butt timber sizes

[jay_j]

im going to buy some rare wood to have a cue made with at some stage was just wondering wat dimensions i should get it and how much of for one cue?

[jim evans]

if its for a butt depends on if its a 1 piece or 2,but generally 24 long 2insquare

[jay_j]

how many bit should i buy jim?

[jim evans]

to make things simple what you do for a 1 piece is cut the wood blank into a wedge shape about 12mm tapering to about 3-4 mm you need 4 of them and you need to get them as near as you can the same the only problem what arises from this is that on 2 of the splices you are working the opposit grain so you might be better with 2 wood blanks so that you get the grain going in the same directionand you will have another 4 pieces for another cue,a 2 piece you tend to need a lathe hope this helps

[trevs1]

im going to buy some rare wood to have a cue made with at some stage was just wondering wat dimensions i should get it and how much of for one cue?

For a one piece cue, made by anyone who knows what to do with the timber, a piece would need to be 1.5" X 1.5" X 18.5" to 19" long.

If it's to be a standard 3/4 cue, then it would take a piece 1.25" X 1.25" X 16.5" to 17" for the butt, and another of 1.25" X 1.25" X 6.25" to 6.5" long for the shaft splices

[jim evans]

like you said trev for anybody who knows jays gonna be a novice same as me lol

[jay_j]

like you said trev for anybody who knows jays gonna be a novice same as me lol

i wouldn't even think about trying to use this stuff my self at 450gbp for 2 bits 50x50x600 so should prob just get both as don't think will get anymore very easily

cheers for the help gents

[trevs1]

What timber is it Jay?

[jay_j]

its some ancient Australian redgum Carbon dated around 10000 years old and black as black but still workable

http://www.ancient-wood.com.au/Solid...t-Redgum-Chair

same as this chair is made of

[jim evans]

def not for the novice jay,get both pieces and give to a reknowned cuemaker and get them made keep 1 sell 1

[jay_j]

want the butt in the ancient redgum the a veneer in ancient kauri/ a redgum veneer and secondarys in ancient kauri its alot older but easy to get

http://www.ancientwood.com/galleries.../grain-details

just need to find some who wants to try it

[trevs1]

Jay,

I can't speak for the stuff you are considering buying, but......

I had some Kauri and it was hideous....REALLY HIDEOUS. It is plain, drab and very uninteresting stuff, and is not worth the kind of money that some might lead people to believe. I was sent some directly from somebody who had bought it in the hope of doing something with it on their cue which was being built. They decided against it when they were aware of how poor it was.

Regarding the timber you are considering buying, I'd guess that the money is tied up in the fact that it's supposed to have this incredible age to it, but other than that, is no better (and arguably not anywhere near as good) as great quality ebony.

My view on it (for what that's worth) is to think hard before spending more than it would cost to use the very highest grade of snakewood, or other equally rare and totally beautiful timber. There's doing something unique and stunning, and then there's doing something unique...ish, but pointlessly similar to an alternative (and more cost effective) timber.

Only my opinion though.

[nrage]

Jay,

I can't speak for the stuff you are considering buying, but......

I had some Kauri and it was hideous....REALLY HIDEOUS. It is plain, drab and very uninteresting stuff, and is not worth the kind of money that some might lead people to believe. I was sent some directly from somebody who had bought it in the hope of doing something with it on their cue which was being built. They decided against it when they were aware of how poor it was.

Wow.. I find this statement really odd. I'm from NZ, where the Kauri tree originates, and all the kauri I have seen used for decorative purposes is anything but plain, drab and uninteresting.

For example:
http://www.langcaster.com/making-guitars.html

That said, you can get very plain kauri:
http://www.kauriwarehouse.co.nz/flooring.html#nz-kauri

I think the big difference is that the kauri used in the guitars is 'ancient' stuff, which was buried up to 50,000 years ago and has only recently (last 100 years) been dug up. This differs from the 'new' stuff which is a much more plain wood (see the 2nd link re: flooring which was cut in the 1920s).

I am not sure what makes the 'ancient' stuff look the way it does, probably the gum, see:
http://www.amfed.org/images/endow/en...%20Gum_53k.jpg

This gum (semi-fossilised kauri resin) was exported from NZ to the UK in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries where it was manufactured into varnish among other things. There was a large industry in NZ where "gum-diggers" would dig the stuff up. It's why in NZ we call Wellington boots, Gumboots

I don't work with wood, so I can't really comment on what it might be like to use on a cue, but they do make fairly intricate things out of it... however it might require some sort of coating to prevent it cracking as I believe it is fairly dry stuff.

[TheRowdyOne]

I agree that those Guitars look pretty good, but you have to realise there is a big difference in the amount of viewable surface area on a guitar compared to a cue. The Kauri may be a Good piece of wood for a large surface area but the grain/pattern might not stand out as much in a thinner piece of wood.

[nrage]

I agree that those Guitars look pretty good, but you have to realise there is a big difference in the amount of viewable surface area on a guitar compared to a cue. The Kauri may be a Good piece of wood for a large surface area but the grain/pattern might not stand out as much in a thinner piece of wood.

I was thinking the same thing .. I think it would work on a single front splice, but perhaps not where you only see a thin slice of it. In those cases you're probably after a solid/different colour instead of a grain pattern.