You are right, except the author of this thread is not old.
Carbon Fiber Shafts should be Banned
- Thread starter Minnesota Phat
- Start date
phreaticus
Well-known member
So, a slight modification to his statement as follows, covers it well and should close out this ridiculous thread.
"Man, there are so many narrow-minded people on this website with too much time on their hands looking for affirmation of their own opinions and self perceived virtuousness"...
But that pretty much covers all forms of social media and Internet interactions...
It's your prerogative. The Asian Champions (KO, etc) LOVE and SWEAR BY the Southwest Cues - high deflection, etc. Look at Kevin Chang as well when he played (and won the US OPEN) with his beautiful SW. I've had my Southwest a few years now, and I have the traditional taper on one shaft, and a 12.5 pro taper on the other. I loved the pro-taper....but still went back to my Schon with 314 shaft -- which is my old stand by that I just love. I won't put a 314 on the SW. It seems like sacrilege....and it just sits in the case at home. But a 314 on a 90s Schon (thanks to Alex Pagulayan and other greats) was a match made in heaven.
Why are aesthetics so important to you? It's like the story with the Ranchers. One had a slick Cowboy hat, gold watch, new big truck, and not much in the way of an actual ranch/cattle business. The other drove a beat up old truck, looked beat up, and aged...but was a multi-millionaire with thousands of head of cattle and tons of acreage. The first was more aesthetically pleasing, I guess.....but he was "all hat, no cattle" as they say down there. Do you want to perform on the pool table, or just look cool?
If people expect you to be good and beat them, they won't get upset. I think it's great to encourage others and have fun. Pool needs more positivity. But, you can play great...win as often as you can...and still be positive. Just don't win, and start trying to give lessons if they're not asked for. People don't like that.
Trust me, it's not confidence or "balls" in his posts, it's just simple ignorance and naïveté
I think it is a fad. Maple all the way for me.
It's not. I think playing-wise it's not really a step forward. But it's "high tech" looking and the shaft can take a lot of punishment from people who chuck their cues into their trunks etc.. Also it's got the "pro mystique". A lot of people want to emulate the pros. So they're here to stay. For a good player who allready own a good cues, I wouldn't bother, especially if one is on a budget.
Now that the production facilities are in place, manufacturers are going to increasingly push carbon cues as they can pump them out cheaper and cheaper and no longer have to deal with the headaches of sourcing good maple etc.
First it was Laminated Maple, many generations of Laminated shafts. Now it is Carbon Fibre.
What next fad shafts made from bones of Dinosaurs because they will be made by harvesting Dino DNA LIKE THEY DID IN Jurassic Park.
Maybe I am cynical but if some world class player was told no Custom Cues.
Pick one off wall, and play. Play well they would because if skill, stroke, and knowledge.
Not Arrow, Skilled Indian is who brings home dinner.
The next thing will probably be some kind of compressed cardboard-like material, or at least something biodegradable.
All the advances, though they may have been driven by performance, are simultaneusly driven by manufacturing concerns. Big manufacturers don't want to source maple, having to discard large quantities, then store the good maple for a long time and cut it down in steps. It's costly in terms of time, storage, waste, production time. Not to mention that good maple is scarce, with most maple being cut down from young trees. So they developed lamination. That way they could use matchstick grade wood instead of chucking it in the bin. It's expensive in some ways, but cheaper in others. Now they have carbon, which although it seems expensive, you can churn out cues in short order without all the storage and production steps. Ok, making a maple shaft is dirt cheap, but when you scale up, difficulties and costs begin to add up. Once the facilities for carbon are there, it gets cheaper and cheaper. Eventually it will be dirt cheap and with no wood related headaches (heh, heh).
All the advances, though they may have been driven by performance, are simultaneusly driven by manufacturing concerns. Big manufacturers don't want to source maple, having to discard large quantities, then store the good maple for a long time and cut it down in steps. It's costly in terms of time, storage, waste, production time. Not to mention that good maple is scarce, with most maple being cut down from young trees. So they developed lamination. That way they could use matchstick grade wood instead of chucking it in the bin. It's expensive in some ways, but cheaper in others. Now they have carbon, which although it seems expensive, you can churn out cues in short order without all the storage and production steps. Ok, making a maple shaft is dirt cheap, but when you scale up, difficulties and costs begin to add up. Once the facilities for carbon are there, it gets cheaper and cheaper. Eventually it will be dirt cheap and with no wood related headaches (heh, heh).
MurrayNevada
Well-known member
Absolutely. So are the resin balls. Clay balls will surely return. Clay all the way for me.
Graphene will be next. Maybe Nanotube technology eventually.
A fad will come and go in a relatively short span of time. This isn't a fad, obviously.
Nothing wrong with preferring maple. Over here people still play with conical tapers, brass ferrules and elkmasters. Hell, they don’t even use lathes to make cues here. There will always be those that are resistant to anything new, using the reason of being traditional.
This thread is why unfortunately this game will always be at the bottom. why do any of you care? I don’t know if I play better with it. I know it has a different hit and feel that I like but hell you can say that about all cue’s. This is why I play a lot more golf these days. Class … no one gives a shit what you play with. If your a 20 handy cap and you spent 3 grand on clubs no one gives a shit lol Pool players have to tear everything. People have been using gloves to play for 30 years and you people still shit on it. Because you don’t need a glove no one should lol Pool is going to be regulated to a bar room sport forever in this country because close minded non sense like this thread.
Its the year 2022 not one person could come up with an alternative to chalking a cue.
Chalk is just a medium to help with contact. The problem with chalk is the dust and that causes tables and cloth to age faster. It also marks up the cue ball creating awkward rolls.
If any one wants to invest in research and development for chalk alternatives, I have some pilot ideas.
Chalk is just a medium to help with contact. The problem with chalk is the dust and that causes tables and cloth to age faster. It also marks up the cue ball creating awkward rolls.
If any one wants to invest in research and development for chalk alternatives, I have some pilot ideas.
Chalk itself has already started to be reinvented.
You are not going to find an alternate solution to applying something to the end of a cue that won't be less consumable then normal tip wear and tear.
Don't fix what isn't broken.
Stop trying to "get rich quick" in a broke ass industry.
HUH???? A fad is something that fades away. CF shafts are here to stay. No fad or gimmick.
Minnesota Phat
Active member
I don't have internet. I send my messages via smoke signal, and someone transcribes them for me.
My point is not to oppose every change, but just to think about which changes are good, and which aren't good. Would you support the use of computer-assisted, machine-operated pool cues? My point being that not every change is a good change, and I just want to talk about that.
MajorMiscue
Democat
And you've determined cf shafts aren't good for the sport because they cost more than maple and are ugly in your singular opinion. Enough.
Minnesota Phat
Active member
If it isn't beautiful, why bother with it at all?
Why is a spectacular waterfall in the jungle better than a toxic-waste dump that smells like aged farts?
Aesthetics is important to everyone.
Minnesota Phat
Active member
Your pushiness is really annoying. I'm sure I'm not the first person to tell you that.