Question, fiber pads and ivory ferrules?

Alex7462

Alex7462

Registered
I've never used ivory on any of my cues, but I took a few shots with a friend's cue who had an ivory ferrule with a pad recently, and liked the feedback I got from the cue ball. I know a fiber pad between the tip and ivory ferrule is necessary to prevent cracking of the ferrule. However, I've also seen some cues with pads installed between the bottom of the ferrule and shaft. What's the reason for this? Is it for added protection of the ferrule, is it to soften the hit, or just for good looks? Can someone explain this?
 
I've never ever put a pad on an Ivory ferrule.

Ive never ever cracked an ivory ferrule from any kind of normal play, breaking or other wise. While it may crack on occasion , its far more commonly cause by factors outside of tip impact assuming your not running your tips down to the size of a piece of paper. ( common sense stuff)

Aka.....you don't need a pad and seems counter productive to use one.
 
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The fiber pad is not necessary. I broke with my Scruggs with a 1 inch ivory ferrule for years and never had a problem. I believe a cracked ivory ferrule is most commonly caused by a sudden or rapid change in temperature.
 
To your question, I see no reason for a pad between the ferrule and shaft. If you want a different hit, change your choice of tip.

To the other comments about pads between tips and ivory ferrules, I see no reason to take the chance. I always use them.
 
Elephants don't break them in the wild. We can't break them hitting a ball with a stick. That's an over simplification, but you get the idea. I've had ivory ferrules for a couple decades with no issues. No fiber pads.

-td
 
Are you sure there was a pad between the bottom of the ferrule and the shaft? I've never heard of this. Sometimes when you glue the ferrule onto the shaft, the glue can dry a darker color and appear in a thin line at the bottom of the ferrule. Are you sure this isn't what you saw?
 
Baxter said:
Are you sure there was a pad between the bottom of the ferrule and the shaft? I've never heard of this. Sometimes when you glue the ferrule onto the shaft, the glue can dry a darker color and appear in a thin line at the bottom of the ferrule. Are you sure this isn't what you saw?
Click to expand...

The only time I have seen this (done deliberately) was using a veneer as an accent.

If the ferrule install was bad that the glue line is so bad it looks like a pad then well......uh yea. :)
 
Baxter said:
Are you sure there was a pad between the bottom of the ferrule and the shaft? I've never heard of this. Sometimes when you glue the ferrule onto the shaft, the glue can dry a darker color and appear in a thin line at the bottom of the ferrule. Are you sure this isn't what you saw?
Click to expand...

You might actually be right, I never thought of it that way. If it is indeed just a glue line, then I'd like to know what type of glue it is so whenever I decide to install a new ferrule on my cue, I can let my local cue expert know how I want it to look.
 
Ivory ferrules have been used on cues for at least 60+ years. I have a 1974 JOSS cue with ivory ferrules and an ivory joint. When I had Danny Janes make the cue, I asked him about breaking 9-ball with it. Back then, most players broke with their playing cue. He told me that if I brought it into the pool room, took it out of the case, and let it come to room temp, that he would replace the joint or any ferrule for free! I've done this for almost 40 yrs and still have the orginal joint and all orginal ferrules on all 9 shafts for the cue. I even broke bar table 9-ball with it sometimes ( with the heavy oversized cue ball ). Some people back then put fiber rings between the ferrule and the tip. A lot of us used ' champion leather tips ' that come with a fiber backing on the tip. For the last 20 yrs, I've used triangle tips with no backing and have had no problems with any ivory ( I have the JOSS cue, a Bob Frey custom cue with all ivory, and a titliest conversion with ivory ferrules ).
As someone said, keep the tip size good. Better to change a tip than an ivory ferrule these days.
 
So many choices for ferrule material these days.
If you want hard, try an Ivorine or Aegis ferrule.

Ivorine will do it for ya.
 
Guess I just had an unlucky experience. My first Dan Janes Joss in the 80's came with an Ivory ferrule. I hit a hard draw shot one night, the ferrule cracked, a big chunk came off and it put a crack in my shaft nearly an inch long.
Never used ivory again - never missed it.
 
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