Wood suggestions for a rookie

Canadian cue said:
If you are just starting to build I would invest in wood but I would hold off on turning it. The biggest mistake I have seen new builders do is start turning all thier squares round. Wasting half the wood as sawdust. You can do a lot with a square. With exotics at the price they are start by putting your woods on the shelf and experiment on cheap available woods. Another thing you can do is look for old house cues. They are great for learning how to build and can be recycled into new builds if you want. The wood is also seasoned. Once you start getting some demand for your cues you will realize that the two most valuable commodities in this buisness are wood and creativity. I believe its a toss up as to which is more important.
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So True! And if you do turn it round, don't worry about if there are still flat sides on your round the first turn. The more wood you keep on the piece the more tolerance you have for warp as it seasons.

I have many dozens of rounds I cut too small too soon that are now limited in what I can do with them. Thankfully I'm creative!

On an unrelated note my CNC is dead nuts with the spindle on it. Thank you Vincent!
 
cueman said:
Just saw the corners off the square or use a router table to cut them off. Then turning round is a one pass job and much easier on your router and lathe. If you see any kiln dried wood you want to stock that does not come from the USA start buying it as they are restricting imports more and more each year.
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cueman said:
Just saw the corners off the square or use a router table to cut them off. Then turning round is a one pass job and much easier on your router and lathe. If you see any kiln dried wood you want to stock that does not come from the USA start buying it as they are restricting imports more and more each year.
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Will do on the kiln wood. I very successfully turned a 1.5×1.5 to round. Maybe i can figure out how to post pics on this site.
 
DeeRay86 said:
As in the title I'm a new builder (10 years repair man) trying to find my way with a high tower midsize, Ridgid router and power feed and other tools of course. Im learning. I have heard that burls can be problematic so I'm staying away from them for now. But I have seen a few other materials like snakewood for example, and others that I have heard difficulties about. I was hoping I could get some advice on materials that are safe to start with and some materials that may be a little difficult but I can still learn from. Any advice is much appreciated. From tip to butt.
Dees Cue Shop.
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DeeRay86 said:
As in the title I'm a new builder (10 years repair man) trying to find my way with a high tower midsize, Ridgid router and power feed and other tools of course. Im learning. I have heard that burls can be problematic so I'm staying away from them for now. But I have seen a few other materials like snakewood for example, and others that I have heard difficulties about. I was hoping I could get some advice on materials that are safe to start with and some materials that may be a little difficult but I can still learn from. Any advice is much appreciated. From tip to butt.
Dees Cue Shop.
cueman said:
Just saw the corners off the square or use a router table to cut them off. Then turning round is a one pass job and much easier on your router and lathe. If you see any kiln dried wood you want to stock that does not come from the USA start buying it as they are restricting imports more and more each year.
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i posted pics and a short clip. I think. Az is a lil different but i think i figured it out.
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DeeRay86 said:
As in the title I'm a new builder (10 years repair man) trying to find my way with a high tower midsize, Ridgid router and power feed and other tools of course. Im learning. I have heard that burls can be problematic so I'm staying away from them for now. But I have seen a few other materials like snakewood for example, and others that I have heard difficulties about. I was hoping I could get some advice on materials that are safe to start with and some materials that may be a little difficult but I can still learn from. Any advice is much appreciated. From tip to butt.
Dees Cue Shop.
Click to expand...
 
DeeRay86 said:
I truly appreciate everybody's input, But. I am right in line with you DeeDeeCue. Ill play around with the house cues to learn but I'm not afraid of woods that are labeled as hard to work with. Like you said, Gonna work with it eventually so I welcome it. We have all seen house cues somebody "rebuilt" slapped materials on and called it their cue. I never liked or was impressed by that. But I'm nobody, Just a cue repair guy with a goal to build a nice solid product with my name on it. I was told by an old timer when was asking to many questions for advice, "Make dust and learn" Thanks yall
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cueman said:
Just saw the corners off the square or use a router table to cut them off. Then turning round is a one pass job and much easier on your router and lathe. If you see any kiln dried wood you want to stock that does not come from the USA start buying it as they are restricting imports more and more each year.
Click to expand...
 
I turned my first piece of square to round. (Scrap test piece) First time running the router, Powerfeed, etc, etc. I Stopped it and restarted here and there just playing with the feed rate and other speeds. When the combinations didnt agree I could tell. I found a sweet spot and let her eat. Happy with it. Imma setup my offset tmrw and see what happens. That test was a big confidence builder.
 
Coos Cues said:
So True! And if you do turn it round, don't worry about if there are still flat sides on your round the first turn. The more wood you keep on the piece the more tolerance you have for warp as it seasons.

I have many dozens of rounds I cut too small too soon that are now limited in what I can do with them. Thankfully I'm creative!

On an unrelated note my CNC is dead nuts with the spindle on it. Thank you Vincent!
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CNC is a goal I will get to. Im down to bury myself in the manual dust for now.
 
Forget the 6x8. Once I resize the pictures to what I know fits here. I save them to a album. Then use the attach files on the bottom left of the post box.
To easy
 
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I have many dozens of rounds I cut too small too soon that are now limited in what I can do with them. Thankfully I'm creative!
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Even with a piece turned round and tapered with a creative mind and a bandsaw these can be cut into 4 pieces and used for points. I've done this with a "finished size" cue if the A joint configuration doesn't mess it up. But if the 11-12" piece hasn't been installed yet it should be no problem.
 
cueman said:
Just saw the corners off the square or use a router table to cut them off. Then turning round is a one pass job and much easier on your router and lathe. If you see any kiln dried wood you want to stock that does not come from the USA start buying it as they are restricting imports more and more each year.
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Chris what does the kiln drying have to do with the restrictions?
 
DeeRay86 said:
I was curious as well.
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Nothing. But the kiln dried is harder to find. And as the supply dries up the best gets even harder to find. The guys that do things legally and best will become the first to not see coming in. The back yard log cutters will continue to send wet wood in illegally long after the established mills abide by the rules and quit exporting. So while they are still providing a little high quality wood that has been properly dried, buy it. Think about Tulip Wood and Pink Ivory. How rare have they become?
 
cueman said:
Nothing. But the kiln dried is harder to find. And as the supply dries up the best gets even harder to find. The guys that do things legally and best will become the first to not see coming in. The back yard log cutters will continue to send wet wood in illegally long after the established mills abide by the rules and quit exporting. So while they are still providing a little high quality wood that has been properly dried, buy it. Think about Tulip Wood and Pink Ivory. How rare have they become?
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One other reason for kiln-dried is it will kill off any bugs in the wood. Bring in a piece of wood with bugs and you could contaminate your whole supply.
 
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