ghj26563047
Registered
The more northern,more better?So probably is Quebec? Ontario? Or?
The TOP Quality maple for shafts source area is?
- Thread starter ghj26563047
- Start date
You mean raw lumber? Or partial shaft blanks? Maple is north wood so anywhere from Michigan on up. They call it Canadian Maple for a reason. https://www.kretzlumber.com/everything-you-need-to-know-hard-maple/
Why is Canadian Rock Hard Maple best for shafts. It is very dense, which to me means heavy and that to me means more deflection.
Lots of cue buyers seem to want a perfectly clear, white shaft. Then there are the snooker players with the large, dark chevrons on their ash shafts. Form versus function.
.........'stashed' hanging in a corner of few savvy builders shops. Believe most of the 'real' old growth maple has been harvested many years ago
ghj26563047
Registered
For maple dowels,which are best supplier?
JMC? Atlas? Cueman? CueStock? Joe?
JMC? Atlas? Cueman? CueStock? Joe?
Used to be a builder that was fortunate enough to harvest his own maple. You want hard or rock maple, rumor has it that meucci's noodle shafts were soft maple. I had one in the early eighties and it sure seemed possible!
Anyway, I forget just why but I heard the best shaft wood came from the slope, not the top of a hill or the bottom. The top and bottom both created flaws.
The main problem with getting quality maple is the veneer industry. The logs are bought and hauled to factory ships just offshore. They are peeled much like a pencil except end to end and used as the outer veneer on high dollar plywood. A log is worth far more as veneer than as a cue shaft until the last few years. With the soaring prices of all shafts the buyers may be able to compete with the veneer cutters, baseball bat makers, and a few others now, I don't know.
One thing, to get the ring count buyers want is very tough. You need old and slow growth logs. Often a blank has a high ring count but isn't consistent from side to side too. Basically one dark ring and one light ring represents one year growth. Need a cold and dry year, about twenty back to back for just one ring of blanks.
When I had a few gross of blanks to choose from I culled some for junk wood to use around the shop, then I had utility and various higher grades of shaft wood. I used the lower end of shaft grade for my own shafts. I was surprised to learn that around ten very consistent rings hit better in my opinion than fifteen or twenty rings that weren't consistently spaced side to side and end to end.
My best personal shaft was a twelve ring count that was consistent side to side and end to end. Most importantly, it passed the ping test on both ends. I had inch and a quarter subflooring for the floor of my shop and floor joists twelve inches on center sitting on lots of pilings. The sound a blank made bouncing it off of the floor over a joist was the ping test. Regardless of other attributes, never had a bad shaft if it pinged good.
All I know about shafts and a little more! Well except for a secret that I promised not to divulge on a public forum.
Hu
Anyway, I forget just why but I heard the best shaft wood came from the slope, not the top of a hill or the bottom. The top and bottom both created flaws.
The main problem with getting quality maple is the veneer industry. The logs are bought and hauled to factory ships just offshore. They are peeled much like a pencil except end to end and used as the outer veneer on high dollar plywood. A log is worth far more as veneer than as a cue shaft until the last few years. With the soaring prices of all shafts the buyers may be able to compete with the veneer cutters, baseball bat makers, and a few others now, I don't know.
One thing, to get the ring count buyers want is very tough. You need old and slow growth logs. Often a blank has a high ring count but isn't consistent from side to side too. Basically one dark ring and one light ring represents one year growth. Need a cold and dry year, about twenty back to back for just one ring of blanks.
When I had a few gross of blanks to choose from I culled some for junk wood to use around the shop, then I had utility and various higher grades of shaft wood. I used the lower end of shaft grade for my own shafts. I was surprised to learn that around ten very consistent rings hit better in my opinion than fifteen or twenty rings that weren't consistently spaced side to side and end to end.
My best personal shaft was a twelve ring count that was consistent side to side and end to end. Most importantly, it passed the ping test on both ends. I had inch and a quarter subflooring for the floor of my shop and floor joists twelve inches on center sitting on lots of pilings. The sound a blank made bouncing it off of the floor over a joist was the ping test. Regardless of other attributes, never had a bad shaft if it pinged good.
All I know about shafts and a little more! Well except for a secret that I promised not to divulge on a public forum.
Hu
ghj26563047
Registered
UP UP
That beautiful white shaft is created by forced drying. Vacuum and moderate heat. I don't remember the heat, I think about 185F but that may be in error. Takes about three weeks to dry wood this way, again, from old memory. The wood with more color is likely be dried more slowly to make a better shaft even if it ain't in style.
As you probably know, the very dark grain on ash shafts comes from a quick wipe with dye so players can use it to aim with. I sometimes used indexing marks somebody had put on a house cue the same way, turning it side to side to indicate where the tip was really hitting the cue ball when using side.
Hu
Deflection does not equal good or bad shafts. It's the hit feel and sturdiness that we are talking about here.
I thought deflection was determined by the weight of the first 8 inches of the shaft. The heavier, the more deflection.
Yes but the deflection of a shaft does not equal how "good" the shaft is. It's just one property of it. Some want lower deflection, some want the "normal" amount a standard shaft has. It's like saying how good a drink is by how much alcohol it has, not everyone wants that in a drink.
I found that while making shafts it was very important to turn a shaft down a little every month or so. While in this process some shafts vibrated more than others while spinning on the lathe. The ones that did not vibrate at each of these steps ended up being the best.
Sounds a lot like how I did it. I had found some wire shelves with one inch on center holes. I would hang shafts vertically and turn a bit off every few months. Six or eight turnings to get near final dimensions. I gave up my cue shop when my eight year old river of wood was lost in a hurricane.
Hu
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
Damn storms are a bitch.
I have some maple, maybe enough for ten shafts. It was given to me from an elderly man many years ago. He claimed that his Grandfather cut it from very old trees. If I remember correctly it has near 60 growth rings per inch. I am not sure if it would be good for shafts or not?
If dropped on the floor it sounds almost like glass. I made a post about it years ago showing a picture of a cross section next to a ruler.
If dropped on the floor it sounds almost like glass. I made a post about it years ago showing a picture of a cross section next to a ruler.
The maple in your picture looks very dense but cue makers are also looking for is straight grain. When looking down the shaft they would like to see the layers of growth rings to run parallel down the length of the shaft.
I am not sure if color is important now as it was in the 1980s everyone wanted light color maple for shafts. The color in the picture of your maple looks very yellow.
My thoughts do not mean that your maple will not make good shaft wood rather I am describing what cue makers in the 1980s were looking for.
I traded some shaft wood to Gus as part payment for my Szamboti cue. The only question Gus asked me was, "Where did the tree grow?".
ghj26563047
Registered
UP UP