. It was much darker than most cedars and had black streaks running through it. He told me it came from the bottom of a lake where it had been sitting for hundreds of years. I ended buying some more of that wood from him and made a cedar armoir for my wife with it.
 
WOW...bet that smelled great though, I would not want a finish, maybe a hand rubbed finish if anything on that cue. Love the smell of fresh cedar.
 
Hard maple janka rating (hardness) is around 1400. Most cue woods are around there or greater.

California redwood janka rating is published about 420. That is softer than some pines. Very soft for a cue wood to say the least.

Kelly
 
I'm working on a few bloodwood plainjanes with Birdseye maple handles to match up with the bloodwood sneaky petes I make.
 
i_maycotte said:
WOW...bet that smelled great though, I would not want a finish, maybe a hand rubbed finish if anything on that cue. Love the smell of fresh cedar.
Click to expand...

It didn't have much smell at all. I think that might be because it had been underwater for hundreds of years. On the armoir I made, I only used the underwater wood for the face frame and doors, and the rest out of regular cedar, so it smells great. It would have cost a fortune otherwise. Every time I pull an item of clothing out, I take a long deep whiff from inside before I shut the door.
 
Redwood cue?

I live in redwood country. It's a beautiful wood, but for a cue? This is a very soft, very light wood. I should think it would hit like a marshmellow. But on the other hand it would not be bothered by termites at all!!
 
Redwood Forearm

Hi:

Redwood is used all the time,by myself and other luthiers, for acoustic guitar tonewoods. I have not made a forearm out of Redwood but have made forearms and handles out of cedar and Kauri wood which is very similiar to Redwood. This is how I did it: core 3/4" with Bocote or Purple Heart. Treat the hollow forearm with Nelsonite and then a wood hardner such as Minwax Wood Hardner. Install the core dowel with epoxy. Finish the Redwood with several coats of medium CA followed with several coats of gunstock oil and then several coats of UV auto finish.

The problem with these soft woods is that they dent real easy so you must really get agressive with the wood hardner. As a side note: when I use these "soft" woods I make a core the full length of the butt (Bocote or Purple Heart).

Good luck,

Bob Flynn
denalicues@comcast.net
 
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