Custom shaft questions

Thanks for the input. I only ask so much because you guys do amazing work and I don't have the knowledge to know the extent of the possibilities. Im just asking to see what is possible. I feel like the specs are pretty normal. When it boils down to it, I just want two shafts, one stiff and one whippy, with soft ferrules. Just wondering what specific characteristics in wood lead to those two different hits.

What makes a shaft whippy?

The general term I like to use for this, is "spine". It's a term more commonly used in Archery, where they measure the stiffness of their arrow shafts (both wood and carbon fiber) in a numbered scale of 100-1000 spine. Spine strength is basically the overall rigidity of the given piece (shaft). In theory, longer and thinner objects have less spine, shorter and thicker objects have more spine (assuming working with wood and carbon fiber).

So, the spine of a cue shaft for the most part will come down to a few things. The type of wood used, the diameter of the shaft, and the length of the shaft. Carbon fiber is different, but still mainly comes down to the wall thickness and diameter / length.

Softer wood, longer shaft length, thin diameter (like 12mm) are going to make for a super whippy shaft unless counteracted like a lot of makers nowadays do.
Very interesting and informative. Couple questions. What would you look for when finding a softer wood that would play lively? Would you look at grain and growth rings, or is something else an indicator? What specs would you think to use for a shaft I described? Maybe a 30 inch shaft, 12mm, 17 inch pro taper. And how do makers counteract that, splicing and coring?

What makes a shaft whippy?

Some wood does not have as much "spine" as other wood.

There could be a variety of things that contribute to that.

The wood isn't aged enough, it doesn't have enough growth rings, high moisture content, grain runout, etc.
Would any of things that make a wood softer, or have less spine, inherently lead that shaft to have more deflection then a shaft that has the same specs but with more spine?

Custom shaft questions

I'm thinking of getting two, mostly identical shafts made. Solid maple, no splicing, 3.8 oz, 12.4mm, 29 inches, pro taper. I'd like both to be a lively, in terms of vibrational feedback, as possibleThe only real difference I want is for one to be stiff and one to be whippy. How exactly would you go about that? In terms of specs maybe go extend pro taper on the whippy shaft, 17 inches taper, maybe go a hair thinner, 12.2 mm. And a shorter 14 inch taper on the stiffer shaft? And in terms of wood selection, what would you look for for the two? There are terms I don't completely understand. Would you look for a weaker/ stronger spine, tight/ loose grain, what other things would help get me what I'm looking for?
Second, unlike most players I don't enjoy a crisp hit, I like a more, soft, buttery hit. In my experience most of that has to do with the type of ferrule I'm shooting with. My favorite hitting shaft is an 80s dufferin that still had those very soft, I think called vulcanized plastic, ferrules. They were almost bouncy. What type of ferrule material do you think would come closest to that feel?
Thirdly, is there anything that can be done to make these shafts lower deflection besides drilling and leaving hollow or filling with foam? I like a lively shaft and this always deadens the hit so much. The best hitting le deflection shaft I've hit with is a maple meucci pro, I know they drill a hole, then replace it with a lighter wood, it keeps a solid, lively hit while lowering the deflection.
And lastly I own a custom kielwood shaft, I enjoy how it plays but the hit is lacking for me. Not much vibration or feeling. It's there a way to make a Kielwood shaft softer and livelier, or does the process of removing all the moisture and sugar lead to that general stiffer/ less vibration.
Feel free to answer any or all, I'm just curious and interested in the opinions of more knowledgeable individuals than myself. Thanks in advance.

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