Is there a difference between a carbon fiber shaft and a graphite shaft

edcoopdeville

edcoopdeville

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Ok, I spent hundreds of dollars on a Predator REVO Carbon Fiber shaft, and I have to admit that I love it, and have been using it for close to two years. But recently a guy on my APA league team purchased a graphite cue, and I hit with it, and I felt it hit just as well as my carbon fiber cue, once he put a decent tip on it. So I saw another thread here where someone asked the question "carbon fiber vs graphite shafts", but everyone was talking about carbon fiber compared to the traditional wooden shaft, and no one really talked about the difference between a carbon fiber vs graphite shafts. So my question is, is there a real difference between the two?
 
edcoopdeville said:
Ok, I spent hundreds of dollars on a Predator REVO Carbon Fiber shaft, and I have to admit that I love it, and have been using it for close to two years. But recently a guy on my APA league team purchased a graphite cue, and I hit with it, and I felt it hit just as well as my carbon fiber cue, once he put a decent tip on it. So I saw another thread here where someone asked the question "carbon fiber vs graphite shafts", but everyone was talking about carbon fiber compared to the traditional wooden shaft, and no one really talked about the difference between a carbon fiber vs graphite shafts. So my question is, is there a real difference between the two?
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Yes they are different. Two completely different materials. I believe Carbon Fibre will be a bit more durable , but am not sure.

I the Lunera shaft by Longoni cues is graphite .
 
edcoopdeville said:
Ok, I spent hundreds of dollars on a Predator REVO Carbon Fiber shaft, and I have to admit that I love it, and have been using it for close to two years. But recently a guy on my APA league team purchased a graphite cue, and I hit with it, and I felt it hit just as well as my carbon fiber cue, once he put a decent tip on it. So I saw another thread here where someone asked the question "carbon fiber vs graphite shafts", but everyone was talking about carbon fiber compared to the traditional wooden shaft, and no one really talked about the difference between a carbon fiber vs graphite shafts. So my question is, is there a real difference between the two?
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Here’s my answer. In common usage, Graphite (r) shafts are under the umbrella carbon fiber aka carbon graphite. However, what most know as Graphite (r) shafts are made relatively cheaper with different binders. Graphite (r) is a registered trade mark of a type of carbon fiber,, so dont confuse with pencil graphite, which is a totally different material.

So, yes, Graphite (r) shafts are carbon fiber, but they’re built and bound totally different than today’s CF shafts that they shouldn’t be confused with one another.

Freddie <~~~ clear as mud, I’m sure
 
There is a small industry that makes forged carbon;; carbon that starts out as a dust, with just a hint of binder (sometimes not), is compressed under hundreds of tons of pressure to become something that resembles cast iron. This billet can be machined, or turned on a lathe into many interesting shapes. This is the stuff the leading edges of the space shuttle used to deal with reentry heating. {Not the white tiles on the body and wings.}

It is extremely light. I might be suitable for the core of a CF shaft, but is not suitable for the shaft itself without some kind of outer coating.

If you see any glint of straightness in the fibers of the shaft; they may call it carbon, but it is really carbon fiber using a linear layup on the outer layers prior to autoclaving.

Also note: you make carbon fibers by taking rayon string and running it through a furnace with a carefully controlled atmosphere so all the non carbon atoms are oxidized away, leaving only the carbon atoms (from the hydrocarbon rayon).
 
As far as pool shafts the terms are interchangeable. They are a carbon-fiber composite commonly called graphite. Don't sweat this.
 
Also graphite and carbon fiber are interchangeable when it comes to Fishing rods too. In the 90s everything was called "graphite".. now they market under "carbon"
 
I think what causes 90% of the confusion is the misconception that carbon fiber is a material that is shaped or formed or somehow forced into looking like a pool shaft. What we call a carbon fiber shaft is really a carbon fiber reinforced composite shaft. A graphite shaft is a graphite reinforced composite. They are made up of resins and binders and reinforcements.

Just like a Corvette isn't really a fiberglass body car but more accurately uses fiberglass reinforced thermoset plastic body panels.

Graphite is a specific allotrope of the element Carbon...meaning it is made up entirely of carbon atoms in a specific pattern, in this case a ring of 6 carbon atoms. The bonds holding them together are strong but weak to a layer of rings above or below. This is why you can "shave off layers" and leave them on paper when using a pencil. A diamond is another allotrope of carbon....100% carbon but arranged differently.

Carbon Fiber, which generally could just as correctly be called Graphite Fiber is strands of graphite that can be woven or twisted like a rope which is used to reinforce various materials, usually a resin such as epoxy, polyester or hundreds of others.

Carbon Fiber is available in thousands of grades, sizes, cloth configurations, with and without the resin already added. What type is used is generally driven by how much strength you want to add, where and in what direction you want that strength and how much weight save you are after (and willing to pay for).

There are a few basic ways to make a CF pool shaft, basically wrapping pre-woven cloth or winding/braiding strands to form the reinforcement for your $500 plastic pool cue shaft...sorry.

A graphite shaft could be about anything from having some graphite dust mixed in with fiberglass used to reinforce it to use of some actual carbon (graphite) fiber. The material graphite has been called that for over 200 years, nobody has a trademark on the material known as graphite.
 
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Bob Jewett said:
I'm surprised that they got a trademark since the word has been in common use in chemistry for over 200 years.
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It’s been some 15+ years since I first looked at this. The trademark could have been called Carbon Graphite, and it was owned by one of the major chemical companies like Dow.
 
Another way to think about it is that saying something is (or contains) graphite is about as specific as saying something is cotton.

Is it a cotton ball?... denim cloth?...corduroy?...cheesecloth?...baby diapers?...flannel?....fancy archival paper? ...kite string? They are all cotton.

Saying it's Carbon Fiber is narrowing it down a bit.
 
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