Searching For a Cue Maker To Tackle a Custom Kielwood Cue Shaft

Have you looked at how Bob Owen tapers his cue shafts? Obviously owning 2 of his cues and discussing his design approach at great length over the years, IMO, it would look just fine. Besides, the initial 15” of shaft is what I see when
aiming. Still dumbfounded how difficult it’s become finding anyone to build what Cory is already successfully making.
 
Well, the search continues and am awaiting word back from Jacoby if they can build a KW shaft with my specs.
I don’t hold out much hope but at least they said they consider it and let me know but it’s been a couple days.

It sure appears Cory Barnhart is able to build what other cue makers can’t, won’t or perhaps are doubtful they could.
Well, thank goodness I at least have one radial shaft made by Cory; it does play superb. His RMS shafts are great.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Well, the search continues and am awaiting word back from Jacoby if they can build a KW shaft with my specs.
I don’t hold out much hope but at least they said they consider it and let me know but it’s been a couple days.

It sure appears Cory Barnhart is able to build what other cue makers can’t, won’t or perhaps are doubtful they could.
Well, thank goodness I at least have one radial shaft made by Cory; it does play superb. His RMS shafts are great.
Click to expand...

You have been diligent in your search for sure. Looks like the issue isn't not wanting to make it as it is more in finding a heavy blank in a sea of lighter wood.

I got some curly "Kielwood" blanks a while ago. I had no experience with them, so I decided to make myself a shaft first to see how it goes.

It is .840" at the joint (.850" when I get the finish on it) 12.6mm at the tip with a 12" pro taper. I do not have a bar or CNC yet, so it is hand tapered. Phenolic insert 3/8-10 modified joint tread.

This is my first attempt at one and I expected it to be lighter, but I was surprised it ended up heavier than the 3.8oz regular maple shaft I made originally for my cue. I couldn't wait to finish the finish on the joint and took it to league for a test spin last night in the raw. I'll finish it this weekend.

I enjoyed playing with it. I was more focused on the game so I do need to go just practice with it a bit so I can pay better attention to the shaft.

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That is indeed one of the prettiest KW shafts I’ve ever viewed and immediately, it reminded me of a Joel Hercek cue. I very much appreciate and trust your opinion. JoeyInCali posted some time ago the real challenge was finding a suitably heavy blank. He guesstimated it had tube in the 11+ oz. weight range. You just produced a magnificent shaft and it has enormous curbside appeal. And the biggest surprise was reading that the torrification weight reduction did not happen. Additionally, the KW shaft you just produced was within my shaft parameters and the diameter was smaller than 12.75mm which I’m otherwise imagining would render the shaft a little bit lighter than a 12.75mm shaft.

In fact, what you just achieved sort of contradicts what I understood happens when a shaft is kiln roasted. How much moisture did you strive to reintroduce? If the temperature or roasting time was different, any notion on how the shaft appearance would change? I am looking for two more KW shafts (.840 collar) but with just a little longer taper of 2-4”
in a 12.75mm KW shaft with a 3/8x10 thread and also a 3/8x11. My two Jerry R. and Ed Prewitt cues are 3/8 x10 flat
faced and both my Bob Owen cues are 3/8x11 flat faced. The only cue my Cory Barnhart shaft fits is my Tim Scruggs.

I know you don’t need to drum up business because I’ve viewed your great cue making examples on this website for years. If you ever do produce a shaft that falls within my parameters, it has a future home with me. It sure sounds like you have the good fortune, skills, wood sources or whatever is needed to manufacture a KW shaft that so far no one has stepped up to say…I Could Build Your KW Shaft When Are You Ready To Order……thank you for caring enough about my thread to post photos & explain what you’ve accomplished that apparently isn’t really as rare as Hen’s Teeth.

Put a Stickem reminder on your bulletin board that I’m your potential customer on the sidelines if you could pull it off.
By the way, the shaft you posted pics of is prettier than any Tsunami KW shaft I’ve seen. Just make a bunch and you’d
sell ‘em all if the shafts resembled the one you just made. I’ll ask the readers of this thread……Is this shaft gorgeous?

I believe KW is the future, not CF, since wood and pool cues go together like a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich. No,
I’m not just being stubborn, sentimental about pool cues or resisting technology changes. Wood plays different than a
synthetic composite material. You might prefer one over the other for your own reasons but personally, nothing feels
better than the hit of a wood shaft when it is correctly matched (weight proportionality) with a cue butt versus any CF.

In closing, let me leave you with this thought. You might get to drive the pace car when it comes to building Kielwood
shafts. If you specialize in building KW shafts that resemble like this and can build shafts a little heavier than your peers,
I know you would become leader of the pack in KW cue shafts. You could charge whatever you want because others seemingly aren’t able, or willing, to build a KW cue shaft you already can. Thank you again for posting and the photos.
 
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Bavafongoul said:
That is indeed one of the prettiest KW shafts I’ve viewed. I viewed that shaft and I immediately thought of a Joel Hercek cue. I very much appreciate and value your comments. JoeyInCali posted some time ago that the challenge was finding a suitably heavy blank. He guesstimated it had tube in the 11+ oz. weight range. You just produced a magnificent shaft and it has enormous curbside appeal. And the biggest surprise was reading that the torrification weight reduction did not happen. Additionally, the KW shaft you just produced was within my shaft parameters and the diameter was smaller than 12.75mm which I’m otherwise imagining would render the shaft a little bit lighter than a 12.75mm shaft.

In fact, what you just achieved sort of contradicts what I understood happens when a shaft is kiln roasted. How much moisture did you strive to reintroduce? If the temperature or roasting time was different, any notion on how the shaft appearance would change? I am looking for two more KW shafts (.840 collar) but with just a little longer taper of 2-4”
in a 12.75mm KW shaft with a 3/8x10 thread and also a 3/8x11. My two Jerry R. and Ed Prewitt cues are 3/8 x10 flat
faced and both my Bob Owen cues are 3/8x11 flat faced. The only cue my Cory Barnhart shaft fits is my Tim Scruggs.

I know you don’t need to drum up business because I’ve viewed your great cue making examples on this website for years. If you ever do produce a shaft that falls within my parameters, it has a future home with me. It sure sounds like you have the good fortune, skills, wood sources or whatever is needed to manufacture a KW shaft that so far no one has stepped up to say…I Could Build Your KW Shaft When Are You Ready To Order……thank you for caring enough about my thread to post photos & explain what you’ve accomplished that apparently isn’t really as rare as Hen’s Teeth.

Put a Stickem reminder on your bulletin board that I’m your potential customer on the sidelines if you could pull it off.
By the way, the shaft you posted pics of is prettier than any Tsunami KW shaft I’ve seen. Just make a bunch and you’d
sell ‘em all if the shafts resembled the one you just made. I’ll ask the readers of this thread……Is this shaft gorgeous?

I believe KW is the future, not CF, since wood and pool cues go together like a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich. No,
I’m not just being stubborn or sentimental about pool cues and technological advances. Wood plays different than a
synthetic composite material. You might prefer one over the other for your own reasons but personally, nothing feels
better than the hit of a wood shaft when it is correctly matched (weight proportionality) with a cue butt versus any CF.

In closing, let me leave you with this thought. You might get to drive the pace car when it comes to building Kielwood
shafts. If you specialize in building shaft that look like this one and can build shafts a little heavier than your peers, I know you would become leader of the pack in KW cue shafts. Charge whatever you want because others seemingly aren’t able, or willing, to build a KW cue shaft you already can. Thank you again for posting and tge photos. i genuinely appreciate it.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the kind words. I do like it. I thought my maple shaft was smooth, but this stuff gets amazingly smooth.

My 32" blanks were already partially tapered so I did not get a weight when in dowel form. Now with a 1.03" to .600" taper they are between 7.2 and 8.8 oz
The 30" blanks are still squares. I will have to track the weights when they get turned. Currently in 1.05" square form they are 12 to 14.4 plain and 14 to 15 curly.
Based only on what I have in hand the curly is heavier than the plain. Might not be the norm??

Currently my limitation for your specs is the tooling. Should I make that investment in the near future I will let you know.
 
SSDiver2112 said:
Thank you for the kind words. I do like it. I thought my maple shaft was smooth, but this stuff gets amazingly smooth.

My 32" blanks were already partially tapered so I did not get a weight when in dowel form. Now with a 1.03" to .600" taper they are between 7.2 and 8.8 oz
The 30" blanks are still squares. I will have to track the weights when they get turned. Currently in 1.05" square form they are 12 to 14.4 plain and 14 to 15 curly.
Based only on what I have in hand the curly is heavier than the plain. Might not be the norm??

Currently my limitation for your specs is the tooling. Should I make that investment in the near future I will let you know.
Click to expand...
By now, if it wasn’t already apparent, please indulge my attempt to be lucidly clear for any reader of my post.
I’m not going to change my specs for a shaft. That is cast in stone as a guiding principle for the last 2 decades.

I will either get what I want or just keep wishing I could. It’s the same way with a Joel Hercek cue I could never
locate and I had major cue dealers trying to find one. After I spoke with Joel, I understood why it was so difficult.

Nonetheless, I didn’t change my specs and passed up cues that were too heavy, the shafts too thick or thin but never too light (always 4 ozs.+ ), joint was piloted, or the points weren’t ebony. Despite that these other cues were attractively priced and truly handsome, the cues didn’t meet my specs which all my other cues, except the Runde Schon, have.

So I either get what I want or go without but settling never comes into mind when you know what you want and like.
I don’t care if a steak was Kobe Beef & free, if it’s cooked well done, I’m not eating it and sure as hell never ordering it.

When it comes to pool cues, I am inflexible about what I want and after personally speaking with famous cue makers,
I know I am right in my beliefs about pool cue anatomy because it parallels exactly how they built great pool cues. So
I do understand how people can misconstrue my adamancy about how I want my pool cues built just like the “Greats”.
 
Bavanfongoul,
I've been following this thread from the beginning. More than once you have mentioned "when a shaft gets roasted", as if individual squares or rounds are getting treated. All of my information about roasted wood is that fairly large billets or boards are placed into a kiln and then a somewhat intricate heating and cooling cycle is applied, lasting for 24 hours or longer. Then the wood is cooled and shipped to the buyer where it is cut down to useable sizes. Is that not the information you have received?
 
GBCues said:
Bavanfongoul,
I've been following this thread from the beginning. More than once you have mentioned "when a shaft gets roasted", as if individual squares or rounds are getting treated. All of my information about roasted wood is that fairly large billets or boards are placed into a kiln and then a somewhat intricate heating and cooling cycle is applied, lasting for 24 hours or longer. Then the wood is cooled and shipped to the buyer where it is cut down to useable sizes. Is that not the information you have received?
Click to expand...
They start large as they will warp. They are then planed and sawed to size .
Even with regular kiln, they start large and the case hardening are planed out .
 
JoeyInCali said:
They start large as they will warp. They are then planed and sawed to size .
Even with regular kiln, they start large and the case hardening are planed out .
Click to expand...
Joey……thank you for answering because I really didn’t know the answer and you spared me the embarrassment
of publicly acknowledging that I did not know. However, I have made it a point of writing that I do not purport to be
an expert on building pool cues which you and your peers are. I’m simply a strong minded buyer with specific needs.

BTW, you were the first person to respond to my threads that had something constructive to say by explaining what is
needed to produce a KW shaft exactly like I want. Just as you wrote, it’s hard finding someone with the req’d wood to
produce a heavier KW shaft than is typically produced. I do appreciate your straightforward, well intended demeanor.
It was not only refreshing but informative, reassuring & validated that I’m not just whistling Dixie because it’s possible.

And if you ever come across the wood needed to build the KW shaft I want, if I haven’t procured it by that time, then you
have a customer in waiting with me. You’ve been the most responsive and don’t have any skin in this game, i.e., topic.
 
Bavafongoul said:
Joey……thank you for answering because I really didn’t know the answer and you spared me the embarrassment
of publicly acknowledging that I did not know. However, I have made it a point of writing that I do not purport to be
an expert on building pool cues which you and your peers are. I’m simply a strong minded buyer with specific needs.

BTW, you were the first person to respond to my threads that had something constructive to say by explaining what is
needed to produce a KW shaft exactly like I want. Just as you wrote, it’s hard finding someone with the req’d wood to
produce a heavier KW shaft than is typically produced. I do appreciate your straightforward, well intended demeanor.
It was not only refreshing but informative, reassuring & validated that I’m not just whistling Dixie because it’s possible.

And if you ever come across the wood needed to build the KW shaft I want, if I haven’t procured it by that time, then you
have a customer in waiting with me. You’ve been the most responsive and don’t have any skin in this game, i.e., topic.
Click to expand...
Have you looked in the for sale section lately? There is a Barnhart cue with a roasted maple shaft at 4.12 oz for the shaft. So somebody had one made I guess.
 
muskyed said:
Have you looked in the for sale section lately? There is a Barnhart cue with a roasted maple shaft at 4.12 oz for the shaft. So somebody had one made I guess.
Click to expand...
Cory is the only one that consistently builds roasted maple shafts that meets my shaft recipe. I don’t remember seeing
the shaft you’re referring to but that would be even better than mine. But the last thing I want nor need is a 2nd KW shaft made by Cory. He only builds radial shafts and I already have one of his. Now I want a 3/8x10 and 3/8x11 shaft so all my flat joint cues have a KW shaft that fits. As long as the shaft meets my guidelines, it could be 3.8 ozs - 4.2 ozs but I do require 3 different big pins as previously explained in my other posts and threads about finding a cue maker that will build a heavier KW shaft than other cue makers make. I hired a cue maker to build my KW shafts and they seemed confident they will build what I want. I also learned about a few cue makers that seem ready and capable but happen to be names I was unfamilar with. I was surprised by how many cue makers said they don’t have the right type of wood to build what I want but persistence paid off. My shafts are ordered; along the way, I learned of a few cue makers for future needs involving additional KW cue shafts.



build what I wanted
 
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