Ash vs. Maple - Cuemakers Choice

[DeanH]

Hi all, I heard Steve Davies commentating at the UK Champs and he said that ash is more prevalent in recent years as a shaft wood because "cue makers waste more of the maple than ash in the cue making process"? I am not sure this statement is true but if any cue makers out there can shed light on the validity of this statement and clarify the process that would be different between the two woods.
Thanks
DeanH

[rollup147]

Sounds hard to believe considering that they reckon only 2% of ash shafts have even arrows and tight straight grain which most players desire yet with maple mostly having no visible grain 90% of it could be labelled top quality.

Steamed Swiss Pearwood is the best i reckon no other wood comes close to smoothness and with no grain you concentrate more on what your doing with the cue than what side is up or down.

[nostawmail]

maple has natural scars in the wood which come out during planing the wood, this could be a reason perhaps a lot is disgarded

[davidwu]

maple has natural scars in the wood which come out during planing the wood, this could be a reason perhaps a lot is disgarded

is this also a reason why cue makers charge more for maple?

[nostawmail]

it could be me and a friend of mine bought our own maple board, we got 7 1.5x1.5 inch blanks out of it. and most had marks on them so perhaps when a cue maker charges for a blank he takes into account all his wasted maple

[centurysnooker]

so is there much difference playing with a maple or an ash shaft? is there more advantages in maple?

[hotpot]

so is there much difference playing with a maple or an ash shaft? is there more advantages in maple?

I would say that generally maple cues are more responsive than ash .

[lennon11]

i switched from ash to maple about 6 weeks ago,would never swap back,getting far less "THROW" and much more action on the cueball(also changed to one piece for the first time too.)

[davidwu]

anybody have any ideas why most of the pros use ash over maple?

[centurysnooker]

ive never really noticed but it could be that theyve always used ash cues since they were younger and havnt changed for that reason

[davidwu]

or another reason could be that cue makers makes more ash cues as it is more traditional, so the players would be presented to many ash cues

[poolqjunkie]

I am from Canada and we have some very nice maple here. Pool cue shafts are all made with maple basically and there are lots of pool cues all over the world so I am not sure if it is true that maple get wasted more or get used more instead. I personally think there are a lot of wastage on ash if you only look for shafts with good playbility as well as good chevrons--they are just not easy to come by.
Ash has a shock absorbing ability which makes them very useful in making hammer handles and baseball bats and such; maple on the other hand has been used for skateboards and other tools which require a good flexibility. They also "sound" different when striking the ball.
But I would not say one is better than the other, just what you are used to.

[cueman]

I once heard of a good analogy when it comes to the ash and maple comparisons.

Somebody said that maple is like a surgical wood, you have to strike the ball with a much more accurate cue action to develop the right feel but the results would be rewarding. Ash is more of a forgiving wood that you can deliver the cue without so much accuracy and still get a good response or feel.

Having tried both I can agree with that statement. I'll try and explain what they eluded to, for me maple cues do require a much more driving and accurate cue action but can deliver a great response, however if you cue poorly with it then it can feel quite dead. Ash is a much easier wood to play with though it may not promote such an accurate delivery of the cue.

I guess though all woods can differ and you have to go with what you feel comfortable with. I doubt any cue maker would actually prefer one wood over the other although I have noticed a few cue makers are charging extra for maple now, perhaps its more difficult to source?

[snookerloopy7]

yes i agree, i started off playing with a maple cue, i absolutely loved it and was hitting centuries with it regulary. unfortunately the joint came loose and the wood inside cracked, after i had it repaired it did not feel the same. so i got an ash cue and started playing with that and i found it hard to get precise control over the cueball and i was only making 60 - 80 breaks. i recently found another maple cue which was the same as my old one. ive had it 3 weeks now and i have made a 141 break with it. in my opinion maple is better. but it all comes down to you and your cue action and how well YOU strike through the ball. hope i helped

[eaoin11]

That rings true with me as well. I've been playing american pool in Japan with a maple cue for 5 yrs and now that I'm back playing snooker/uk pool in Australia I'm finding that my old ash cue is very responsive but hard to control. I play with more control now using the maple house cues.