Arrow & Old Wood.

[OzMini]

hi guys,

I got a question about the relationship between the arrows that appear on a piece of ash and the year of that ash. As usual, after the weekly social comp, me, my mates and the opponents would sit together had a drink and do abit of chit-chat. I mentioned that I am planning to get myself a new cue. One of the opponents gave me an advice that when choosing a piece of ash for my cue, make sure that the arrows are not too closely. The reason behind this is the further the distance between arrows, the older the wood is. IS this true?

I know there are many cue making experts around this forum (like Trevor, Mike Keith.....etcetc) Could any one help me on finding out the truth on this?

Thanks in advance!!

[The Doctor]

hi guys,

I got a question about the relationship between the arrows that appear on a piece of ash and the year of that ash. As usual, after the weekly social comp, me, my mates and the opponents would sit together had a drink and do abit of chit-chat. I mentioned that I am planning to get myself a new cue. One of the opponents gave me an advice that when choosing a piece of ash for my cue, make sure that the arrows are not too closely. The reason behind this is the further the distance between arrows, the older the wood is. IS this true?

I know there are many cue making experts around this forum (like Trevor, Mike Keith.....etcetc) Could any one help me on finding out the truth on this?

Thanks in advance!!

not too sure about that. i think it is just down to the quality of timber and the way it has been cut. but im not a cue maker so
dont know for sure. prob, Mike and Trev will know.

[craigslater]

i wouldnt say that how close the arrows are has much to do with the age of the ash, there are many factors to how close the arrows are, density of the wood, the area in the world the ash is from, the angle that it is cut at etc etc but as im not a cuemaker either im sure one of the pro's will have a better answer?

[cocked hat]

Hi OzMini,
Those arrows are the growth rings of the tree.Usually a tree puts one on every year,so,the number of arrows reflects the number of years growth of that part of the tree.the distance apart is affected in two ways,the growing conditions in that season(drought often causes the rings to be close together)and the taper or angle that the wood has been cut.I believe that the closer the rings the denser the wood.

[OzMini]

Hi OzMini,
Those arrows are the growth rings of the tree.Usually a tree puts one on every year,so,the number of arrows reflects the number of years growth of that part of the tree.the distance apart is affected in two ways,the growing conditions in that season(drought often causes the rings to be close together)and the taper or angle that the wood has been cut.I believe that the closer the rings the denser the wood.

thanks for clearing the mystery Cocked_Hat!!

Closer = Denser = Stiff & Hard?

Is the above assumptions correct?

[cocked hat]

arrows

thanks for clearing the mystery Cocked_Hat!!

Closer = Denser = Stiff & Hard?

Is the above assumptions correct?

Not entirely I don't think.You could have differently spaced growth rings from other parts of the same tree,it depends where the timber was cut from.A lot of things affect the growth,not least where the tree was standing.The only safe way for us mortals is to buy from someone who knows by the feel in his hand,a good cue builder will have handled a lot of quality timber and would know whether those qualities would translate into a good playing tool.

[snookaman]

hi guys,

I got a question about the relationship between the arrows that appear on a piece of ash and the year of that ash. As usual, after the weekly social comp, me, my mates and the opponents would sit together had a drink and do abit of chit-chat. I mentioned that I am planning to get myself a new cue. One of the opponents gave me an advice that when choosing a piece of ash for my cue, make sure that the arrows are not too closely. The reason behind this is the further the distance between arrows, the older the wood is. IS this true?

I know there are many cue making experts around this forum (like Trevor, Mike Keith.....etcetc) Could any one help me on finding out the truth on this?

Thanks in advance!!

Hi,

I had the same question and I asked a cue maker. His answer seems logical to me:

Time has changed! In the old days, most trees were old enough to have very dense year rings inside out. Nowadays, these trees are not available. So, more arrows (year rings) means that part of the wood comes from the outer part of the tree. The inner part of the tree has less grains and is of better quality.

[poolqjunkie]

Closer growth rings mean higher density since the closer the rings, the more compact the wood is and thus the higher the density. But this is only true if you compare the pieces coming from the same tree.
I do not believe closer rings means older trees. I think closer rings most likely would come from a tree that was growing slower. There are many factors which would result in a slower growing tree, such as a lower temperture, not too much water or less sunlight and so forth. So, usually, this kind of slow growing wood comes from a thick forest up north with a cold and not too humid climate.
But it is not fair or sensible to comapre two different pieces of wood coming from two different sources just by looking at the growth rings. A piece with lesser growth ring can still come out heavier.
Whether s piece of wood is stiff would depend on the taper, mass/density and the natural resonance of the wood and so on. It also cannot be determined by the growth ring alone.
Whether more growth rings is desirable would depend on the way the cue is balanced. If you put a very heavy piece of shaft wood to a very light butt causng the cue to be too forward balanced, then the cue would not play well no matter how close the rings are.
On the other hand, if you have a piece with rings going all over the place and are very far apart, but it is matched very nicely with a properly weighted butt to produce a great balance and hit, then you indeed have a winner.
Some people think a closer straighter grain would offer more resistance to warpage. I think warpage or its resistance depends on the way the wood is prepared, cut, kilned, turned, and how the cue is handled and stored.
I personally think it is nice to have a piece that is dense with all the grains being straight with arrows going up on one side and down on the other just because it looks nice. It is also easier to sell for more money since lots of people like that kind of wood. But I do not think the hit depends on that.

[OzMini]

thanks snookaman & pooljunkie,

the more I read about the relationship between the rings and the qaulity of a piece of wood, the more I think I will leave the choice of ash for my future cue maker since I believe he will have the knowledge and experience to pick the right ash with the ebony butt to make a cue with a good "feel" and balance.

[MikeWooldridge]

if i knew how to pick a piece of wood depending on how close or far apart the grain is, my job would be a lot easier.

i've had close grain stuff that is stiff and wide grain that is whippy. and vice versa. there appears to be no sure way of knowing until you handle it.

maybe if you had control of where it is grown etc., you could possibly have a better idea, but i agree with a lot of the comments made here.

so you're probably right to put your faith in the cue maker to use a bit that looks nice and has the right 'feel'.