I was going to stay out of this thread.....however, figured I'd inject some of my non-wisdom.
I don't believe wooden shafts are going to disappear completely. One reason is the customer can customize a shaft taper and tip size to their liking without needing to go back to the original builder.
Yes, the quality of a wood shaft can vary from builder to builder. It is on the customer to do their research and decide if the builder has a quality reputation for their wooden shafts. As far as needing to send the butt back to the builder to match a shaft, that is an ancient method that should no longer be needed if the builder is set up with mandrels. On rare occasion I may need the butt from earlier cues I have built, however most of the time the customer is looking for a refresh of the butt anyway and they figure why not a few extra shafts also.
A good quality close up photo of the ring is generally all that is needed to match shafts.
My build book is closed, however I make a concerted effort to get additional shafts worked in a timely manner if possible.
As a builder one of the negatives of wooden shafts is it takes many, many sticks in inventory and rotation to stay ahead of the game.
Personally, I've built several CF shafts from different manufacturers to test them out and have tried several different cues with CF shafts and just don't care for them. But, I have played with wood all my time on the the table.
As far as the young generation being introduced to billiards now if they have never played much with wood or are not taught how to care for their wooden shafts of course they will naturally gravitate toward CF. They don't need to worry about humidity, heat because they left their cues in an auto trunk all day and several other factors a wooden shaft owner needs to pay attention to in order to keep their playing equipment in pristine shape.
The younger crowd these days have a much different mind set than us older people. Happens ever generational change.
In close, wooden shafts will never totally disappear although they may go by the way of the muscle car era. There are still many enthusiasts!
