Ferruleless shafts

speedi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I noticed that someone is selling a Black Boar cue with a ferruless shaft. Do any of you know why BlackBoar would make such a shaft? I know the British players use ferruless shafts but they seem to always have a metal band just below the tip to give the end of the shaft some protection. The Black Boar shaft has no such protection. The tip appears to just be glued to the end of the wood shaft.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Speedi
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
Guessing why he does it would only be speculation. You'd be better asking the maker.
 

Kevin Lindstrom

14.1 Addict
Silver Member
Nothing against Tony as I do love his cues, but I think this is just another gimmick.

If it had merit someone would have tried it and continued to use it or do it many years ago.

That being said if you like it and prefer to do it more power to you..

Kevin
 

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Guessing why he does it would only be speculation. You'd be better asking the maker.

Excellent response.

Chuck Starkey advocated shafts without ferrules as well. Some dig it.

I just wanted to add that the OP mentioned that snooker cues have no ferrule. Yes, they do. It's typically brass.
but they seem to always have a metal band just below the tip to give the end of the shaft some protection

.
 

qbilder

slower than snails
Silver Member
I just wanted to add that the OP mentioned that snooker cues have no ferrule. Yes, they do. It's typically brass.

This has always bugged me. With pool cues, people stress over deflection making the cue inaccurate, hard to control. Deflection is based on tip end mass. The heavier the tip end of the shaft is in comparison to the cue ball's mass, the more deflection the cue will have. Pool balls are significantly more massive than snooker balls, and brass is significantly more dense than wood or even the plastics we use in pool cue ferrules. However, snooker cues have heavy brass ferrules & are used to drive smaller, less massive balls. Logic would dictate that a snooker cue with brass ferrule couldn't possibly be used to accurately play the game, yet it's done so regularly and on tables with tiny pockets barely large enough to fit a single ball. Our pool tables are considered tight if two balls just fit. Am I the only one who has always noticed this irony?

Could it be that deflection, however scientifically factual it may be, plays tremendously less role in cue accuracy than folks think it does? I know that's off topic, just thinking out loud. :confused:
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
This has always bugged me. With pool cues, people stress over deflection making the cue inaccurate, hard to control. Deflection is based on tip end mass. The heavier the tip end of the shaft is in comparison to the cue ball's mass, the more deflection the cue will have. Pool balls are significantly more massive than snooker balls, and brass is significantly more dense than wood or even the plastics we use in pool cue ferrules. However, snooker cues have heavy brass ferrules & are used to drive smaller, less massive balls. Logic would dictate that a snooker cue with brass ferrule couldn't possibly be used to accurately play the game, yet it's done so regularly and on tables with tiny pockets barely large enough to fit a single ball. Our pool tables are considered tight if two balls just fit. Am I the only one who has always noticed this irony?

Could it be that deflection, however scientifically factual it may be, plays tremendously less role in cue accuracy than folks think it does? I know that's off topic, just thinking out loud. :confused:
I think b/c of deflection, they've become a lot more proficient in hitting the cue ball dead center ( axis ). Any off-center hit will cause the cue ball to squirt quite a bit.
Billiard players on the other hand use tiny ferrules . In length and diameter.
And they play with much heavier balls.
 

Kim Bye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The problem with ferruleless shaft is that there is a fair chance they wil be worn uneven just below the tip from idiots who don`t know how to chalk :D
 

stevel

Lomax Custom Cues
Silver Member
This has always bugged me. With pool cues, people stress over deflection making the cue inaccurate, hard to control. Deflection is based on tip end mass. The heavier the tip end of the shaft is in comparison to the cue ball's mass, the more deflection the cue will have. Pool balls are significantly more massive than snooker balls, and brass is significantly more dense than wood or even the plastics we use in pool cue ferrules. However, snooker cues have heavy brass ferrules & are used to drive smaller, less massive balls. Logic would dictate that a snooker cue with brass ferrule couldn't possibly be used to accurately play the game, yet it's done so regularly and on tables with tiny pockets barely large enough to fit a single ball. Our pool tables are considered tight if two balls just fit. Am I the only one who has always noticed this irony?

Could it be that deflection, however scientifically factual it may be, plays tremendously less role in cue accuracy than folks think it does? I know that's off topic, just thinking out loud. :confused:

Eric, I don't think it would make much of a difference with any type of ferrule on a snooker shaft since it has a conical taper.
 

pampi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Its all about the deflection why he is doing it. That taper of his shaft is 12.5mm and he doesn't make fatter than that, the tip is a pick triangle leather which he tested it with his durometer. Its solid but not as solid as the southwest but southwest has the normal deflection his has the least deflection in my opinion. His shaft does not warped over time. and if you roll together and apart it is dead straight. Im talking about rolling it on the rail.
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
The short tiny ferrule of brass probably adds about the same weight as a one inch ferrule and most use soft tips on snooker cues. With center ball and soft tip the ferrule makes very little difference anyway. What I disliked about really short ferrules and the no ferrule shafts is that people rub grooves into their shafts with the chalk. And shaft wood wears away really fast when a good one inch melamine ferrule would just clean up fine with minimal chalk touching the middle of it.
 

prophet32

Registered
I play with a ferruleless shaft.. i think its no than any other preference on a cue, the way wood to wood joints hit compared to ones with metal joints.. ETC. Wood is definitely lighter than the other ferrule materials out there.. it was mentioned if ferrulelss shafts are so much better why hasn't anyone else run with it and there would be alot out there.. Well you will notice that alot of the low deflection cues out there are doing a version of this they are making shorter and shorter ferrules and trying to find lighter and lighter material . I think the reason that alot of companies dont just go ferruleless is the protection aspect of the shaft. .. As mentioned u can rub grooves in your shaft, crack a shaft more easily, etc etc.

But i do like them the hit is a little different no its not gonna make you jump off the pool table and say whoa that was completely different and the best thing ever in pool but there is a difference. again like i mentioned the difference is similar to the difference between different joint materials etc. I also like them because the sight line to me is better and less distracting.. u have less color contrasts from the shaft , to ferrule to tip when shooting.. this may not bother some and i can shoot with a ferrule but to me its just one less thing.. i also use light brown chalk so if i do happen to accidentally get some chalk in what would be the ferrule or ferrule area of a ferrulesss shaft. i wont really see it so no off putting or distracting lines or specs created ...
 

WildWing

Super Gun Mod
Silver Member
I noticed that someone is selling a Black Boar cue with a ferruless shaft. Do any of you know why BlackBoar would make such a shaft? I know the British players use ferruless shafts but they seem to always have a metal band just below the tip to give the end of the shaft some protection. The Black Boar shaft has no such protection. The tip appears to just be glued to the end of the wood shaft.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Speedi

Not a cuemaker, but I can answer your question, having spent some time with Tony at Black Boar a few months ago, and played with one of his ferruleless shafts over an afternoon.

He calls it his high performance shaft, and it is. It applies spin very easily, and it is low deflection. He does some coring of the shaft, as well as no ferrule. It hits very solid, and maneuvers the cue ball very easily. It's probably comparable to a lot of high performance shafts on the market, and is Tony's wood, which is very high quality. Hope that helps.

All the best,
WW
 

speedi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks

Not a cuemaker, but I can answer your question, having spent some time with Tony at Black Boar a few months ago, and played with one of his ferruleless shafts over an afternoon.

He calls it his high performance shaft, and it is. It applies spin very easily, and it is low deflection. He does some coring of the shaft, as well as no ferrule. It hits very solid, and maneuvers the cue ball very easily. It's probably comparable to a lot of high performance shafts on the market, and is Tony's wood, which is very high quality. Hope that helps.

All the best,
WW

To all who have added their comments to this thread, a huge thank you for taking the time to write and inform based on your experience or just your opinion. Very, very informative for all to see. I hope this has helped others who wondered "why?" but never took the time to post a thread on the subject of ferruless shafts.

Speedi.
 

cueman

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
To all who have added their comments to this thread, a huge thank you for taking the time to write and inform based on your experience or just your opinion. Very, very informative for all to see. I hope this has helped others who wondered "why?" but never took the time to post a thread on the subject of ferruless shafts.

Speedi.

This is definitely not the first thread on the subject, but it is nice to refresh our memories once in a while.
 
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