Type of wood to use

[JimS]

I'm about to talk to my friend a few hundred miles a way to see about having a cue built to my specs and I'm wondering what wood to use in the forearm and butt sleeve.

I want a wood handle cue either birdseye or fiddleback maple with no points, no inlays. I like what I'd describe as a rich looking dark reddish brown wood for the forearm and butt sleeve. I'm thinking cocobolo or Amboyna Burl. I seen many Cocobolo cues but I've never seen a Amboyna Burl...just a few pics of sample on the net and the sample pics look fantastic. Coco and Amboyna are the only ideas I have as of now but I'd sure like to have other suggestions.

Is Amboyna Burl good for use as a forearm or butt sleeve? Will this wood tend to add to the weight of the cue or impair the ability of the maker to produce a 18.5oz cue? Does Amboyna Burl tend to add to or diminish the playability of the cue? Would my cue maker be likely to be able to get a sample of the wood to show me before he started cutting? I mean could he order a "block" of it and then be able to return it if I didn't like the color/pattern? It'll be hard to imagine what it'll look like when it's sprayed with clear too. Any suggestions as to how I can get a better idea of the look of the finished product? I know my cue make does not have sample around his shop.

I don't know squat about construction. I just know what looks good to me and that I like a 59 to 60 inch cue, slim butt 1.185, slim tip 12.5. So are there any problems inherant in Amboyna? Cocobolo seems lilke it ought to be pretty straight forward as it's so often used.

Anyone have any other suggestions for a really pretty dark wood in the butt sleeve and forearm? A personal favorite? What wood would you use if you were having one built from scratch?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Koop]

Hi Jim,

My personal favorite is bocote but I'm not quite sure it is what you are looking for. I am currently having a cue built that is plain bocote forearm and buttsleeve. No inlays. Here is a picture of the blank to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Regards,
Dave

 

[Qnut]

I love both Cocobolo and Amboyna Burl-two of my favorite cue woods. As a matter of fact, I am currently in discussions with a cuemaker about building a custom cue with a 3 piece segmented Amboyna Burl handle and Burl points.

I've also seen Thuya & Redwood Burls and they seemed to have similar coloring to the Amboyna. I have a cue made by Greg Sirca that has a Paduak handle that has very nice coloring similar to what you described (see pics below). Edited to add: the handle isn't fully visible in the pics, but all the redish wood on the cue is also Paduak (butt cap, joint, inlays).

Cue Componants has a site where they sell tons of cuemaking supplies, and they have some good pictures of different woods. Here is the link: Cue Componants

I have heard the Amboyna Burl is very brittle, and would have to be cored with maple or something else more stable to be used as a forearm. I would imagine there are others here who could verify this.

Good luck with your project!

~Chris

 

[Jack Flanagan]

Hi Jim,

My personal favorite is bocote but I'm not quite sure it is what you are looking for. I am currently having a cue built that is plain bocote forearm and buttsleeve. No inlays. Here is a picture of the blank to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Regards,
Dave

the rest of the world just doesn't appreciate a beautiful piece of wood,,,that is 'some kinda' beautiful bacote,,,thanks for sharing....

still salivating,,,,jflan

 

[skchengdds]

I'm not a cuemaker, but any burl can be really tough to work with. Burls tend to check, crack, often need to be cored for stability, and are really tough to finish since all of those knots suck up finish and keep sucking.

Cocobolo is great, as is Bocote or Brazilian Rosewood, or even the various ebony woods. These woods tend to be heavier and can lead to a more "forward" weighted balance if not cored. Rosewoods can also be anywhere from light brown to almost black. Check out this beautiful cue:

http://www.wuscues.com/Joel Hercek/j_hercek012.htm

Kingwood is also gorgeous. Ditto for Mexican cocobolo.

Also, 1.185 is extremely thin at the buttcap. That's a pencil considering that the average joint these days is .840 to .850. I would think that 1.23 would be pretty small still even by today's standards. 12.5mm on a shaft is pretty thin too.....especially if you get a long pro taper. Whippy!!!

Here are some pics of my purdy Olney Bocote cue:

 

[Koop]

the rest of the world just doesn't appreciate a beautiful piece of wood,,,that is 'some kinda' beautiful bacote,,,thanks for sharing....

still salivating,,,,jflan

I hear ya Jack and you're very welcome!

 

[JimS]

I'm not a cuemaker, but any burl can be really tough to work with. Burls tend to check, crack, often need to be cored for stability, and are really tough to finish since all of those knots suck up finish and keep sucking.

Cocobolo is great, as is Bocote or Brazilian Rosewood, or even the various ebony woods. These woods tend to be heavier and can lead to a more "forward" weighted balance if not cored. Rosewoods can also be anywhere from light brown to almost black. Check out this beautiful cue:

http://www.wuscues.com/Joel Hercek/j_hercek012.htm

Kingwood is also gorgeous. Ditto for Mexican cocobolo.

Also, 1.185 is extremely thin at the buttcap. That's a pencil considering that the average joint these days is .840 to .850. I would think that 1.23 would be pretty small still even by today's standards. 12.5mm on a shaft is pretty thin too.....especially if you get a long pro taper. Whippy!!!

Here are some pics of my purdy Olney Bocote cue:

Thanks for the pics and the suggestions.

I have a cue that is 12.3 and it's not whippy. I have a cue on which the butt measures 1.185 and it's not too small. That's what I like and that's why I'm having the cue made...because I like those dimensions.

 

[Koop]

This cue comes as close as I can get to what you described with bocote and curly maple. I love the look but you may decide to go with a darker wood. I hear that bocote and cocobolo play very similar with coco giving a little stiffer hit.

Dave

 

[ScottR]

Hi Jim,

My personal favorite is bocote but I'm not quite sure it is what you are looking for. I am currently having a cue built that is plain bocote forearm and buttsleeve. No inlays. Here is a picture of the blank to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Regards,
Dave

That is one SWEET piece of bacote!!!

 

[ScottR]

Jim,
Here are two pics of amboyna and coco. The amboyna has the ivory inlays. As far as I'm concerned, amboyna give coco the six and out in looks. But, like they said above, it can have it's challenges when working with it; chipping, voids, etc. Sure turns out pretty though!

 

[TheBook]

I recently had a cue made out of Bocote. The wood is not as nice as DDKoop's. It is a very plane cue, ivory ferrules, stainless joint and a leather wrap. No inlays or points. It is the nicest feeling and sounding cue that I have. You feel no vibration and hardly hear anything when you hit the cue ball. The cue does have a lively feeling, not that dead thud, and almost seems as if you can feel the cue ball hitting the object ball.

When I had it made the cuemaker told me that he thought that Bocote gave the best feeling of all the woods that he has used. I took his advice and am very happy with it.

I have and shot with Lambros, SW, Gilbert, Layani, CK, S. Weston, and Schon and this cue is my favorite playing but not the best looking. It looks like a cheap house cue with no points that has a wrap and joint but plays very nice. It is not flashly and does not attract any attention.

 

[Rackin_Zack]

If you're going to use a burl for the forearm you will need to have it cored. That being said, here's some pictures of the amboyna in my cue:

 

[JimS]

Any other suggestions that don't need to be cored?

 

[cueman]

Any other suggestions that don't need to be cored?

Any burl should be cored so it limits your options. I like to use burls for the butt sleeve then inlay points into the forearm with the burl in order not to sacrifice the integrity of the cue by using a softer burl for the forearm.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com

 

[Koop]

I don't believe cocobolo or bocote need to be cored.

 

[RSB-Refugee]

Any other suggestions that don't need to be cored?

I think a well figured birdseye cue with a purpleheart handle would look nice. Or bacote with purpleheart, or zebrawood with cored ebony. There are so many beautiful woods, the possibilities are endless.

Tracy

 

[skchengdds]

I think a well figured birdseye cue with a purpleheart handle would look nice. Or bacote with purpleheart, or zebrawood with cored ebony. There are so many beautiful woods, the possibilities are endless.

Tracy

Most cuemakers have their favorite woods to work with. If you ask "nicely", you can usually get a special piece of beautifully figured wood for the forearm and the butt piece. Darker woods tend to be heavier, denser, and lend to more forward balanced cues. Just to list some of the woods that I have had cues made from include:

Cocobolo, rosewood, bocote, kingwood, ebony (gabon and madagascar), ziricote, claro walnut, tulipwood, pau ferro, and purpleheart.

Here's a pic of some awesome forearms:

http://www.galynx.com/jolney/pic_2_prongs_large.htm

Any of these woods can look incredible with that "special" piece to start off with. I treasure the truly beautiful pieces of wood more than the inlayed dots and circles.

sherwin

 

[JimS]

I recognize the birdsye's, the fiddleback, the bocote. What are the two others? The reddish one second from left and the on on the right?

I'm thinking of going with Tulipwood and Cocobolo. Either way. Tulip handle/coco butt sleeve & forearm or Coco handle tulip butt/forearm. Or..... highly figured maple for the butt and forearm with either tulip or coco handle.

I'm getting confused. Lots of pretty pics in my head.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the pictures in my head. It's nice to be able to get ideas from all of you. Keep'm coming!

 

[skchengdds]

I recognize the birdsye's, the fiddleback, the bocote. What are the two others? The reddish one second from left and the on on the right?

I'm thinking of going with Tulipwood and Cocobolo. Either way. Tulip handle/coco butt sleeve & forearm or Coco handle tulip butt/forearm. Or..... highly figured maple for the butt and forearm with either tulip or coco handle.

I'm getting confused. Lots of pretty pics in my head.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the pictures in my head. It's nice to be able to get ideas from all of you. Keep'm coming!

The one on the left is tulipwood, and the one on the right is cocobolo. I think tulipwood would look good with ebony or figured maple......I don't know about cocobolo. I recently got a picture of a tulipwood/purpleheart and I thought it looked "different".

Another wood that looks really neat with all of the needle figuring is palm. Black or red. Really neat looking stuff......

Whatever you get, I'm sure it will turn out NICE.

sherwin

 

[skchengdds]

I recognize the birdsye's, the fiddleback, the bocote. What are the two others? The reddish one second from left and the on on the right?

I'm thinking of going with Tulipwood and Cocobolo. Either way. Tulip handle/coco butt sleeve & forearm or Coco handle tulip butt/forearm. Or..... highly figured maple for the butt and forearm with either tulip or coco handle.

I'm getting confused. Lots of pretty pics in my head.

Thanks to all who have contributed to the pictures in my head. It's nice to be able to get ideas from all of you. Keep'm coming!

BTW, which cuemaker will be building your cue?