Shaft quality.

[Mr. Wiggles]

So I understand the different grades of shaft woods. AAA I guess is the best. Is there a huge difference in prices from say a to aaa. Not asking for anyone to divulge their prices but is aaa like three times more than a? I understand that a $300 stick may not warrant your best shaft wood, but at what price should one expect the best shaft. Why not just try and buy the very best and pass that on to the customer. Doesn't the better shaft wood have fewer issues with warpage? I guess I'm asking for a tutorial on shaft wood? Thanks.

 

[Michael Webb]

So I understand the different grades of shaft woods. AAA I guess is the best. Is there a huge difference in prices from say a to aaa. Not asking for anyone to divulge their prices but is aaa like three times more than a? I understand that a $300 stick may not warrant your best shaft wood, but at what price should one expect the best shaft. Why not just try and buy the very best and pass that on to the customer. Doesn't the better shaft wood have fewer issues with warpage? I guess I'm asking for a tutorial on shaft wood? Thanks.

Most of us wish it worked that way but it doesn't. There was a time back when Pieces of 8 was a great source and if the guy liked you, he would cherry pick for you for a small fee added to the price, per shaft. His place burned down and he quit. Today we buy -X- amount of pieces at a time, we know ahead of time it's going to be a mixed batch because that's the way it's sold, and salvage what we can. This is as honest as I can be with an answer for you.

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

Wood.

Most of us wish it worked that way but it doesn't. There was a time back when Pieces of 8 was a great source and if the guy liked you, he would cherry pick for you for a small fee added to the price, per shaft. His place burned down and he quit. Today we buy -X- amount of pieces at a time, we know ahead of time it's going to be a mixed batch because that's the way it's sold, and salvage what we can. This is as honest as I can be with an answer for you.

Thanks Mr. Webb. I guess I assumed there were lots of suppliers with lots of choices. Sounds like a treasure hunt.

 

[Paul Dayton]

Finding the supplier of only great shafts is a pipe dream. Mike is right. I buy 500 or 1000 pieces from JM Champeau, pick the ones I'll use and get rid of the rest. I usually end up with around 30-35%I'll use. I don't have seconds and any time during the process I see something I question, I bandsaw the piece, I bought 2oo shafts from a Pennsylvania mill 2 years ago and kept only ome shaft because it was a 11 inch piocxe wasith 2 growth tings atall

 

[Mr. Wiggles]

Shafts

Finding the supplier of only great shafts is a pipe dream. Mike is right. I buy 500 or 1000 pieces from JM Champeau, pick the ones I'll use and get rid of the rest. I usually end up with around 30-35%I'll use. I don't have seconds and any time during the process I see something I question, I bandsaw the piece, I bought 2oo shafts from a Pennsylvania mill 2 years ago and kept only ome shaft because it was a 11 inch piocxe wasith 2 growth tings atall

Thanks Paul. Interesting and alarming! So does it actually help you out if a customer just wants a Pred. Shaft. I assume most cue makers accommodate a request for ld shafts. I'm old and tried to jump on the ld bandwagon but fell off and play with a shaft made from a tree! Kind of makes you wonder why the laminated shaft companies don't come out with a non ld shaft that plays just like real wood! I guess you just can't beat mother nature!

 

[cueman]

If you are building just a few shafts per year your best bet is to just buy shafts from one of the suppliers that tapers them. Get them at about 16mm and put your finish passes on them. If you build a lot of them the supplier of partially turned top quality shafts will probably not be able to keep you supplied if you insist on all #1 shafts. We have to sell the middle grade also. So to answer about price range, there is no magic number where you should use the top grade shaft. I have seen many $1000 cues with #1.5 to #2 grade shafts on them. But I have also seen some $200 cues with #1 shafts on them. So most cues my customer base builds that are in the $300 to $400 range usually get the #1.5 shafts. Most won't use #2 or worse on any cues.
Now if you plan to build all shafts from scratch, then coring forearms and handles has become a good place to get rid of your not so pretty shafts. That will give you a place to put a third to half of your shafts. That improves your usable mix a lot.