Snakewood Widow maker cue

shoutout33

shoutout33

"The Emperor"
Silver Member
Hey people. Wanted to know if any of you would take a chance at making a all snakewood widowmaker cue? For that matter, has anyone already done it. have a chance to score some snakewood for a really good price and from a reputable company too. I just wanted to know if it can be done, because I've read that it can crack and whatnot. Thanks.
 
Certainly can be done, although coring it will help with the weight and stability. It's absolutely beautiful if you can get the good stuff!
 
Snakewood Forearm

Hi,

I just build a cue with 4 point, 4 veneers into a snakewood forearm. The veneers color were to the customers specs. I cored the snakewood with maple and it came out at under 19.5 oz with 4.3 and 4.1 oz shafts.

I had bought some expensive pieces of Snakewood at Valley Forge about 4 years ago and turned them, sealed and hung them. When the customer asked me if I could make a snakewood cue I said yes. After coring, I started the taper cuts of the forearm down to .920 there where no cracks.

After I cut the point groves I knew it was good to go after gluing the point veneers.

I had read a lot about snakewood cracking but in this case it came out very good. I think that sealing the wood and leaving the ends open for 3 years was the difference. Or, I may have just got lucky with a good grained piece. We will see how the next one comes out.

I will post pics tomorrow.

Rick
 
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So even after the cue is made, there's a possibility it can still crack?!?!? Even after it's been sealed and everything?
 
double refund cue

i bought a snakewood log that was suppose to be 25 years old. i cut it over a period of 5 years and made the double refund cue. it has a solid forearm and butt cap of snakewood that has been cored.
about 2 years after i got the cue back, it developed some hairline cracks in the forearm. i sanded it down and filled the cracks with superglue and refinished. its about a year later and so far no more cracks.
i do not really know the age of this wood, but i can tell you from this experience snakewood can move many years after a cue has been finished.


chuck starkey
 
desi2960 said:
i bought a snakewood log that was suppose to be 25 years old. i cut it over a period of 5 years and made the double refund cue. it has a solid forearm and butt cap of snakewood that has been cored.
about 2 years after i got the cue back, it developed some hairline cracks in the forearm. i sanded it down and filled the cracks with superglue and refinished. its about a year later and so far no more cracks.
i do not really know the age of this wood, but i can tell you from this experience snakewood can move many years after a cue has been finished.


chuck starkey
Click to expand...

Hi Chuck,

Did you use Gorilla Glue when you cored or West. The gorilla glue expands to fill the core annulus. Where the west can soak or piston out and create internal voids. This can be a factor for buzzing or maybe snakewood cracking due to intermittent structure. Since I have been coring with GG (2 years) there are no buzz problems. Darin Hill (Hill's Cues) told me about 1 out of 6 forearms he glued with West in the past was rejected before assembly and recored due to buzzing. After he changed to Gorilla he got zero rejects. He showed me a reject forearm and hit it with a pipe and you could hear the hollow sound. He had 5 cored units with GG and they all sound like the Rock of Gibraltar. After that demonstration by Darin, I quit using West for coring. I had 2 cues buzz in the past. Now have zero, thanks to Mr. Hill who's cues are know for there solid hit.

Just a thought.

Rick
 
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One of the things I've noticed with snakewood is it's similarity to ivory. Most of the problems are related to hairline cracks that were not detected during the assembly process.
 
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Thanks Rick, as far as snakewood goes almost all of it will crack in time even with finish on it . snakewood it over rated IMO way to expensive to have this many problems. try taking a cut on a round and don't seal it right after , this is a good test to see if your piece is stable. years back late one night while i was working and the radio was off , i was hearing this cracking sound it scared me i looked over and a piece of snakewood was cracking right before my eyes.
 
maybe wrong glue

at that time i was using 2 part 24 hr epoxy to core my cues so that might have been the hairline cracking problem, but there is no buzz and after the last refinish everything is o.k.
by the way i now use tightbond for my coring, i have been told for wood to wood applications it's the strongest glue in the world.

chuck
 
Al_Bautista_Cue said:
here is the sample..
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=188849

it is doable, with proper construction unto it.
Click to expand...

i wonder if it stayed stable till now,i used to make some custom pens fr snakewood,some would be okay,others would crack,i have 4 or 5 high end snakewood that never cracked,my reasoning that they didnt crack is they have never left my home,this wood is so hard i dont think much sinks into it,mostly sits on topthese were all sealed with epoxy and finished with superglue,on some i believe i used nelsonite but it turns them darker,this wood is so hard i dont think finish soaks into it,even sealer,to answer your question i dont think if your taking it to different location to play pool it will not crack,hope im wrong just my take on it
 
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