just a question...

[macneilb]

hi K.J.
i know how knowledgeable you are about cues and i have a question, so i figured you'd be the man to ask; what does coring a cue do, and why is it done? also, how does it affect playability compared to a solid cue? i've heard if exotic woods are being used that it helps stabilize the cue from warping, which makes sense, but if so, would you core a cue that's made from solid birds eye maple for example? i was also wondering if you do this on any of your cues. thanks K.J. - i'm a big fan of your work. Brett.

[KJ]

Hi Brett,
Coring is the act of boring a hole completely through a length of dowel and installing into that bored void, a smaller dowel that will in effect, take the place of what was removed. There are many reasons for coring. You can core to remove wght. You can core to add wght. You can core to stabilize a particular pc of wood that you suspect will 'move' after the cue is completed.

Ex. Coring a heavy wood such as ebony or cocobola and installing a core of maple will make it lighter.

Ex. Coring a lighter wood such as Big Leaf Maple with a heavier wood will add wght. and also add an element of stability. Since Big Leaf is a lighter, softer species of maple, coring it with hard maple, purpleheart, bocote, coco etc. will add wght. & stability.

It depends on where you want the wght. to be in your cue (balance point).

The majority of the cues that I build have a birdseye maple forearm. BI is a form of Hard Rock Maple (sugar maple) which is considered to be very stable in original form without coring. Actually, hard maple is used as a core for less stable woods. All of the Predator 5K series cues are cored with hard maple to accommodate the C4 technology.
It should be noted that coring is an expensive process even in a production environment and it produces a tremendous amount of waste. However, it does have it's place and should be considered a 'trade-off'. It allows the use of say, ebony in a forearm without the cue topping 20oz. without a wght. bolt. Again, coring has it's place.

I don't core my cues, it's not necessary and would add significantly to the cost.

[Straycat]

First time posting and just want to tell kj that if he ever writes a book on cue building and repair i'll be the 1st 1 2 buy a copy.
you are like a walking encyclopedia, thanks for all the info here and at azb.

Joe C

[KJ]

Hello Joe,
Welcome to our humble little sand-box. The action here is a little more subdued than what you'd find on AZB but there's a great group of posters here and some are very knowledgeable. Have fun!!!

PS. Thank you for your sentiments. I try to answer posts to the best of my ability and to be as honest/accurate as possible.

[KillerCane]

Kj, you da man!