The short answer
For the butt and forearm, the wood mostly decides how a cue looks and ages, and a little of its weight. The shaft is almost always hard maple or carbon. Dense hardwoods like ebony, cocobolo and bocote are the classic butt woods; maple, leopardwood and purpleheart give lighter or brighter looks.
No wood will make you play better. Pick the one you want to look at for the next ten years, then let the maker balance the weight around it.
What wood are pool cues made of?
Pool shafts are traditionally hard rock maple, and that is still the standard for wood shafts. Butts on better cues are solid hardwood; the cue stick article on Wikipedia notes that high-end cues commonly use rosewood or ebony, while cheaper cues may use spliced hardwood under a plastic covering.
Butt woods are chosen for three things: density, stability and how they take a finish. A dense wood lets a maker reach a target weight in a slimmer butt. A stable wood moves less with the seasons. A wood that takes lacquer well stays good-looking for longer.
The common pool cue woods, side by side
| Wood | Look | On the bench | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ebony | Near black, little visible grain | Very dense and stubborn to turn; polishes to a deep shine | Moves with seasonal humidity; oily, so gluing needs care |
| Cocobolo | Orange to deep red-brown with dark streaks | Dense, oily and fine textured; machines cleanly | Oils resist some glues and finishes; a rosewood with shipping rules |
| Bocote | Honey brown with dark ribbons | Strong figure; every board is different | Varies so much that you should see your actual board |
| Leopardwood | Light brown with dense flecks | Takes lacquer better than anything else on our bench | The busy figure is not for everyone |
| Purpleheart | Violet that develops after cutting | Hard and dense; gums up dull tools | Drifts toward brown under UV over the years |
| Bird’s-eye maple | Pale with small eye figure | Shows inlay contrast well | Pale wood shows chalk and handling marks |
| Hard maple | Pale cream, usually plain | The traditional shaft wood; predictable | Plain unless the board is figured |
| Tulipwood | Pale with rose and violet streaks | Striking figure in small sections | The name covers more than one species; ask which |
Ebony, cocobolo and the dense classics
Gaboon ebony is about as dense as cue woods get. The Wood Database lists it at 3,080 lbf on the Janka hardness scale, with an average dried weight of about 60 pounds per cubic foot (The Wood Database). That density is why an ebony butt feels solid and polishes to a high luster. The same page rates ebony as only moderately stable through seasonal changes, so it wants a good finish and sensible storage.
Cocobolo is a Central American rosewood, orange to red-brown with darker streaks. It is dense enough to sink in water, and its natural oils give it a strong scent and make strong glue joints harder, which is why makers often wipe it with a solvent before gluing. The same oils are a known skin and respiratory sensitizer for the people who machine it, which is a workshop problem rather than a player one (Wikipedia).
Cocobolo and the other true rosewoods in the Dalbergia genus have been listed under CITES Appendix II since 2017, so moving them across borders can involve paperwork. If you want a rosewood cue shipped internationally, ask the maker what applies to your country before you choose.
Purpleheart, leopardwood and the brighter woods
Purpleheart surprises people. Freshly cut, it is a dull grayish brown. Within days of exposure it deepens to purple on its own, and over years of UV it drifts toward dark brown. The Wood Database lists it at 2,520 lbf on the Janka scale and suggests a UV-inhibiting finish to slow the change (The Wood Database).
Leopardwood is named for its dense flecked figure. Bird’s-eye maple is pale, with small eyes that seem to move as the light moves. Bocote has honey-colored grain crossed by dark ribbons, and no two boards look alike. These woods are less about density and more about character, and the paler ones show inlay contrast well.
How to choose a wood for your cue
- Start with the look. Wood mostly decides appearance. Choose the one you want to see every time you open the case.
- Ask about weight. A denser butt wood lets a maker hit your target weight in a slimmer butt. If you like a very light cue, a lighter wood makes that easier.
- Think ten years ahead. Purpleheart browns, pale maple shows wear, ebony stays black. Decide which kind of aging you like.
- Ask to see the board. Figured woods like bocote vary enormously. The picture on a website is one board, not yours.
- Ask about shipping rules if you want a rosewood such as cocobolo sent to another country.
If you are still deciding on the rest of the cue, our guide on how to choose a pool cue covers weight, length, tip and shaft.
From the bench
We keep eight species on the rack: bocote, ebony, leopardwood, bird’s-eye maple, purpleheart, hard maple, cocobolo and tulipwood. We buy in small lots and pick every board by hand, so what we can build in a given month depends partly on which boards are in the room.
On our bench, ebony is the stubborn one: dense, slow to turn, and every line has to be true because there is nothing to hide behind. Leopardwood takes lacquer better than anything else we use. Purpleheart gets a UV-resistant finish, because we would rather slow the browning than pretend it does not happen. You can see each wood plain in our MK series, and with hand-cut inlay in the MKP series.
Quick answers
What is the best wood for a pool cue?
There is no single best. Hard maple is the standard shaft wood; for the butt, dense hardwoods like ebony, cocobolo and bocote are classic choices, and the right one is mostly the one you like the look of.
Is ebony good for a pool cue?
Yes. Gaboon ebony is very dense, about 3,080 lbf on the Janka scale, polishes to a high shine and is a traditional butt wood, though it needs a good finish because it moves with humidity.
Does purpleheart stay purple?
Not forever. It turns purple days after cutting and drifts toward brown with years of UV exposure; a UV-inhibiting finish slows the change.
Can a cocobolo pool cue be shipped internationally?
Cocobolo is a rosewood listed under CITES Appendix II, so international shipments can involve permits or paperwork. Ask the seller what applies to your country before ordering.
Sources and further reading
- Gaboon Ebony (The Wood Database)
- Purpleheart (The Wood Database)
- Cocobolo (Wikipedia)
- Cue stick (Wikipedia)
How this guide was made: drafted with AI assistance from the sources above and the Muraki workshop’s own build notes, then published by the workshop. Anything about how we build is our own practice; figures from other people are credited. Spot something wrong? Tell us and we will correct it.
Want one built your way?
Tell us the wood, the weight and how you play. One of the four of us answers, usually the same day, with an honest quote. Nothing to pay to ask.
