Is wood grain naturally black?

[Wity]

Like applying raw linseed this info is slowly being absorbed under me cloth cap into me wooden top and actually being understood. Many thanks.


Now gimme another ten years worth and maybe I can pass C.S.E. woodwork.


This link I've just been reading might help others understand somewhat too..

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to...-furniture.htm

[Wity]

off topic bit of useless info but worthy of a smile..

Now gimme another ten years worth and maybe I can pass C.S.E. woodwork.

Actually I dropped woodwork which I was good at and chose metalwork instead as there was little chance of working with wood in the black country.
Needless to say I then worked as a timber storeman for 4 years.
Sods law aint it?

[BITTER]

I find the dark appearance of the Wooldridge grain very popular with players, pleasing on the eye I guess .

The other thing that makes The Wooldridge cues appear so dark is that I find the ash pale so the contrast between the two can make the grain look darker.

All manufacturers will have their own variations in finishing off a cue

Oil, wax and filler colour etc............

Plus the ash can vary from batch to batch

[trevs1]

Ash really doesn't vary that much at all to be truthful, as the stuff that practically all cuemakers want is white, or slightly off white.

Ash will vary from off white to pinkish white to a shade of pale greenish/brown towards the heart of the tree. This colour is referred to as olive ash.

The variable coloured stuff is NOT what a cuemaker would want, it can look hideous in a cue.

[ADR147]

trevor,

Andrew,

I don't think there was any confusion over the terminology, as nobody mentioned the words 'wood filler' in offering a reply. i must have miss read that somewhere i just got the feeling it implied the wrong thing and had images of that plastic stuff people buy to fix their coffee tables!

The initial accurate responses referred to filling the grain with "some sort of filling process" and "a filler applied to make the wood smooth".
Also, if Andy Bream does use ebony dust to fill any and all ash shafts, that's a lot of ebony dust he'll require. i assume he must cut it with something to make it go further but i have heard that is what he uses he does not make an awful lot of cues so maybe thats why.

It seems a little contradictory to state that Wooldridge cues have a very dark grain when he himself states he prefers a 'natural sanded and oiled finish, where the grain takes on its own colour and ages naturally'.
I think this is clear indication that some form of filling is done, whether that be with a 'filler' or not is something I wouldn't comment on. But, it's clear from the images on his own website that the grain (or to be more accurate, the growth rings) have a colour not found in ash naturally. i am not commenting on what he says on his website but i have seen an awful lot of his cues over the years and its a fact that his graining is very dark so it is my opinion that something makes it so.

This filling (and colouring) and sealing process done in ash shafts is done to enhance the grain (or growth rings) of the timber, and also, to aid good finishing of the timber. If the wood was left in its natural state and just sanded and then oiled, it would be very open grained and pale in colour. This would not be a finish that practically any player would like either the appearance or the feel of, and, this is the reason why it's done as it is.

It is true in many ways that not all cuemakers are happy to speak of how and why things are done as they are. Perhaps in some respects that's a shame, as I'm sure that the people buying these cues would maybe have a better insight and even more respect for the cues some makers produce. agreed in theory and as we have discussed before there are many myths about cues out there but don't you think if this was a viable commerical idea somebody would have done it by now?

maybe i should just have answered NO

[BITTER]

May that be a lesson to you Andy.

[ADR147]

May that be a lesson to you Andy.

story of my life !! - no would have been so much easier and so much less typing !!

[BITTER]

You have Mail

[ADR147]

yes lots! - let me know when they arrive.

[trevs1]

I think Wity introduced some confusion over whether it was grain filler or wood filler, nobody else.

I think he was too busy giving everyone a verbal lashing to realise that wood filler was'nt mentioned.

Still, I think he's spanking himself about that now.....Oooh, a nasty image just crossed my mind there.

I'm sure Andy Bream might use ebony dust, just don't get why.

I'm absolutely 100% you are dead right when you speak of the Wooldridge cues you've seen, after all, I know you know very well what you're looking at.
My point about that was just the point made on the site, compared to how the shafts look finished, which seems like a slight contradiction.

On the subject of makers speaking about how they do things, well, it does make sense not to divulge everything they know, why should they, it's taken many years to learn it. My point was aimed more at giving people the truth, the facts, with no false or embelished details of the how's and why's.

[ADR147]

it might be a case of

"the truth, you can't handle the truth!"

i think an aire of mystery about cues is likely to be a good thing other wise you and i might be living under a bridge in a cardboard box trevor!

[BITTER]

Hey don't knock cardboard boxes !

Just had double glazing fitted in mine ready for the cold Welsh Winter.

Well when I say Glazing, I mean good quality cling film, none of your cheap stuff

[trevs1]

You might have a point there Andrew, perhaps I'm too honest for my own good.

As for the Cardboard box thing, well, as long as it's a box under a bridge with beer and sport on TV I'll manage.

[ADR147]

Hey don't knock cardboard boxes !

Just had double glazing fitted in mine ready for the cold Welsh Winter.

Well when I say Glazing, I mean good quality cling film, none of your cheap stuff

i will think about that over a bottle of cote rotie in front of my log burning stove in my scottish pile!

[ADR147]

You might have a point there Andrew, perhaps I'm too honest for my own good.

As long as it's a box under a bridge with beer and sport on TV I'll manage.

ah ha a box of beer maybe, kill two birds with one stone - i might register that idea!