Vacuum kiln

Wes has a much larger shop than myself, and inside it he has a sealed room where he hangs finish sized shafts & assembled cues. He keeps it at around 45%, I think, not totally sure. It feels so nice stepping into that room!!! My shop is tiny, only 8'x18' with a door & small window. I tried the humidifier thing for a bit but couldn't keep up with it. I'm gonna have to get a better one that can run with a humidistat, but have absolutely no spare room. So far no problems with finish size stuff, even shipping to SE Asia.

Dave, where are you at? Sounds like you are out here in lala land somewhere, huh?
 
On an earlier thread some were talking about shafts that have been run through a doweler and coming out not straight. I don't know what the company that I buy from uses to make their blanks round but when I receive them they are straight and almost always stay that way. I do dip my shafts three times in Nelsonite. After the first, third and fifth pass.
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including my sources and the guy i work for i have 4-5 different shaft companies dowells,and none of them are dead straight when i they are 1" dowells.it doesn't really matter though.i only care what they do after the first few passes.if they move 2-3 times in the 5-6 cuts they get then i will not use them.so far the wood i have bee using never moved at all.

i think there is definitely a problem with the wood and yes the guy will refund the order if they don't stay straight.the "regimine has worked for me in the past with zero waste.i never use Nelsonite,don't like the stuff.


from my experience air dried and kiln dried Maple has a better feel for shaftwood.that has been my experience.
 
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qbilder said:
Wes has a much larger shop than myself, and inside it he has a sealed room where he hangs finish sized shafts & assembled cues. He keeps it at around 45%, I think, not totally sure. It feels so nice stepping into that room!!! My shop is tiny, only 8'x18' with a door & small window. I tried the humidifier thing for a bit but couldn't keep up with it. I'm gonna have to get a better one that can run with a humidistat, but have absolutely no spare room. So far no problems with finish size stuff, even shipping to SE Asia.

Dave, where are you at? Sounds like you are out here in lala land somewhere, huh?
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I feel your pain.....I started out in one half of a 2 car garage.....later got promoted to a full 2 car size and when we built the new house 3 yrs ago finally got comfortable with shop size.

Not out far enough!...........I would prefer to be out where the UPS and FedEx people would have to call for directions. Unfortunately someone has to commute. I am approx. 30 miles due east of Chase Field which is in downtown Phoenix. Close to lala.....but still in the hair of it!
 
qbilder said:
Yeah, looking at that possibility. We don't lack the heat down here, nor the aridness. We usually have a tough time keeping wood from spider web cracking. Drying out happens fast out here, so slowing that process I think might be best. Today was nearly 90 with 9% humidity.
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my dad has a solar kiln he built. Basically a glass addition to his wood shed. Isn't fancy, but it does help dry the wood. He likes to get trees milled, so he needed something. Not sure if he's ever done any time studies to see how well it works though.
 
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BarenbruggeCues said:
HUMIDIFIER..............geezzzzzsh........can't you follow directions?

I put about 5 gallons in it every 3-4 days.
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That's not too bad.
About the same as your root beer comsumption.
 
masonh said:
i never use Nelsonite,don't like the stuff.

Tried it once...but never inhaled!


from my experience air dried and kiln dried Maple has a better feel for shaftwood.that has been my experience.

Stop it....your confusing me. What other kinds are there?
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BarenbruggeCues said:
I feel your pain.....I started out in one half of a 2 car garage.....later got promoted to a full 2 car size and when we built the new house 3 yrs ago finally got comfortable with shop size.

Not out far enough!...........I would prefer to be out where the UPS and FedEx people would have to call for directions. Unfortunately someone has to commute. I am approx. 30 miles due east of Chase Field which is in downtown Phoenix. Close to lala.....but still in the hair of it!
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Wes & I are coming through Phoenix in mid May. I'm playing the BCA team event in Vegas. We are hitting a wood supplier in your area, one in Tuscon & looking for some in Vegas.
 
If you guys have any doubts call Boone Bell or Eric at Bell Forest Products because they have a special kiln , up until a short while ago only 2 in the country ... they produce and supply alot of maple ... 99.999% of what I've purchased was good ... they are busy but nice people and glad to help ... Good wood is hard to find and like gas will increase in price , so get it while you can ... Kiln dried is fine with me ... If the ball doesn't go in you don't get paid ...
 
I know Boone & Eric both. I visit them about once a year while i'm in UP Michigan, about to see them again in a few weeks. I go on wood hunting trips regularly, pulling my trailer behind the pick-up. As much as I really like Bell Forest & their employees, and love hassling them for a day or two per year, they are small fry in the lumber world. There are three outfits within 500 miles of Bell that all have traditional kilns that are as large as a football feild. None are even remotely interested in offering wood to cuemakers, though. The grading is so different & the profit wouldn't outweigh the cost of a specialized grader for cue lumber, or mill outfit.

The last maple I got came from Indianna. It's whiter than most of anything I have seen from Michigan or Ontario, straight grained & incredibly dense. There'll be no sub 4oz shafts from this stuff. It was traditionally kiln dried to 6% & is as white & clean as vacuum dried wood. Indianna is reported by some cuemakers to be too far south for good cue wood.
 
Eric Wynne said:
If you guys have any doubts call Boone Bell or Eric at Bell Forest Products because they have a special kiln , up until a short while ago only 2 in the country ... they produce and supply alot of maple ... 99.999% of what I've purchased was good ... they are busy but nice people and glad to help ... Good wood is hard to find and like gas will increase in price , so get it while you can ... Kiln dried is fine with me ... If the ball doesn't go in you don't get paid ...
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They are good people there.
I wish I can drive there and cull shaft woods . :)
 
JoeyInCali said:
They are good people there.
I wish I can drive there and cull shaft woods . :)
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I have bought quite a lot of wood from BellForrest over the years although not that much anymore. Two or three years ago I bought 50 pieces of shaft wood to try out. I culled 22 of the 50 before I made a pass. After the first pass I lost 10 more and I don't think more than 5 or 6 made it to a cue. The grain run off was worse than about any shaft wood I have ever purchased. They may be better now but my experience was anything but good.

Dick
 
They aren't cuemakers so they had no clue exactly what it took. They are learning, though. Eric makes it a point to pick the builders' brains & sponges up everything. So they are getting better. But without good logs, a sawyer who knows how to cut for cue wood yeild, and somebody knowledgeable in cuemaking to grade the wood, they are going to have it very tough. I like them a lot, but don't see things going well until they get that stuff worked out. I hope it does work out. I like visiting.
 
qbilder said:
They aren't cuemakers so they had no clue exactly what it took. They are learning, though. Eric makes it a point to pick the builders' brains & sponges up everything. So they are getting better. But without good logs, a sawyer who knows how to cut for cue wood yeild, and somebody knowledgeable in cuemaking to grade the wood, they are going to have it very tough. I like them a lot, but don't see things going well until they get that stuff worked out. I hope it does work out. I like visiting.
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They need to consult with someone before the saw those logs.
:)
 
JoeyInCali said:
They need to consult with someone before the saw those logs.
:)
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Won't be me. I'm not giving anything up for free. Money gets spent, wood gets used, knowledge lasts to the grave & sometimes past. I might be an ass, but I don't like the idea of any other cuemakers getting access to the same stuff I do. That's why I travel. I pick through the wood & get the best stuff before anybody can order it from afar. I don't know why I feel that way, i'm not really that competitive, but for some reason i'm driven to hoard the good sh$t.

On a serious note, yes, a consultant would help a lot I think. I'm nobody to be saying how somebody else should run a business, because I suck at business. But getting a knowledgeable cuemaker in there or a sawyer who understands a cuemakers needs would tremendously help their yeild.
 
qbilder said:
Won't be me. I'm not giving anything up for free. Money gets spent, wood gets used, knowledge lasts to the grave & sometimes past. I might be an ass, but I don't like the idea of any other cuemakers getting access to the same stuff I do. That's why I travel. I pick through the wood & get the best stuff before anybody can order it from afar. I don't know why I feel that way, i'm not really that competitive, but for some reason i'm driven to hoard the good sh$t.

On a serious note, yes, a consultant would help a lot I think. I'm nobody to be saying how somebody else should run a business, because I suck at business. But getting a knowledgeable cuemaker in there or a sawyer who understands a cuemakers needs would tremendously help their yeild.
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Yup.
Timeless Timber had the same problems. Crosscutting slabs. :eek:
 
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