Which type of wood can be used by a cue maker?

Newton

Newton

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have just ordered the Blue book but have done a sneak preview
at www.chalkers.com. The question which hit?s me is:

Can a cue maker make a cue out of any type of wood which looks good
(of course not species which is not legal to use)?
Playability and weight I would think is a issue?
I guess many of you master cue makers use rare woods to limit the
production runs and increase the prices? Or is it because someone has
found that "this" exact wood plays the best?

The reason for the question is because I dropped by a wood turning shop
selling lots of exotic woods which I have never heard about, but for sure
looked nice. But I?m not sure if this is something to make a cue of:confused:

I?m no cue builder at the moment but I?m playing with the thought of having a go on a
really simple standard cue without any decorations, just to see how this art works.

N
 
Some woods would work just fine for turning bowls & small items, but don't work for pool Qs. Reguardless of looks, the wood must be stable, solid & fairly heavy. A pretty wood that warps or cracks or checks is not suitable. And to answer another of your questions, Qmaker do have a list of woods that they feel play the best...JER
 
Thank?s.

I guess the secret behind a good Qmaker is to have the knowledge and experience about which wood would work and which not. I do understand that there are many variables in the equation on how to construct a good cue, but is there a rule of thumb in respect of density of the wood?

It?s obvious that the wood must be stable and don?t crack, but I guess asking for any recomandations in respect of wood would be like asking a cook about his trick when making food :-)

N
 
choice of wood

i run into this problem quite a lot. a player will want me to build a cue using certain woods and want the cue built a certain way. sure i can do it, but will the cue have a decent hit, not warp, be the weight the customer wants? imo the best thing to do is find a cuemaker you like, tell him what you are looking for in a cue. give him a description of the types and colors of wood you like then let him help you design a cue for you. example if you like the look of bocote but want a heavier cue he can use desert ironwood to get the results. the two woods are not exactly alike but close. if you like ivory but not the cost, then use a piece of american holly, not exact, but looks close without the cost. if you get sick go the doctor, if your car isnt running right, go see the auto mechanic, if you want a quality cue, check out the many builders on azb.
 
Newton said:
Thank?s.

I guess the secret behind a good Qmaker is to have the knowledge and experience about which wood would work and which not. I do understand that there are many variables in the equation on how to construct a good cue, but is there a rule of thumb in respect of density of the wood?

It?s obvious that the wood must be stable and don?t crack, but I guess asking for any recomandations in respect of wood would be like asking a cook about his trick when making food :-)

N
Click to expand...

I would say that there are a hand full of woods that every Qmaker uses. Maple, Bacote, Ebony, Purpleheart & any of the Rosewood family. If I personally had only one wood to choose, it would be Bacote. It has good weight, straight beautiful grain & transfers the energy back to your hand, to give you good feedback on your hit. It is also a very stable wood...JER
 
Thank`s Blackheart and Desi.

I`m reading on the web now so my eyes are read :-)
I`m amazed by the amount of exotic wood types and this must be a real
heaven for playing out any Qmakers or players dream.

My conclution would be to start with something of the mentioned woods and go from there. Is African Blackwood and Mgurure ever used as a substitute for Ebony.

If some one knows a "treasure" web page/book giving information and pics of wood, a tip would be highly appreciated.

N
 
Newton said:
Thank`s Blackheart and Desi.

I`m reading on the web now so my eyes are read :-)
I`m amazed by the amount of exotic wood types and this must be a real
heaven for playing out any Qmakers or players dream.

My conclution would be to start with something of the mentioned woods and go from there. Is African Blackwood and Mgurure ever used as a substitute for Ebony.

If some one knows a "treasure" web page/book giving information and pics of wood, a tip would be highly appreciated.

N
Click to expand...

African Blackwood - actually a Rosewood, is used by those familiar with it
who are willing to pay the price. The Mgurure is not commonly used,
tho not unheard of.

A simple Google of 'tropical exotic hardwood' will yield
enough hits to keep you busy for a year.

Dale Pierce
 
BLACKHEARTCUES said:
Some woods would work just fine for turning bowls & small items, but don't work for pool Qs. Reguardless of looks, the wood must be stable, solid & fairly heavy. A pretty wood that warps or cracks or checks is not suitable. And to answer another of your questions, Qmaker do have a list of woods that they feel play the best...JER
Click to expand...

Newton,
JER has it right. But sometimes, I have built cues from something a little different. For a friend, I built two cues from a tree he used to play in as a kid (poor 70 year old mother had the preacher help her cut it up and send it to him --- I received it with branches and leaves --- 3 years later he had a couple cues). I built several cues out of 100 year old maple church steps (from Minnesota) --- one of the cues was bought (when I was in Arizona) by a man whose wife used to walk those steps every Sunday. I built an olivewood cue from a tree I cut down in my front yard. I am now building a cue for a cousin - Marine - (an enlisted Lt Col retired) - from some wood he had when he was stationed in Guam. Sometimes, a cuemaker has a little fun with the unusual.
 
Thank`s a bunch guy`s.

As you may see by my lack of knowledge, I`m new to the game and I really appreciate all of you
giving me a feedback.

Dale; I have been Googeling all day, actually way to long, reading about a lot of wood types,
but as mentioned, I do not know which would work and which would not. That`s the reason
for posting and asking you and the other master cue makers`s for some help. I`m a total
newbie(or how it`s spelled) and the only reason for asking is actually I have a habit
of digging way down in to what ever I get involved with. I have been playing since
mid 80`s but I`really tired of the Predator HYPE in my country so I was just thinking
of maybe buy some wood and make my own "one of a kind" cue. I know I put
my words in a sense that this is "just to do", but I`ll get there and nobody in my country
would own something similar :-) That`s my goal.

Jack;
Thank`s for the fun and valuable feedback. As I read between the lines, you may make a cue out of pretty much
anything and you had me laughing speaking about the preacher :-)
I am picky about the playability of a cue (and my cues) so I guess I have the ultimate
quest of finding something which would help my game and improve my performance.
I think I?m in-between a cue collector and a cue user where I keep every cue I buy after
testing the "hit" of it....

I`m living in Scandinavia and I`ll try to see if I can find any exotic wood. If not I cut down the
three which stands in my fathers backyard ;-)

Any spelling errors may be related to the fact that I have been to a rock concert and the liquid
balance had to be kept on a reasonable level......

N
 
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