Wood Education

[bubsbug]

Education needed! I recently purchased some hard rock maple for learning purposes. Is this a decent blank for turning shafts? It measures 1-13/16 x 1-13/16 by 36”. I hope to yield two if I cut them correctly. Moisture content is less than 6% with tester. It has been kiln dried and air dried and has been laying around for a year. I got it close by at a wholesale wood distributing center. He said that Maple doesn’t get any better then this, meaning color. He said that it came from Canada. The grain is very straight on two apposing sides. I count 20 growth rings. On the ends of the board the rings run same direction but appear not to have as many ring lines. On the opposite sides of the nice straight grain sides I see some ring run off. A while back I read some post saying not to use wood if there is ring run off. How can you avoid this, If the grain is perfectly straight and you cut it round, then taper it, how can you not have grain run off. Just the taper alone would cause grain run off. Im just wondering how to select good quality shaft wood so that I can start my river of wood. My goal for this year is to learn how to make good quality shafts.

 

[MVPCues]

Education needed! I recently purchased some hard rock maple for learning purposes. Is this a decent blank for turning shafts? It measures 1-13/16 x 1-13/16 by 36”. I hope to yield two if I cut them correctly. Moisture content is less than 6% with tester. It has been kiln dried and air dried and has been laying around for a year. I got it close by at a wholesale wood distributing center. He said that Maple doesn’t get any better then this, meaning color. He said that it came from Canada. The grain is very straight on two apposing sides. I count 20 growth rings. On the ends of the board the rings run same direction but appear not to have as many ring lines. On the opposite sides of the nice straight grain sides I see some ring run off. A while back I read some post saying not to use wood if there is ring run off. How can you avoid this, If the grain is perfectly straight and you cut it round, then taper it, how can you not have grain run off. Just the taper alone would cause grain run off. Im just wondering how to select good quality shaft wood so that I can start my river of wood. My goal for this year is to learn how to make good quality shafts.

I don't think you will get 2 out of a 1-13/16 thick piece. Not a chance imo.

You find the spine and follow the grain line at the spine from one end down to the other end of of the blank. If it stays near the spine the entire length and exits out of the end of the blank instead of the side, you can say it has no grain run off. Taper will cause the grain lines at the sides to run out, but not the center line at the spine if it didn't run out to begin with (unless you center drill way off).

You should report growth rings per inch.

The percentage of hard maple that is milled into boards that then can be ripped, and then the squares turned round that show no grain run off, and are generally clear of mineral and defects is rather low.

Kelly

 

[bubsbug]

Thanks, The board has 10 gings per inch (slightly low) but appears straight. How do you find the spine in a square peice of stock, or does it have to be turned round first? Is the spine where the two ajacent sides wood grain meet. If I pull out my cue stick and look at the shaft I asume that the spine is the different looking pattern all the way down the shaft. Kind of hard to discribe but it is very different, kind of like small circles or horse shoe looking appearence. This would be easy to see if it stops before getting to the end, which then would be considered run out?? So run out is in relation to the spine/grain and not the grain in of itself?? What do most cuemakers do with their round stock that does have run out? Firewood??

 

[MVPCues]

Thanks, The board has 10 gings per inch (slightly low) but appears straight. How do you find the spine in a square peice of stock, or does it have to be turned round first? Is the spine where the two ajacent sides wood grain meet. If I pull out my cue stick and look at the shaft I asume that the spine is the different looking pattern all the way down the shaft. Kind of hard to discribe but it is very different, kind of like small circles or horse shoe looking appearence. This would be easy to see if it stops before getting to the end, which then would be considered run out?? So run out is in relation to the spine/grain and not the grain in of itself?? What do most cuemakers do with their round stock that does have run out? Firewood??

Yes, that is the spine.

In square stock, there sort of isn't a spine. Either two of the faces are "quarter sawn" face and two are "plain sawn", or the grains run diagonal from one corner of the square to the opposite corner (look at the end face), and all 4 faces of the square will sort of look quarter sawn. When turned round, the axis running through the center of the round parallel to the grain line directions is where the spine will be.

Just because a shaft blank has run out does not mean it will not stay straight and not be a good shaft. Just because a shaft blank has no run out does not mean it will be a good shaft for sure. They are just guidlines.

Kelly

 

[bubsbug]

Yes, that is the spine.

In square stock, there sort of isn't a spine. Either two of the faces are "quarter sawn" face and two are "plain sawn", or the grains run diagonal from one corner of the square to the opposite corner (look at the end face), and all 4 faces of the square will sort of look quarter sawn. When turned round, the axis running through the center of the round parallel to the grain line directions is where the spine will be.

Just because a shaft blank has run out does not mean it will not stay straight and not be a good shaft. Just because a shaft blank has no run out does not mean it will be a good shaft for sure. They are just guidlines.

Kelly

Then what determins that a cuemaker will use this as a shaft. After each turn, after waiting, after dipping, it remains straight so it must be a good shaft. Kind of keeps you wondering through the whole process i guess. I guess experience cuemakers can tell after the first turn whether or not its going to be good?? Thank you very much for your contribution!

 

[Mase]

I don't think you will get 2 out of a 1-13/16 thick piece. Not a chance imo.

If you cut the wood with a slight bias you can easily get 2 pieces out of it. I have squares that are 1 3/4" and cut them to about 1"x 3/4"

 

[MVPCues]

I don't think you will get 2 out of a 1-13/16 thick piece. Not a chance imo.

If you cut the wood with a slight bias you can easily get 2 pieces out of it. I have squares that are 1 3/4" and cut them to about 1"x 3/4"

Yep, I did not think about skewing the cut so that each end of the board would be one joint end and one business end. I do that for point blanks.

Because I would personally not want that to dictate which end was which (also not allowing you to try and minimize run off) I did not think of doing that in this case, but you are correct ofcourse. Thanks.

Kelly

 

[JoeyInCali]

Then what determins that a cuemaker will use this as a shaft. After each turn, after waiting, after dipping, it remains straight so it must be a good shaft. Kind of keeps you wondering through the whole process i guess. I guess experience cuemakers can tell after the first turn whether or not its going to be good?? Thank you very much for your contribution!

Qmakers have different criteria.
Some prefer board only and cut the board they way the want to cut them.
I prefer dowels b/c from looking at them I can almost tell if one will make it or not. If the grain runoffs are bad, tomato stakes. If they bounce really dull like a wet wood, it'll kill the hit of the cue.
Also since sugar streaks sometime only show up when the wood is down in size, I prefer dowels.
At 1 inch round you still have plenty of room to find the your "centers". Not the centers just come from the supplier. They are usually off.
Grain consistency, appearance/color and tone are prolly the 3 top criterias for most.

 

[KD Cues]

shafts

Tap, tap, tap, for Joeys' advice. Straight, even graining (spacing between winter and summer grains) is usually a good indicator of how straight a shaft will stay when cut. For that reason, you might not want to sacrifice yeild for the even grains. If you split the maple you have into two offset cuts, you might not be able to select the best shaft "heart" and it might be possible to yeild two good shafts rather than one great shaft. The real test is how much the shafts move during the cutting process. If the peices move too much, and you don't have enough room to adjust for runout, you might also end up with two worthless shaft blanks. Many skilled shaft suppliers will sort out blanks that release too much tension when cut (prior to drying). Many people don't beleive that tone is a good indicator of how well a shaft will play, I happen to believe that it is. The higher the better IMHO. If you are checking all the different methods of selecting shafts, you might want to get in touch with some local cabinet makers that have straight grained maple in stock. If you are dillegent, chances are you will find a falloff that you can test your theories/equipment on (I am a millman in our area and I have found some of my favorite shaftwood peices through friends of mine). Best of luck, Kent

 

[bubsbug]

Qmakers have different criteria.
Some prefer board only and cut the board they way the want to cut them.
I prefer dowels b/c from looking at them I can almost tell if one will make it or not. If the grain runoffs are bad, tomato stakes. If they bounce really dull like a wet wood, it'll kill the hit of the cue.
Also since sugar streaks sometime only show up when the wood is down in size, I prefer dowels.
At 1 inch round you still have plenty of room to find the your "centers". Not the centers just come from the supplier. They are usually off.
Grain consistency, appearance/color and tone are prolly the 3 top criterias for most.

Im not sure that I know what tone is. Could you elaberate a little more please. I am more of a visual person perhaps someone could sell me about 10-15 shaft blanks, mabe not even that many, ranging from the very best, to pretty good, to average, to below average, to doubtful, to absolute junk. Maybe if I had these sitting before me where I could see, feel, smell, tast, here, and bounce all of the different catigorys of shaft wood in person then I might have more experience. I can almost analyse anything through comparison. I think I understand the ring run off thing but I need something that I can lay my eyes on.

 

[jazznpool]

Tone is the relative sound or pitch a piece of wood makes when striking a hard surface with the piece vertically. On a completed shaft you can drop the ferrule end on a pool table from a distance of 2-3 inches and also hear "tone."

I'm lead to believe that only a minority of cuebuilders consider the tone of forearm or shaftwood. No suppliers of shaftwood that I know will suffer this addtional (but valuable) grading factor. They have a hard enough time finding sources for their #2 or #3 blanks without creating an additional reason for their wood not to sell.

The most perfect shaft blank is only potentially a good to great playing shaft. Taper, ferrule, tip, and mating the shaft to a butt that helps the shaft perform are other considerations. We won't even discuss the skill level of the end user as a variable. Searching for and finding treasured and not widely known sources of cue materials is part of the agony (when burned on below par goods) and joy of cue craft.

Martin

Im not sure that I know what tone is. Could you elaberate a little more please. I am more of a visual person perhaps someone could sell me about 10-15 shaft blanks, mabe not even that many, ranging from the very best, to pretty good, to average, to below average, to doubtful, to absolute junk. Maybe if I had these sitting before me where I could see, feel, smell, tast, here, and bounce all of the different catigorys of shaft wood in person then I might have more experience. I can almost analyse anything through comparison. I think I understand the ring run off thing but I need something that I can lay my eyes on.

 

[KD Cues]

shafts

Quoted by Martin: "Searching for and finding treasured and not widely known sources of cue materials is part of the agony (when burned on below par goods) and joy of cue craft."

The honest truth is that I have searched through so many shafts that when I find a good or great one, I have a hard time selling it. If you can find someone who has a large surplus (1000+), perhaps they would part with some. The supply of what I am searching for are few and far between. Large suppliers are a good start. A normal batch of twenty shafts might have the assortment you are searching for. Good luck, Kent

 

[LOU'S CUE'S]

just a thought....


i would think that instead of SAWING, say, a 36" long log into boards and then squares...

the log should be SPLIT...(like firewood).....into squares, the split follows the grain ....PERIOD....

if the resulting turning square came out "PERFECTLY STRAIGHT" say in the 36" length.....
it would prob get as good as it gets ????

 

[pdcue]

just a thought....


i would think that instead of SAWING, say, a 36" long log into boards and then squares...

the log should be SPLIT...(like firewood).....into squares, the split follows the grain ....PERIOD....

if the resulting turning square came out "PERFECTLY STRAIGHT" say in the 36" length.....
it would prob get as good as it gets ????

what you have then is 'riven' wood
craftsmen used to do it with an implement called a 'fro'(sp?)

back in the early days, Bruns used to own entire forests tracts
in Mich just for their cue wood.

I have a couple 80ish year old house cues that are still straight
I presume they were split, not sawn, but don't know for sure

Maybe cue makers should form a co-op and by some stands
of rock Maple

Dale

 

[LOU'S CUE'S]

yup, i WAS gonna mention that...spelling is ....FROE...

the old chairmakers in the 1700"s did ALL thier spindles with them..

windsor chairs.........bunch of back spindles.3/8- 1/2" dia.spokeshaved into round.still straight after 300 years !!!

of course THEY were workin outta VIRGIN, old old growth trees !!!


geeeeeeeee..there must be ONE tree out there somewhere that is...old or at the min. at least SLOW growth.