Cue made with birdseye maple shaft.

[cueman]

Just looking on Ebay and I came across this cue http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tony-Glove...item2ec247d53c made by Tony Glover.

Has anyone or do any of the experienced cue makers know how a shaft like this would play compared to usual maple?

[jim evans]

old school might be able to help with this he as a shaft same

[ste bed]

i used to own a 1 piece cue with a birdseye maple shaft bought it off a cue dealer in runcorn there was no difference to any other maple cue i have owned

[jim evans]

i would have thought that but looks better

[cueman]

You see I would have thought it was probably too weak to make for a shaft. Its bad enough getting normal maple shafts for snooker that possess the right playing characteristics but birds eye maple I thought was a softer wood and not really suitable. I guess that could be why the seller is getting rid.

[jim evans]

well it cost 600 and not sure if glover would sell a cue priced like that if it was not a player

[cueman]

well it cost 600 and not sure if glover would sell a cue priced like that if it was not a player

maybe not knowingly so Jim but in all honesty how many cue makers are true players that can be certain that every cue performs as it should? The price is because I guess that wood is expensive anyway, and finding a shaft suitable for turning, he has probably paid for wastage as much as the price of the shaft. Either way its brand new so why have a cue brand new and sell it, I just think it probably doesn't play well at all.

[nikki+daveaddmanxpool]

Cue made with birdseye maple shaft.

I had a Birdseye maple shaft cue was thin cue thro out with prob a 7mm tip and was awesome and really strong I like what looks like knots in the wood really gives a unique look ive never found a 2nd cue like this so couldnt compare to see if they are all similiar or if I struck lucky

[trevs1]

Birds eye maple is the exact same species of maple as that found in a standard maple cue, so there is unlikey to be any reason it wouldn't be as good as any other maple cue. The reason why maple gets this birds eye marking and other types of various figuring is not known, but figured timber itself is no reason for the timber to be weak in some way. Many highly figured maples are actually a softer variety, especially those which produce really strong fiddleback or quilted figure. This is not suitable for cue shafts.

As for the need for a maker to be a competent player in order to "know" a cue plays as it should.....Here's my take on that......

In my view, it's a help to have a decent playing background, but not essential. I'd say having a background in playing to a reasonable level helps with discussing cue related issues, but would not say that it particularly helps a maker to build a better cue. Most cue makers will build cues to the requirements of the customers / market they serve, and so are often likely to have limited input into the dimensions for custom made work. Clearly there will be times when a maker needs to offer some advice, but even then, it's not that tricky to advise the choice of fairly generic specs for the vast majority of players out there.

One thing is for sure, no matter who the maker is, or, how fabulous the cue might be in terms of materials, build quality and finish, that in itself is no guarantee that the cue will play well. That point alone is a strong indicator to answering the question of...
"To what extent is it important that a maker is a competent player?"

The only way to ensure that every cue a maker allows out of the workshop is a great playing cue, would be for him to be a very competent player and to test each and every cue he builds before sending it out, rejecting those which were not to his approval. That's never going to happen.

[cueman]

Thanks for the replies.

I agree Trev that the only way a cue maker could ensure each cue is a player is if they are tried out before leaving the workshop but why would this never happen? I know the likely answer, time, but really speaking all items whatever you purchase should be tested before they leave a factory or workshop IMO. Especially with the competition out there. People have sometimes compared the price of cues to cars, rating a Parris as a rolls royce and a cheapo Argos cue to a Skoda, no offence to owners of any of these by the way.

The argument said that the quality and testing that goes into a rolls royce ensures each one leaves the factory as good as the last. So really speaking I think its an area that some cue makers could, maybe should look into. A range of cues not made to measure, but made by the makers with the intention that each one that is a very good player be put aside for the higher standard player or professional. Gone off topic a bit here but I feel this is a discussion that could well have some interest.

[hotpot]

Think you have a valid point Cueman , only problem if anything it would increase the price of a cue as the extra time testing is time taken away from making cues , selecting wood etc . Its all valuable time lost to a busy craftsman .

[JimB]

I agree with Trev, the birdseye figuring will not automatically mean that it's any weaker or unsuitable for a shaft ... infact, some of the hardest maple I've used in the past was birdseye, that was for guitar necks but that's even more important to have stiff wood, we never wanted a weak material for guitar necks ... no,no,no!

I had a chance to meet and chat with a lumberjack / wood supplier many years ago from Alaska and I asked him about 'Birdseye', 'BearClaw' and 'Fiddleback' figuring and whilst he couldn't say for sure the reason for it he did say that he noticed that a high percentage of the best and most highly figured wood he came across was near a good supply of fresh water, river, stream or lake. He reckoned that the combination of a good supply of water and the sheer weight of the tree (some are enormous) caused the 'folding' in the wood resulting in the figure. I can't say he is correct but I thought it was worth considering.

I love figured wood, just don't like working with it har har !

[old school]

Funnily enough I saw the first " birds eye " shafted cue that Tony did . It was a lot more highly figured than this one and was truly beautiful and was a playing cue not a collectable cue. The conversation went like this (me producing my cue) " Tony I have this cue that I think is " birds eye " but it is not that highly figured, what do you think ? " ( Tony repies ) " Funny you should bring me this cue , wait here , I have something to show you" .He goes into his work shop and brings out a work of art.I asked him about the cue and basically he said he had the " plank " for a while and thought he would have a go ( must have got bored , one day ) but he didnt know how it would turn out as he had been led to believe that it might play softer than regular " clear " Maple.No problem there , cue plays fine , I got the impression that he had played some frames to test the cue.Now to my cue , I have a 3/4 " birds eye " Maple shafted cue , not highly figured but still identifiable as " birds eye ".The cue was purported to have belonged to Neil Robinson ( EPA Pro Pool Player) and was his playing cue (playing and breaking) .I have never used it to play snooker , but as a breaking and playing EPA cue its a really good cue and some of my team mates have their name against it , should I sell it.I have compared it to my " clear " Maple shafted cues and for some reason I feel it plays a little differently.It is very hard to quantify , it sounds slightly different on contact and has slightly less deflection than my other Maple cues.I of course have to accept that density,taper,balance,tip type,ferrule weight and length etc can have a great bearing on how cues " feel " and react and believe me I know I am no expert , but still I have that niggling feeling in the back of my head that this cue plays differently, nice but differently.Birds Eye Maple shafts , however nature forms them , look beautiful, are a great talking point in the pub or club , are quite rare and I wish there were more around so that more people could play the game with them and learn to appreciate them as much as some of us do.Sorry for rambling , but touch,feel,beauty and playabilty are all subjective and emotive aspects to the psychology and mechanics of cue sports and lets face it at the end of the day , all we really want is " a nice playing cue".

[ADR147]

i had a pair of trevor white figured maple shaft cues - they sold fast enough!

[willtyson]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TONY-GLOVE...item416c0aa612 don't see many with oak either?