The rhino or newer rhino must. Just as good as the "name brand" shafts, at a fraction of the cost. In fact, i like my rhino must more than the new model pechauer rogue. The must is the slickest cf shaft i have tried. The must also comes with a quality japanese leather tip, unlike the first rhinos resin-like time crystal tip that feels like you have a piece of stone for a tip. Its the first shaft that i have stuck with the factory tip and not swapped.

Visualizing the balls as horizontal sections through the equator basically reduces the 3D problem to 2D, and casts the aiming problem as that seen in carom pool (that game played on a wooden board with discs instead of balls). Is aiming easier in carom pool compared to regular pool? I would say yes. Furthermore, if you are writing code for aiming problem calculations, the initial step is to ignore the spherical nature of the pool balls, and treat them as discs. So, for those who can actually see past the spherical nature of the balls and visualize them as equatorial discs, there may be a real advantage in aiming.

Jimmy_Betmore said:

It's the construction method. Round tipped points are inlaid rather than "spliced" in. One could argue that short splice points are still inlaid simply because the point wood doesn't extend below the A joint. But short splice points are a installed in a way that is exponentially more similar to full splice than the inlaid points like most production cues have. The pockets for either type of construction can be made using CNC, though.

Click to expand...

What @skor is saying is that it is possible to create a cnc pocket that results in a nearly perfectly sharp point. There are at least two ways of doing this. One is not truly full CNC, as it would be for person to hand-cut the sharp angles with the sharp instrument of his choice.

Another would be to use an angled cutter, likely an engraving bit, to finish the pocket and to taper-cut the edges with the bit cutting up and out at all corners. This would result in the pockets being very similar to a true point for a short distance at the point. The inlay would be cut with a matching bevel.

I expect there are several reasons the large companies choose not to do this. First, not enough people really care. Second, they might not have the cad/cam expertise to do this. Third, it is another step that requires at least one more tool change in the point and will take more time. Fourth, the inlay is more delicate and requires more care when installing.

I call BS when I hear talk about the cue or tip being to blame. I can pick out a cue from a selection that'll suit the feel/hit that I'm looking for and enough of how I like a tip to respond. I've got a crap 2 pc ash cue that plays good and it's nothing like the cues these guys are using.

Very nice cue
Enjoy it !!!!!

JasonATX said:

I'd hazard a guess that it's both the type of tooling used and there's probably less chance of the points being uneven when the points aren't as sharp.

Even if I'm completely wrong, it would probably be a good discussion on Ask the Cuemaker.

Click to expand...

It's the construction method. Round tipped points are inlaid rather than "spliced" in. One could argue that short splice points are still inlaid simply because the point wood doesn't extend below the A joint. But short splice points are a installed in a way that is exponentially more similar to full splice than the inlaid points like most production cues have. The pockets for either type of construction can be made using CNC, though.