Curious if Anybody Has Experienced Warpage With Their OB Shaft?

abs

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello all,

As the title asks... I just wanted to see if anybody with hands-on OB shaft experience here has ever experienced any warpage with their OB shafts. To be absolutely clear, I am not implying there is a problem with OB shafts, I just bought an OB Classic (waiting for it to get delivered) and the question just popped into my head after I placed my order.

In reading through the threads here, a handful of people experienced warping with their Predator shafts. Maybe it's a "normal" amount of people; I imagine any shaft/butt can warp with humidity changes or other conditional changes. But I didn't see anybody who owned an OB having any similar issues, so I just thought I'd ask the community what they have experienced.

I am not looking to have this thread get deviate into a "standard vs. LD" shaft thread, or a "my LD is better than your LD" shaft argument. Also, I'm just looking for input based on actual user experience or in-depth knowlege. All relevant thoughts and opinions are welcome, I just don't want random guesses and assumptions that don't have any basis in reality or that have nothing to do with the specific topic (all that has been done to death already anyway).

Thanks to all of you.
 
I have had an OB shaft since they first went into business making them. I do not now how many years that has been but the shaft is still perfectly straight. The shafts are stressed-relieved and with their unique cut it would be difficult for one of them to warp. Even if that happened Royce and his staff would make it right. Very good people.
 
I've owned quite a few. Still have 6 or 7. No problems.
Nobody stands behind their product better than Royce, either.
Check AZ and you'll learn that, too.
 
I've had mine for three years now, and it is still as straight as the day it arrived. Royce is a great guy to do business with.
 
As a few people have mentioned already, warpage in an OB Shaft is very rare due to the very efficient SR-6 construction. With that said, I would be lieing if I said that we have never seen a shaft warp, wood is wood and it does happen from time to time but I am guessing much less with an OB than with any other shaft. If you ever do have a problem then call or email us and we will take care of it.

Hope this helps!
 
Owned two OB's, no warping even though I treat my cues like dirt and leave them baking in the car etc.

Seen a couple of predators warp, they should start making boomerangs ;D
 
I just bought an OB Classic (waiting for it to get delivered)

You have made a wise purchase. My OB Classic is the best shaft I own. I got one made @ 30" right after they first came out. Not a single issue with it. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Maniac
 
abs

i think you should have given a bit more thought about the thread heading, it almost suggest that ob shafts warp. i am the ob distributor in my area and have been selling ob shafts from the begining, i have never seen one warp or have any other problems. royce is a standup guy makes a great product and will go out of his way to help his customers.

chuck starkey
 
Never seen an OB shaft not straight, but Predators, tons of those bent, a little to a lot.

Predator would say that their shafts are misused, but it's odd that every single OB player stores theirs in a 75 degree airtight humidity and light controlled environment to keep their shafts straight where every Predator shaft is soaked in water and gasoline before being left in a trunk of a car in Arizona.
 
Wood is definitely wood... It has a memory and it is sometimes will do things because of the environment.

Maybe you just got unlucky... The only OB shaft I have is an older OB1 I got years ago from the local rep. It ended up warping from being stored in a porper case after I sold the Shon I had purchased it for.... I had the shaft a very little time before I decided the steel joint had to go..... I went flat faced big pin for several cues....

I finally ended up back in the predator camp and haven't had any warping issues with my last 2 preds...

I may try an OB Classic Pro on a custom I am having built... The maker makes his own version of LD and I am still up in the air on extra shafts.....
 
You have made a wise purchase. My OB Classic is the best shaft I own. I got one made @ 30" right after they first came out. Not a single issue with it. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

Maniac

What he said. I just picked up ANOTHER OB Classic, and I won't look back. In my opinion, they are at the top of the LD shaft list.

Used to be a Predator fan - until one pert-near exploded on me. Snagged an OB Classic, and fell in love with it.

Come to think of it, I gotta get a couple more. Better safe than sorry!!! :eek: :D
 
OB shafts....NO warpage!

Glad you like the OB Classic shaft...more to come !

What he said. I just picked up ANOTHER OB Classic, and I won't look back. In my opinion, they are at the top of the LD shaft list.

Used to be a Predator fan - until one pert-near exploded on me. Snagged an OB Classic, and fell in love with it.

Come to think of it, I gotta get a couple more. Better safe than sorry!!! :eek: :D
 
Hello all,

As the title asks... I just wanted to see if anybody with hands-on OB shaft experience here has ever experienced any warpage with their OB shafts. To be absolutely clear, I am not implying there is a problem with OB shafts, I just bought an OB Classic (waiting for it to get delivered) and the question just popped into my head after I placed my order.

In reading through the threads here, a handful of people experienced warping with their Predator shafts. Maybe it's a "normal" amount of people; I imagine any shaft/butt can warp with humidity changes or other conditional changes. But I didn't see anybody who owned an OB having any similar issues, so I just thought I'd ask the community what they have experienced.

I am not looking to have this thread get deviate into a "standard vs. LD" shaft thread, or a "my LD is better than your LD" shaft argument. Also, I'm just looking for input based on actual user experience or in-depth knowlege. All relevant thoughts and opinions are welcome, I just don't want random guesses and assumptions that don't have any basis in reality or that have nothing to do with the specific topic (all that has been done to death already anyway).

Thanks to all of you.

I have two that are not straight. I don't like to use the word warped. Even though they are not straight, I don't know if it would make a difference in shooting.

I know when you first get one and roll it on a table...it just wants to keep rolling.:smile:
 
Both I had were more crooked then a politician :( don't know as I've never had warping problems in 25 years of playing pool. I gave up on them after the 2nd.
 
I had (4) OB-1 shafts. (2) were for my Schon and (2) were for my Cognoscenti.

I could not get used to them and sold all four to a dealer in Virginia for $100 each.

None of them were ever warped. But I had thought one was warped until I discovered that one of the glued laminantes came loose which made it roll like it was warped.

It's fairly easy to tell. Just flex the shaft by slightly bending it.

Do this all the way around.

If one of the glue joints came loose you will see a small gap.

The guy I sold them to said it wasn't a big problem because he would just re-glue it.
 
I've had a couple of OB shafts. No problems with warpage.
On one of the shafts, there was a nasty little raised ridge. This is something that I have read about with other owners.
If I got rid of the ridge, damn, it would seem to come back.
Something that I have never experienced with either of my Predator shafts.

Yet, have had and still have problems with both my Z and 314 first gens. Almost perfectly straight
and out of nowhere, they decide to warp a bit.

Not going to stop using them. Ordered another Z.

The good news is that you can straighten a laminated shaft very easy so
warpage is something that you need not worry too much about.

If you should happen to notice the tip lifting off the table, you can straighten it on the spot.

Of course, if its just a little lift, I wouldn't dick with it too much.
 
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As a few people have mentioned already, warpage in an OB Shaft is very rare due to the very efficient SR-6 construction. With that said, I would be lieing if I said that we have never seen a shaft warp, wood is wood and it does happen from time to time but I am guessing much less with an OB than with any other shaft. If you ever do have a problem then call or email us and we will take care of it.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Shane for the honest and straightforward feedback.

I actually made the purchase without even trying the shaft because I had full confidence in the product design, the product quality, and OB's customer service and support all based on the strong praise here on AZ. I was also influenced by the care and dedication by OB in your participation here on AZ.

Thanks!

Thanks,
Abdul
 
So many great replies, thanks to all of you for your great feedback ,and for taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts. I expected to be satisfied with the shaft, and you all just confirmed for me what I expected... That I shouldn't expect any problems with the cue shaft, and that even on the slight chance I do encounter an issue the company will stand by it's product.

Thanks!
 
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