Below are my main players right now. The trait they both share is the fact I've hand sanded both shafts. Blasphemy right? :thumbup:
Before I get thrown into the fire, here's my reasoning:
1. Because I figured these cues have almost no resale value, it didn't matter if I could experiment with them.
2. In terms of the break cue, it was a $30 Ebay shaft, so I used it as a guinea pig. You may remember this shaft from my thread on replacing tips at the office :grin: . After putting a Samsara tip on the cue, I still was happy with the feel of the cue when I broke.
The first thing I did was hand sand the 14mm "strong" conical taper to a 13mm pro taper. I figured if it has the taper of a playing cue, then it would break better. WRONG. I made it whippy and shitty. I benched this shaft for another 3 months.
Then one day, I had another crackpot idea, so I decided to attack the shafts in sections....making it a very very slow gradual/pro taper combo. The tip ended up being 12.75mm, and the cue had a stiff hit again. It broke a hell of a lot better. When mated with this heavy cheap action cue (and metal joint), this thing is a break beast! All for under $50
3. The Joss shaft came as backup shaft. I originally purchased the cue with an Ed Young shaft, and added $25 to get this shaft as well (a friend gave me a good deal on everything).
The Joss shaft had a bit of an hourglass type of feel due to the previous owner (the ebayer that sold this to my friend). You could feel it in the stroke, and it threw off the cue. I doubt anyone would buy the shaft anyway...besides, I still had the Ed Young at a healthy 13mm.
After taking off the previous tip, I installed my friends Milk Dud.. Using a rubberband as my guide/stopper, i would attack sections of the shaft with aggressive sanding, till it was eventually 11.5mm with a very very slight gradual taper. Sanding the ferrule was the hardest part, as ferrules will not cut as easy as wood.
Other than the ferrule being slightly larger than the wood right beneath it, the cue no longer whipped as much. I would test this by hitting the joint with my palm and counting how long it whipped (dropped the duration from 2 seconds to 1 second). The cue played way better (even my skeptical friend seemed to agree), and thus, has replaced my Ed Young Shaft.
Both cues also have only the slightest of taper rolls (less than a card), which is typical with hand sanding. Neither tips leave the table.
I'm sure I'll have more back alley cue repair stories as the days go on.
And of course, my final list on why I didn't take it to a repair guy:
1. I wanted to test my own taper theories out, and it has worked. It was great education and main reason was so I can learn on my own. The results (though not visually pleasing) came out phenomenally. A few days later, I crushed my opponent in 9 ball citywides with the Joss shaft (first time use after the taper job).
2. I don't think my repair guys would understand what I was looking for (I didn't know how to articulate it, as all the work was done purely on feel)
3. I don't have as much money to focus on all these repairs. I've been quoted from $25 - $45 for this type of work. Sort of why i learned how to replace my own tips in the first place too. Also, these shafts are not worth the money..... Conversely I would never do this with the Ed young, or any higher end shaft...ever.
Here are some pics
Before I get thrown into the fire, here's my reasoning:
1. Because I figured these cues have almost no resale value, it didn't matter if I could experiment with them.
2. In terms of the break cue, it was a $30 Ebay shaft, so I used it as a guinea pig. You may remember this shaft from my thread on replacing tips at the office :grin: . After putting a Samsara tip on the cue, I still was happy with the feel of the cue when I broke.
The first thing I did was hand sand the 14mm "strong" conical taper to a 13mm pro taper. I figured if it has the taper of a playing cue, then it would break better. WRONG. I made it whippy and shitty. I benched this shaft for another 3 months.
Then one day, I had another crackpot idea, so I decided to attack the shafts in sections....making it a very very slow gradual/pro taper combo. The tip ended up being 12.75mm, and the cue had a stiff hit again. It broke a hell of a lot better. When mated with this heavy cheap action cue (and metal joint), this thing is a break beast! All for under $50
3. The Joss shaft came as backup shaft. I originally purchased the cue with an Ed Young shaft, and added $25 to get this shaft as well (a friend gave me a good deal on everything).
The Joss shaft had a bit of an hourglass type of feel due to the previous owner (the ebayer that sold this to my friend). You could feel it in the stroke, and it threw off the cue. I doubt anyone would buy the shaft anyway...besides, I still had the Ed Young at a healthy 13mm.
After taking off the previous tip, I installed my friends Milk Dud.. Using a rubberband as my guide/stopper, i would attack sections of the shaft with aggressive sanding, till it was eventually 11.5mm with a very very slight gradual taper. Sanding the ferrule was the hardest part, as ferrules will not cut as easy as wood.
Other than the ferrule being slightly larger than the wood right beneath it, the cue no longer whipped as much. I would test this by hitting the joint with my palm and counting how long it whipped (dropped the duration from 2 seconds to 1 second). The cue played way better (even my skeptical friend seemed to agree), and thus, has replaced my Ed Young Shaft.
Both cues also have only the slightest of taper rolls (less than a card), which is typical with hand sanding. Neither tips leave the table.
I'm sure I'll have more back alley cue repair stories as the days go on.
And of course, my final list on why I didn't take it to a repair guy:
1. I wanted to test my own taper theories out, and it has worked. It was great education and main reason was so I can learn on my own. The results (though not visually pleasing) came out phenomenally. A few days later, I crushed my opponent in 9 ball citywides with the Joss shaft (first time use after the taper job).
2. I don't think my repair guys would understand what I was looking for (I didn't know how to articulate it, as all the work was done purely on feel)
3. I don't have as much money to focus on all these repairs. I've been quoted from $25 - $45 for this type of work. Sort of why i learned how to replace my own tips in the first place too. Also, these shafts are not worth the money..... Conversely I would never do this with the Ed young, or any higher end shaft...ever.
Here are some pics
