Colourful Wood

[Reycerb]

Hello guys,

I've recently joined this forum and have gathered that quite a few people know what they're on about when it comes to cues. I'm thinking of buying a cue from Robin Cook, been speaking to him briefly the last few days and was wandering what sort of stand out wood i could use for a nice splice, if it was available obviously?

Thanks,

Brett.

[KeithinFrance]

COCOBOLO!! ... what else?

[MikeWooldridge]

don't have cocobola. looks great at first but darkens so you can barely see it later.

unless you have it lacquered then i guess you can 'hold' the colour.

[ADR147]

good advice mike - it makes a good replacement for ebony but not as a front splice.

[totlxtc]

Bright colours
Bloodwood - Red and iridescent. Superb finish.
Padauk - Red but has deep visable grain. Darkens with age to a purply brown colour in direct sunlight. Polishes well.
Purpleheart - Well its purple! Superb finish.
Satinwood - Yellow and iridescent. Superb finish.
Cocobolo - Dark red/purple to bright orange, but as mentioned darkens with age.

Highly figured
Macassar Ebony - Brown and Black stripes can be narrow or wide.
Cocobolo - Dark red/purple to bright orange with black figuring.
Curly/Quilted maple - Maple with distinctive iridescent banding/figure.
Kingwood - Purply with dark bands, very figured.
Olivewood - Yellow to brown with fine mottled figuring.
Tulipwood - Yellow to natural colour with red/maroon streaking. Very attractive.

Thats a few to go by.

[RGCirencester]

COCOBOLO!! ... what else?

LOL you would say that keith... Has mike ruined your life?

I've taken a liking to Tulipwood. Especially 4 splices against an ebony butt.

[KeithinFrance]

don't have cocobola. looks great at first but darkens so you can barely see it later.

unless you have it lacquered then i guess you can 'hold' the colour.

LOL you would say that keith... Has mike ruined your life?

I've taken a liking to Tulipwood. Especially 4 splices against an ebony butt.

Lol No, Mike hasn't ruined my life, what he says is true. BUT it depends on the piece you choose. You can get some wonderfully figured light cocobolo that retains its colour very well. Of course it darkens off with time but the beauty is still highly visible. A very good thing to do with cocobolo is to use it over a white veneer then its natural beauty is there for all to see. If you just splice it over ebony then you're wasting it a bit, IMO. But it's horses for courses; Mike uses a lot of burrwood in his splicing and it's something I don't really like, myself. I just don't see the attraction.

Tulipwood I do like, Rob, and over plain ebony is very nice, indeed. Have a look at Stamford Cuemakers' website, they've got 4 tulipwood splices over an ebony butt with a front splice of tulipwood over an ebony veneer. Very, very nice!

[RGCirencester]

Just wondering, how many woods benefit from having a veneer underneath them? Keith seems obsessed with cocobolo over maple veneers i think, but arn't most woods fairly opaque? How much difference does the veneer make? I thought it was just for looks to break up the splices? I was going to make a new thread to ask this question but i think it might help the owner of this thread as well.

[KeithinFrance]

I think that a well-chosen veneer can accentuate the beauty of the wood used in splicing and draw attention to it, to. A dark rosewood over ebony would be practically invisible without a veneer, but some pieces would benefit from a red veneer, some from yellow etc etc. A good example is with your tulipwood, Rob: most cuemakers splice tulpwood onto ebony without a veneer and it looks very simple and nice; Robin Cook used different veneers with tulipwood to great effect, IMO, giving a whole new look to a very classic wood. Check it out on his site. I won't say what he did so's to not spoil the surprise!

[spotsand stripes]

having had a thought about a cue, do people know if this is possible ?
maple stick, rosewood butt, large tulipwood splice, small tulipwood/rosewood humbug effect splice.
cheers.

[KeithinFrance]

having had a thought about a cue, do people know if this is possible ?
maple stick, rosewood butt, large tulipwood splice, small tulipwood/rosewood humbug effect splice.
cheers.

Everything is possible, everything is doable, you just to have enough money! But yes, what you described is possible. Very expensive, though!

[RGCirencester]

spotsandstripes: Humbug effect splice? Sorry if im being slow but i really cant think what that is!

Keith: Don't like the green veneer, i'll stick with tulip over ebony. And robin cook uses red veneer under cocobolo therefore your cue is wrong! Muahahahahaha your life is in tatters... now take that white veneer off...

[spotsand stripes]

what constitutes expensive like ?
have a price estimate of a cuemaker an the only bit that was different was the tulipwood/rosewood humbug. would that add dramatically to the cost ?
it'll probo be the last cue i ever buy new and talking our lass into it, providing me poker funds pay for it.

[spotsand stripes]

spotsandstripes: Humbug effect splice? Sorry if im being slow but i really cant think what that is!

Keith: Don't like the green veneer, i'll stick with tulip over ebony. And robin cook uses red veneer under cocobolo therefore your cue is wrong! Muahahahahaha your life is in tatters... now take that white veneer off...

thats the humbug effect.

[RGCirencester]

Oh that. I've seen that before! That's the stripey liney effect!
Keith why do you say it will be expensive? Rosewood is cheaper than ebony isn't it, and ive seen many cheaper cues with similar effect splices.
p.s. you seem to have fallen silent on the fact you should have red veneers under your cocobolo :P