Where could I buy pool exotic cues woods blank?
- Thread starter ghj26563047
- Start date
No disrespect intended. A few questions if you don’t mind.
Do you struggle to source wood?
Would your sources do better if they had more customers?
Would the industry and cuemakers suffer if more people knew about these sources? Seems like we lack up and coming cuemakers compared to 20 years ago but that’s not a well researched opinion. Just an observation.
I’ve had a few obscure wood sources over the years. It never crossed my mind to keep that a secret. I’ve always wanted my sources to be as successful as possible so that they stay in business and I can keep tapping them for quality blanks.
I’ve also never thought I needed to keep that source from other cue makers.
In the auto industry and restoration groups we’ve always rallied together to help people get in touch with the people who have the parts we can’t find.
Never thought that was a bad thing.
Some rules may be antiquated or misguided. But I don’t think anyone is intentionally trying to break rules. I honestly had no idea the rule existed. I’ve never seen such a rule exist before. But maybe gatekeeping hobbyists is more common than I thought.
Again no offense. Just trying to understand and have a productive conversation about sources.
Does "should" make it a rule (instead of "must"?) or does the very phrasing imply some judgement on the part of the poster?
This is a bit fallacious on the face of it.
Define wholesale sources. Generally that means: Need a tax #, apply with credit references and bank info with your letterhead and business license or registration, get vetted & maintain an account, agree loosely to some sort of minimums?
"general public" "customer base" can't buy wholesale even if you give the phone # and steer them to the front office.
What the "rule" attempts to do is keep certain tribe's competition from learning a supply base that is known to you and a few others & some in the "group" might feel a bit threatened by more/other professionals knowing about who aren't in the in group. Supposing they say to JQ Public, "well, you are here, you might as well buy a few items before we kick you out" JQ is going to spend a lot of time deciding, and trying as best as possible not to spend over $100. Or maybe $200 if he can hide it from his wife. Your competitor professional might get wind, sashay in at just the right moment, and easily drop 4 figures on a skid of wood, or cherry pick it when you had not seen it yet or were still trying to make the money angle work. He will probably even leave his card, shmoooze the seller, and tell him "call me first whenever you get the good stuff".
Most of us probably won't give up some of our best sources on a public forum.
But there are an awful lot of "wholesalers" who aren't, really. There is probably some sort of online pricelist, even if the fine print says WTTE "discount to the trade". In reality, everyone gets about the same price and quantity discounts. The guy who buys often does get recognized and gets special mentions of interesting stuff & occasional other considerations. But that could be a high end hobbyist. Some pay tax and some don't. That's about it.
Last edited:
Bishop, Ssonerai,
No offense taken.
But you mistake my argument. My statement had to do with the self-integrity of honoring a pledge/promise that people have made and then deciding to renege on it.
Quality cue wood is NOT readily available - sub-quality, yes, but not good stuff. My sources quickly sell all the good stuff they can get a hold of. There are MANY more custom cuemakers now than there were 20 years ago.
The rule does not stipulate that people should not share their sources, only that they be shared privately through PM and not on this public forum.
Comparing a custom cuemaker to a carmaker is hardly apples to apples. The profit of selling a few cars far outweighs the annual profit of all but the highest end custom cuemakers. I don't know anything about car restoration costs, so I don't include them here.
Whether a rule is antiquated or misquided is not the issue. In the same way as "If you don't like a law, vote the politician out off office", we can't vote for the admins here, but we can change forums or petition the admins. I am in no posiition to change any rules here. I choose to follow rather than leave.
YMMV
Gary
No offense taken.
But you mistake my argument. My statement had to do with the self-integrity of honoring a pledge/promise that people have made and then deciding to renege on it.
Quality cue wood is NOT readily available - sub-quality, yes, but not good stuff. My sources quickly sell all the good stuff they can get a hold of. There are MANY more custom cuemakers now than there were 20 years ago.
The rule does not stipulate that people should not share their sources, only that they be shared privately through PM and not on this public forum.
Comparing a custom cuemaker to a carmaker is hardly apples to apples. The profit of selling a few cars far outweighs the annual profit of all but the highest end custom cuemakers. I don't know anything about car restoration costs, so I don't include them here.
Whether a rule is antiquated or misquided is not the issue. In the same way as "If you don't like a law, vote the politician out off office", we can't vote for the admins here, but we can change forums or petition the admins. I am in no posiition to change any rules here. I choose to follow rather than leave.
YMMV
Gary
No offense taken, here, either. Mum's the word for reasons listed - fear of other cuemakers, not the "public" or "customer base"
My best sources, as most cuemakers' probably are, is hanging around other high end woodworkers.
This is a true story from an annual party in October. Couple of us furniture & millwork guys are talking shop and a friend to one of the others in the group sidles up, listens a bit and asks " say, 40/50 years ago my GF was in the peace core in (someplace) and she brought back a log of pink ivory. Then someone else heard i had that, and they gave me another log." Holds hands at chest level for length, shows aprox (largish) diameters. "never got around to using it. What do i do with it now?" This leads to stories about one of the conversation participants arbitraging from a 28,000 lb dealer cache of pink ivory (container load) in the midwest, in 2,000 lb van loads at a time, between Ohio and NY, clearing mid/ high 4 figures per trip during the 1980's. Discussions ensue about the logs on the table, so to speak. I don't like pink ivory, but one of my other buddies got control of that narrative anyway. Then he & I collaborated on some things (including moving remainder planks from "the tree"), and he paid out with pieces from a skid of Brazilian Rosewood found in an old industrial warehouse a couple years ago, a small ebony log, and some snakewood. There are a few commercial hole-in-the-wall places to check occasionally. One is even a Mennonite sawmill. I certainly don't have your level of inventory, but i used to focus on higher quality (size) material since furniture and millwork were my (tiny) business.
Just remembered another story involving parties and pool. I used to avoid exotics in my millwork business, because the whole idea of "story woods" kind of rubs me the wrong way. Though i did like Ebony, Wenge, and bloodwood for accents and use in flooring; and African blackwood for making tool handles like the totes for planes i used to make. Wendell Castle gave me my very first piece of BRW. He had used a pile of it in some piece of furniture, and had planned to paint it white, to make a statement. I did not follow the whole story, it sounded like one of my other friends talked him out of it. I did not meet him until late in life, at another party. He liked my woodworking planes & was interested that i was starting to make cues. We had tentatively talked about him teaching me 3C on the table famously in the center of the reception area of his studio. But life got in the way, his health started to fail so he stopped playing, and it never happened.
smt
My best sources, as most cuemakers' probably are, is hanging around other high end woodworkers.
This is a true story from an annual party in October. Couple of us furniture & millwork guys are talking shop and a friend to one of the others in the group sidles up, listens a bit and asks " say, 40/50 years ago my GF was in the peace core in (someplace) and she brought back a log of pink ivory. Then someone else heard i had that, and they gave me another log." Holds hands at chest level for length, shows aprox (largish) diameters. "never got around to using it. What do i do with it now?" This leads to stories about one of the conversation participants arbitraging from a 28,000 lb dealer cache of pink ivory (container load) in the midwest, in 2,000 lb van loads at a time, between Ohio and NY, clearing mid/ high 4 figures per trip during the 1980's. Discussions ensue about the logs on the table, so to speak. I don't like pink ivory, but one of my other buddies got control of that narrative anyway. Then he & I collaborated on some things (including moving remainder planks from "the tree"), and he paid out with pieces from a skid of Brazilian Rosewood found in an old industrial warehouse a couple years ago, a small ebony log, and some snakewood. There are a few commercial hole-in-the-wall places to check occasionally. One is even a Mennonite sawmill. I certainly don't have your level of inventory, but i used to focus on higher quality (size) material since furniture and millwork were my (tiny) business.
Just remembered another story involving parties and pool. I used to avoid exotics in my millwork business, because the whole idea of "story woods" kind of rubs me the wrong way. Though i did like Ebony, Wenge, and bloodwood for accents and use in flooring; and African blackwood for making tool handles like the totes for planes i used to make. Wendell Castle gave me my very first piece of BRW. He had used a pile of it in some piece of furniture, and had planned to paint it white, to make a statement. I did not follow the whole story, it sounded like one of my other friends talked him out of it. I did not meet him until late in life, at another party. He liked my woodworking planes & was interested that i was starting to make cues. We had tentatively talked about him teaching me 3C on the table famously in the center of the reception area of his studio. But life got in the way, his health started to fail so he stopped playing, and it never happened.
smt
Last edited:
ghj26563047
Registered
UP!!!