Best Shaft Thickness???

M

Melbatoast

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I am wondering what the best overall shaft thickness is, 12.5, 12.75, 13,etc.??? I am having a cue made and am not quite sure what I like. I don't want to have it made too small or too big. I am just curious what some of you guys and gals like. I don't like alot of deflection but, like to be able to put some mustard on it when I need to. I am thinking somewhere between 12.75 and 13 but, not sure. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I like a pretty stiff cue, medium tip, 19 0z., 59.5". I play a pretty reserved and basic game, you might say boring. I don't play flashy or try crazy stuff with the cue ball unless I have to.
p.s. I play with a Hurricane now and am having a Josey made which are both pretty stiff to begin with.
 
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Melbatoast said:
I am wondering what the best overall shaft thickness is, 12.5, 12.75, 13,etc.??? I am having a cue made and am not quite sure what I like. I don't want to have it made too small or too big. I am just curious what some of you guys and gals like. P.S. I don't like alot of deflection but, like to be able to put some mustard on it when I need to. I am thinking somewhere between 12.75 and 13 but, not sure. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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If you don't like a lot of deflection stick with 13mm, if it seems to large you can also ways have it turned down later.
 
manwon said:
If you don't like a lot of deflection stick with 13mm, if it seems to large you can also ways have it turned down later.
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i believe that a thicker shaft on the end near the tip causes more deflection due to the weight of the endmass and overall thickness of the shaft.

i prefer to make my shafts around 12.5mm or 12mm but i also have small hands and prefer that, and it does help with the deflection.


but cue makers due have diffrent beliefs, which is why theres so many diffrent "hits" out there.


i would go with what your comfortable with, try a couple friends shafts at diffrent sizes go from there.
 
I recomend a 13mm, but for those like me that have short fingers, I recommend a smaller size. A 12.5 tip diameter can still be made stiff...JER
 
i would recommend a 13 mm. diameter on your shaft, also this size, you can easily turn it down. just try first the 13 mm. shafts if it fits to your preference..
 
Melbatoast said:
I am wondering what the best overall shaft thickness is, 12.5, 12.75, 13,etc.??? I am having a cue made and am not quite sure what I like. I don't want to have it made too small or too big. I am just curious what some of you guys and gals like. I don't like alot of deflection but, like to be able to put some mustard on it when I need to. I am thinking somewhere between 12.75 and 13 but, not sure. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I like a pretty stiff cue, medium tip, 19 0z., 59.5". I play a pretty reserved and basic game, you might say boring. I don't play flashy or try crazy stuff with the cue ball unless I have to.
p.s. I play with a Hurricane now and am having a Josey made which are both pretty stiff to begin with.
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You can try a 12.5mm thick shaft with a conical taper or something like a snooker cue taper
 
Here's my pennies worth, I'm not sure there is a best shaft thickness as everyone is different, For myself, I can't shoot with a 13mm. It feels fine but I can't visualize the shot, peripheral vision or whatever, 12.4 works very well for me. My rule of thumb for customers is, I can always make it smaller but I can't make it bigger once it's smaller.
 
Michael Webb said:
Here's my pennies worth, I'm not sure there is a best shaft thickness as everyone is different, For myself, I can't shoot with a 13mm. It feels fine but I can't visualize the shot, peripheral vision or whatever, 12.4 works very well for me. My rule of thumb for customers is, I can always make it smaller but I can't make it bigger once it's smaller.
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You could always nurl the shaft so as to increase size. By the way, I usually turn to the size that a customer asks for but leave the taper a little stiffer than I prefer for that exact reason. I can always stretch the taper a little but I can't make it stiffer.

Dick
 
Michael Webb said:
Here's my pennies worth, I'm not sure there is a best shaft thickness as everyone is different, For myself, I can't shoot with a 13mm. It feels fine but I can't visualize the shot, peripheral vision or whatever, 12.4 works very well for me. My rule of thumb for customers is, I can always make it smaller but I can't make it bigger once it's smaller.
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12MM here with 1 to 1.25MM taper up the 12" point.
 
HoskenCues said:
You can try a 12.5mm thick shaft with a conical taper or something like a snooker cue taper
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thats basically what I play with, 12.6 and a modified conical taper....i have big palms and short fingers so the smaller tip is more comfortable to me....
 
JoeyInCali said:
CAN OF WORMS!
Deflection is not = flex.
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Here's my worth on deflection, I don't think about it, I know what I like in a shaft and what I don't like. I can play with OB's, 314's, Z's and my own low deflection shaft. It's a mind set. The selling point for any shaft, is what you are comfortable with. The positive points for the after market shafts is, for most people these shafts work well with inside English, I'll be the first to tell you, I'm ass backwards, Inside English is a natural shot for me. I don't play a lot, JUST A LITTLE. :wink:
 
12.75 mm seems to have taken over as the most popular size in the last several years. Is it better than the old standard 13mm? The test robots seem to think so, but I still play with a 13mm.
 
12 3/4 to 13

i have had a lot of buyers order 12 to 12 1/2 mm shafts on custom cues, but when i build a cue to sell on azb or ebay. i cannot sell them with a smaller shaft, seems everyone wants a 13.
as for myself , i'm much more accurate with a 13 1/4 mm, but can get much more juice with a 12 1/2.

chuck
 
All mentioned above is sound advice. 13mm appears to be the standard for all newly delivered cues. It is also the preferred diameter that sellers are looking for when purchasing on the 2ndary market. When you start getting below 12.75mm, it can effect resale value.

I can tell you that Keith's shafts perform quite well @ 13mm. I actually had him turn mine to 12.90mm and no complaints with regards to performance...it's a small difference, but one I wanted to try.

Curious as to what the shaft measurement is on your current player, and if you are happy with it? Might be a good starting point.

Lisa
 
Underclocked said:
13.25 for me. If you need more juice than you can get with a 13.25, you're in trouble. :D
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Hi,

Amen to that. I bet you are also a center ball advocate!

I just made a stick to my friend Wendell Weir. He wanted 13.25 also. Wendell in his day ran 150 balls back to back in the US open with a 14mm. He is a vertical center guy who hair raises up on the back of his neck when he needs to put a 1/4 tip of side english on the ball. Old School!

Rick G
 
cant believe noone has made the obvious the thicker the better reference!!! :grin:
anywhoo, from snooker days I remember people saying that thinner tip size meant less accuracy and more juice and vice versa for thicker tip size.
not sure whether it's true or not, but i think people tend to find their favourite and then stick to it. mine is 12.5 mm
 
i like 12.6-12.8mm range but i don't think one is really better than the another.it is individual preference.i made a cue for Larry price and he requested 13.5mm.i tried to talk him into a little smaller diameter but he plays a lot better than i do i didn't try too hard.anyway later that year with that cue he won the amateur side of the SBE out of almost 900 players.so i guess whatever you like best is best.
 
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