Shaft gets smaller just from playing with it?

TwoRailDave

TwoRailDave

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've heard from multiple people that their shaft has gotten thinner just from

playing with it. This perplexes me. I've been playing with my current cue

for years with some heavy play but my shaft still measures 12.8 which is

what it was when I got it. My suspicion is that people are using very light

abrasives such as a q-wiz or 1500/2000 sandpaper and very slowly taking

material off the shaft. After watching the podcast with Shane and Darren,

I gathered that they refrained from cleaning the shaft, not caring if it was

dirty, insisting that the person changing the tip not touch the shaft. This

is my preference as well, but I don't understand how Shane's shaft has

become 12.2. I realize that he plays hours everyday, but does this mean

that he is compressing the wood with a closed bridge? I shoot primarily

with a closed bridge, but never squeeze the shaft in a way that would

compress it. Does anyone have experience with their shaft getting smaller

without using any abrasives? I know it's not very important, but I just

want to understand so I can stop wondering. Thanks
 
Cleaning has a large impact on shafts getting smaller. Even using the least abrasive sandpaper (even those little shaft cleaning color coded packs) will take the shaft down over time.

I'm also assuming the texture of someone's hands will do the same thing. For example, many blue collar workers who use their hands daily will have rougher skin on their hands that is very much like low to mid grade sand paper. I'd imagine this will also wear a cue down....at least more so than someone with softer hands.

There could also be a correlation between people who have dry or sweaty hands and the amount of shaft abrasion over time.

Mostly though, cleaning is the main culprit. When I used to clean my shafts obsessively I would go through shafts very quickly. I don't do this anymore and have no problem with a shaft thinning too fast.
 
TwoRailDave said:
I've heard from multiple people that their shaft has gotten thinner just from

playing with it. This perplexes me. I've been playing with my current cue

for years with some heavy play but my shaft still measures 12.8 which is

what it was when I got it. My suspicion is that people are using very light

abrasives such as a q-wiz or 1500/2000 sandpaper and very slowly taking

material off the shaft. After watching the podcast with Shane and Darren,

I gathered that they refrained from cleaning the shaft, not caring if it was

dirty, insisting that the person changing the tip not touch the shaft. This

is my preference as well, but I don't understand how Shane's shaft has

become 12.2. I realize that he plays hours everyday, but does this mean

that he is compressing the wood with a closed bridge? I shoot primarily

with a closed bridge, but never squeeze the shaft in a way that would

compress it. Does anyone have experience with their shaft getting smaller

without using any abrasives? I know it's not very important, but I just

want to understand so I can stop wondering. Thanks
Click to expand...

In my opinion stroking the cue back and forth will no doubt cause the shaft to slowly reduce in size. I emphasize slowly. Friction causes heat and heat is a by product of molecular movement, over time small bits of wood are worn away and this process is helped long by dirt and chalk that get on your hands or the shaft.
 
The cleaning/tip change routine will take some of the wood for sure. Tenth of a millimeter or so in my experience.
 
shaft care

this is the reason I seal and wax my shafts.
If you clean with denature alcohol reseal with shellac and then carnauba wax on a regular base you will not have a dirty shaft and it will not wear out.
MMike
 
Sorry if this sounds naive, but if you play enough to wear down the shaft, wouldn't the cost of a new one be pretty trivial? Assuming of course you aren't playing with a shaft made for a cue by a cuemaker that no longer produces.
 
BullBuchanan said:
Sorry if this sounds naive, but if you play enough to wear down the shaft, wouldn't the cost of a new one be pretty trivial? Assuming of course you aren't playing with a shaft made for a cue by a cuemaker that no longer produces.
Click to expand...


The cost of replacing the shaft is not the issue. After playing with a shaft for years, you have invested countless hours into that shaft. You understand what you're going to get out of it and it is comfortable. Even if you were to get a replacement shaft from the same maker, it will be slightly different. Sure, you'll still play well with any cue, but familiarity is key in a game that requires such precision and focus to be played at a high level.
 
TwoRailDave said:
The cost of replacing the shaft is not the issue. After playing with a shaft for years, you have invested countless hours into that shaft. You understand what you're going to get out of it and it is comfortable. Even if you were to get a replacement shaft from the same maker, it will be slightly different. Sure, you'll still play well with any cue, but familiarity is key in a game that requires such precision and focus to be played at a high level.
Click to expand...

Thanks. These are the kinds of things you can't learn from a book (at least not the ones I have), so I appreciate the explanation.
 
TwoRailDave said:
The cost of replacing the shaft is not the issue. After playing with a shaft for years, you have invested countless hours into that shaft. You understand what you're going to get out of it and it is comfortable. Even if you were to get a replacement shaft from the same maker, it will be slightly different. Sure, you'll still play well with any cue, but familiarity is key in a game that requires such precision and focus to be played at a high level.
Click to expand...

This is why you see players still playing with a 12mm shaft when they prefer something larger. They are comfortable with the shaft and don't want to change.
 
Agree

TwoRailDave said:
The cost of replacing the shaft is not the issue. After playing with a shaft for years, you have invested countless hours into that shaft. You understand what you're going to get out of it and it is comfortable. Even if you were to get a replacement shaft from the same maker, it will be slightly different. Sure, you'll still play well with any cue, but familiarity is key in a game that requires such precision and focus to be played at a high level.
Click to expand...

I agree with this statement.I remember reading an article by cue maker Jim Buss, he said that over time as you play with a new shaft the fibers in the wood breakdown and in a sense gets in a sync with your stroke. That is when you really start feeling comfortable and confident with that shaft.If for whatever reason you need to change to a new shaft even by the same cue maker , there will be a big difference and only time and hours of play will get it back to where you were with the original shaft.This is not a quote by Jim Buss but what I interpreted it to be.
Shaft.
 
TwoRailDave said:
I've heard from multiple people that their shaft has gotten thinner just from

playing with it. This perplexes me. I've been playing with my current cue

for years with some heavy play but my shaft still measures 12.8 which is

what it was when I got it. My suspicion is that people are using very light

abrasives such as a q-wiz or 1500/2000 sandpaper and very slowly taking

material off the shaft. After watching the podcast with Shane and Darren,
I gathered that they refrained from cleaning the shaft, not caring if it was
dirty, insisting that the person changing the tip not touch the shaft. This
is my preference as well, but I don't understand how Shane's shaft has
become 12.2. I realize that he plays hours everyday, but does this mean
that he is compressing the wood with a closed bridge? I shoot primarily
with a closed bridge, but never squeeze the shaft in a way that would
compress it. Does anyone have experience with their shaft getting smaller
without using any abrasives? I know it's not very important, but I just
want to understand so I can stop wondering. Thanks
Click to expand...

Just using it would have about the same wear pattern as a wind has on a mountain. By the time anyone would see it just from using it, they would be dead, and probably so would their kids. Now if they cleaned it with anything tougher than a diaper, the diameter will change. My 20 yr old Joss shaft has become about .5 mm smaller after cleaning it many times, including at least once on a lather to remove dings. Maybe .7mm, it's over 12mm and was 13 when new.
 
does your buddy use hand chalk? I don't think for a second bar skin wears it down. If anything the skin oils and dirt might soak the wood fibers and fatten it up microscopically.

But hand power, though it's very fine, may have a tiny bit of abrasiveness. Otherwise it's probably just whatever cleaning products you use.
 
I'm not sure what to think on this topic..I've had the same shaft for ten years; it's my every day player..I have even lengthen my taper to 16-18"..my tip is still 12mm..
must really be scrabbing thier shafts..I don't clean my shaft with anything most the time..I just wipe it with a miro cloth..once a month I'll clean it with alcohol..thats it.
well..maybe once a year a little comet..very little.
 
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