Technologies

We use rare wood types for manufacturing of pool cues – Ebony, Palisander, Purpleheart, Wenge, Massaranduba, Bokote, Maple, Cocobolo, Satine, Hornbeam. Here is a brief description of some of them.

Ebony (black-wood)
Botanical name – Diospyros Decalh
Ebony is a general name for very dense black wood. It grows in Cameroon, Zanzibar, tropical Africa, India, Bombay, Ceylon, and Siam. In the strict sense it is yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but other heavy, black (or dark colored) woods (from completely unrelated trees) are sometimes also called ebony. Some well-known species of ebony include Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka, and Diospyros dendro, native to western Africa. Ebony is one of the most intensely black woods known, which, combined with its very high density (it is one of the woods that sink in water), fine texture, and ability to polish very smoothly, has made it very valuable as an ornamental wood. Some species in the genus Diospyros yield so-called striped ebony, with similar physical properties, which is not evenly black, but striped.
Dry wood density makes up to 1190 kg/m3

WENGE –
Botanical name – Millettia laurenti. German, English and Italian name – Wenge.
It grows in the tropical jungle of Western Africa, up to Zaire. Its sapwood (external young, physiologically active layers of wood, adjacent to meristem) – is almost white, 3 cm in width. The mature wood is very dark in color with a distinctive figure and a strong partridge pattern. The wood is heavy and hard, suitable for flooring and staircases. Due to its bold appearance, it has gone in and out of fashion. It also gives its name to the colour wenge.
Dry wood density: 850 – 950 kg/m3, hardness – 4.2.

PALISANDER –
Botanical name – Dalbergia latifolia, Dalbergia javanica. German name – Ostindisch Palisander. English name – Indian rosewood. Its Italian name is Palissandro India. The tree grows in Western India, Indonesia, Thailand, Ceylon and Java. It is known to produce the wood called cocobolo. It is a fair-sized tree, reported to reach 20–25 m in height: this is probably the species contributing most of the wood in the trade. Because of the wood’s great beauty and high value, the trees yielding this wood have been heavily exploited: they are rare outside of national parks, reserves and plantations.

PURPLEHEART –
Botanical name – Peltogyne. Purpleheart is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to tropical regions of Central and South America, where they occur in tropical rainforests. They are medium-sized to large trees growing to 30-50 m tall, with trunk diameters of up to 1.5 m. The leaves are alternate, divided into a symmetrical pair of large leaflets 5-10 cm long and 2-4 cm broad. The flowers are small, with five white petals, produced in panicles. The trees are prized for their beautiful heartwood which, when cut, quickly turns from a dark brown to a rich purple color. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light darkens the wood to a brown color with a slight hue of the original purple. This effect can be minimized with a finish containing a UV inhibitor. The dry wood is very hard and dense with a specific gravity. This wood is quite dense, and if it is to be worked, then a sharp carbide blade is required to cut it. For uses of this wood it is prized for fine inlay work, woodturning, cabinetry, flooring, and furniture.

MASSARANDUBA –
Massaranduba (Maniakara Longifolia) grows in South America. The heartwood is light to dark reddish brown in color. The color has also been described as dull plum red. The tree is usually large, attaining heights of 100 to 150 feet, with diameters of 24 to 48 inches, (60 to 120 cm), sometimes reaching 6 feet (1.8 m). Trees are usually swollen at the base, and boles are often straight and clear to about 60 feet (18 m). Massaranduba is a dark red wood which will fade to a silver gray if left untreated. To retain the rich color, an oil based finish with ultraviolet inhibitors is recommended. Dry wood density – kg/m3

HORNBEAM –
Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus. The 30-40 species occur across much of the north temperate regions, with the greatest number of species in east Asia, particularly China. Only two species occur in Europe, and only one in eastern North America.
Hornbeams yield a very hard timber, giving rise to the name iron-wood. Dried heartwood billets are nearly white and are suitable for decorative use. For general carpentry, hornbeam is rarely used, partly due to the difficulty of working it. Its hardness has however lent it to use for carving boards, tool handles, handplane soles, coach wheels, piano actions and other situations where a very tough, hard wood is required, perhaps most interestingly as gear pegs in simple machines, including traditional windmills. It is sometimes coppiced to provide hardwood poles. It is also used in parquet flooring.
Dry wood density: 750 kg/m3. Hardness: around 3.5.

MAPLE
Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as Maple. There are approximately 125 species, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Some of the larger maple species have valuable timber, particularly Sugar Maple in North America, and Sycamore Maple in Europe. Sugar Maple wood, often known as “hard maple”, is the wood of choice for bowling pins, bowling alley lanes, pool cue shafts, and butcher’s blocks. Maple wood is also used for the production of wooden baseball bats, though less often than ash or hickory due to the tendency of maple bats to shatter when broken. Maple wood is often graded based on physical and aesthetic characteristics. The most common terminology includes the grading scale from common #2 which is unselected and often used for craft woods, common #1 used for commercial and residential buildings, Clear, and select grade which sought out for fine woodworking. Some maple wood has a highly decorative wood grain, known as flame maple, quilt maple, birdseye maple and burl wood. This condition occurs randomly in individual trees of several species, and often cannot be detected until the wood has been sawn, though it is sometimes visible in the standing tree as a rippled pattern in the bark. These select decorative wood pieces also have subcategories which further filter the aesthetic looks. Crotch Wood, Bees Wing, Cats Paw, Old Growth and Mottled are some terms used to describe the look of these decorative woods.
Dry wood density: 530 – 650 kg/m3.