70's Westinghouse Micarta or Linen Based Melamine
- Thread starter rbpwrd240
- Start date
Linen melamine is harder and heavier .
Melamine is generally harder. As for weight, I weighed a variety of finished ferrules, all the same exact size. They all had same bore & thread. The only difference was material. Pretty much all of them weighed out so close to identical that I quit worrying about ferrule weight. The maple I checked was only superficially lighter. As a solid ferrule blank, maybe the difference seems more substantial. But as ferrules threaded & ready to install(mine are 1/2"x3/8"-16), there was virtually no difference in weight.
To me when Schon quit using the old Yellow Micarta and that next generation of lighter colored Micarta and started using Linen Based Melamine, the cues started being able to move the cue ball easier. And they started having a better sound to the hit. So I think the Melamine plays better for my taste in how a cue should play and it is my first choice for ferrules on the cues I build. Having said that I will add, all Melamines are not made equal. My second choice is the High Action Low Deflection material and this has become the most popular ferrule material I sell. The two produce very different hits. My third best seller is Yellow Micarta. I prefer the hit of the modern Yellow Micarta over Juma a little bit, but I like the looks of the Juma better. As far as looks and machining go, Juma is very hard to beat. If the new Micarta was white I might choose it over the Melamine as they both hit really good.
Here is how I would describe the feel and sound of the hit on all four.
High Action = Soft feel and sound. (Adds action to the cue ball)
Juma = Medium Soft feel and sound. (Feels almost like no ferrule)
Melamine = Medium Hard feel and sound.
Modern Yellow Micarta = Medium Hard feel and sound. (Just a touch softer than Melamine)
Here is how I would describe the feel and sound of the hit on all four.
High Action = Soft feel and sound. (Adds action to the cue ball)
Juma = Medium Soft feel and sound. (Feels almost like no ferrule)
Melamine = Medium Hard feel and sound.
Modern Yellow Micarta = Medium Hard feel and sound. (Just a touch softer than Melamine)
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Does the Melamine turn yellowish after a while? I'm not sure what my shaft has on it but it's still egg shell white, and it was made in the late '70 to '80's (Jim Buss), and hit's super hard.