What is the best ferrule material
- Thread starter PoolFan101
- Start date
dendweller
Well-known member
that's useful in a thread about ferrule materials
Ivory gives good feedback. You can feel the shot better, imo. I could be delusional in my thinking, but ever since losing mine, nothing hits quite like ivory, imo.
What chalk do you use that is creating this dust and ferrule discoloration?
I ask because it doesn’t matter to me since all my cues have ivory ferrules
so the chalk brand doesn’t matter since ivory doesn’t discolor from chalk.
However, a lot of my pals play with cues that don’t have ivory ferrules. So
I cleaned their ferrules with toothpaste, told them to use a higher quality
chalk, like Taom, and darn, the ferrules on their cues remain pretty clean.
Most chalk discoloration if from improperly applying chalk. Whenever you
spot a player with chalk on their fingers and hands, betcha a dollar to a dime
they are boring the chalk causing chalk dust to stain their hands and ferrules.
snookered_again
Well-known member
A friend shoots hard but he's also a really excellent player. Keeps breaking his tips off and his cue is getting short so I said I can make a ferrule on my lathe any length and size you like and out of your choice of material.
I was thinking maybe it could be an inch long or so, and perhaps be an answer to the issue of his trusty old cue being worn down in length, how about a longer bronze or brass one? the idea was shot down by claims it wouldn't play right. or the tip would snap off.. bronze would add weight at the tip. - perhaps correct?
someone made the point that the table becomes endangered if the tip flies off a brass ferule as the exposed edge can catch the cloth and then we are into needing a new cloth.
one can make them from old ivory, maybe old pianno keys, for a friend, but you can't sell anything made of ivory, its a banned substance.
my pool table has ivory diamonds, I noted in an article about the recreation of a historic table, Brunswick made a replica anniversary edition and they used , it said : " Chinese water buffalo bone" later I realized it was a fancy name and the reasoning was there, they couldn't sell the table new, with ivory diamonds. The term Chinese water buffalo reminded me of something from the Flintstones ;-)
Snake oil? maybe ;-)
"In some cultures, water buffalo bones are believed to have magical or spiritual powers and are used in various ceremonies and rituals"
source:
malaforvets.org
I was thinking maybe it could be an inch long or so, and perhaps be an answer to the issue of his trusty old cue being worn down in length, how about a longer bronze or brass one? the idea was shot down by claims it wouldn't play right. or the tip would snap off.. bronze would add weight at the tip. - perhaps correct?
someone made the point that the table becomes endangered if the tip flies off a brass ferule as the exposed edge can catch the cloth and then we are into needing a new cloth.
one can make them from old ivory, maybe old pianno keys, for a friend, but you can't sell anything made of ivory, its a banned substance.
my pool table has ivory diamonds, I noted in an article about the recreation of a historic table, Brunswick made a replica anniversary edition and they used , it said : " Chinese water buffalo bone" later I realized it was a fancy name and the reasoning was there, they couldn't sell the table new, with ivory diamonds. The term Chinese water buffalo reminded me of something from the Flintstones ;-)
Snake oil? maybe ;-)
"In some cultures, water buffalo bones are believed to have magical or spiritual powers and are used in various ceremonies and rituals"
source:
The Unbelievable Strength of Water Buffalo Bone Malas
Did you know that the water buffalo is considered a warrior animal in some cultures? This is due to their strength and power. The bones signify strength and are said to amplify prana (life force energy.) These unique beads are hand-carved by artisans who recycle and reuse everything in daily life an
malaforvets.org
A friend shoots hard but he's also a really excellent player. Keeps breaking his tips off and his cue is getting short so I said I can make a ferrule on my lathe any length and size you like and out of your choice of material.
I was thinking maybe it could be an inch long or so, and perhaps be an answer to the issue of his trusty old cue being worn down in length, how about a longer bronze or brass one? the idea was shot down by claims it wouldn't play right. or the tip would snap off.. bronze would add weight at the tip. - perhaps correct?
someone made the point that the table becomes endangered if the tip flies off a brass ferule as the exposed edge can catch the cloth and then we are into needing a new cloth.
one can make them from old ivory, maybe old pianno keys, for a friend, but you can't sell anything made of ivory, its a banned substance.
my pool table has ivory diamonds, I noted in an article about the recreation of a historic table, Brunswick made a replica anniversary edition and they used , it said : " Chinese water buffalo bone" later I realized it was a fancy name and the reasoning was there, they couldn't sell the table new, with ivory diamonds. The term Chinese water buffalo reminded me of something from the Flintstones ;-)
Snake oil? maybe ;-)
"In some cultures, water buffalo bones are believed to have magical or spiritual powers and are used in various ceremonies and rituals"
source:
The Unbelievable Strength of Water Buffalo Bone Malas
Did you know that the water buffalo is considered a warrior animal in some cultures? This is due to their strength and power. The bones signify strength and are said to amplify prana (life force energy.) These unique beads are hand-carved by artisans who recycle and reuse everything in daily life an
I also shoot hard and was also having a problem with tips but I boiled it down to two things - bad glue (now I buy the micro tubes and use once) and lathe issues. The carrier had an absolute minor amount of play so when I "flush" cut the old tip off, the end of the shaft wasn't actually flat, it had more of a concave or convex shape, this didn't allow for an even layer of glue. The solution for me was to put a flat chunk of aluminum on the carrier and run sandpaper between it and the end of the shaft, this makes a perfectly flat surface for the tip to adhere to, haven't had an issue since. A side benefit of this is now I only take off a miniscule amount of the ferrule/shaft when replacing tips as I cut the tip down as thin as possible then sand it off, as soon as you see white, it's done, it's not an immeasurable amount of ferrule being removed, but it's immaterial.
White tail/ Buckhorn is your closest substitute
SSDiver2112
Escott Cues
It is not chalk. It is a new ferrule installation. After putting the new tip on the new ferrule it would trap “dust” from the tip as I sand and polished it.
What I have done since then is to sand and polish the ferrule before installing the tip. This helped a lot. I avoid Aegis if I can.
Thanks….I’ve never heard of that happening but then again, my knowledge
of cue making is scant & more importantly, without any real world experience.
snookered_again
Well-known member
some glues like epoxy are good at bridging gaps but not normally used for tips. Cyanoacrylate glue is not good at bridging any gap, it has great bonding strength, but only when applied with the parts fitting with some degree of precision. I don't think it bonds so well to itself so if a second chance of positioning is necessary, best to just remove it, start over, rather than trying to re-wet the surface and hope it sticks.
for decades and all my ferrules, some are ivory some are other. all are one inch in length as almost all older cues are.
and almost all the greatest players in history until modern players showed up with different ideas used the one inch ferrule and all sorts of heavy materials in them. many ran ten racks of 9 ball and 300 or more in straight pool.
and almost all the greatest players in history until modern players showed up with different ideas used the one inch ferrule and all sorts of heavy materials in them. many ran ten racks of 9 ball and 300 or more in straight pool.
juma not bad
I played with ivory ferrules from the late 80’s until 2018. After experimenting for about a year I now use Juma ferrules and don’t plan on changing but would consider trying tomahawk. All my ferrules are 1”.
SSDiver2112
Escott Cues
Never got an answer to my question about what a good choice for cost effective ferrules for house cues. I don't want the cheap plastic amazon ferules that may not glue well.
While waiting for a suggestion I have been doing some more research to find out.
Two that I have found that might be suitable are:
Thanks,
Scott
While waiting for a suggestion I have been doing some more research to find out.
Two that I have found that might be suitable are:
- Super XTC ferrules from Atlas
- Chris Hightower has an inexpensive ferrule that says it is for house cues but has no details on what they actually are.
Thanks,
Scott
I like the capped and threaded XTC ferrules for house cues. I can almost always clean up and thread the tenons, making installation quick and easy.
snookered_again
Well-known member
I dont replace many ferrules but basically if you just order them you are dependent on a certain size but if they are made and sized for the cue, then the maker can adjust the hole so it has a good snug fit. perhaps the case is that they are usually standardized but if the installer wants to clean off old glue , sands the mating surface a little, isn't he changing the OD of the cue near the tip where the ferrule slips overtop? If it's a loose fit do you just fil the gap with glue?
I have a bunch of cheapo cues, motly ben and not worth having.. I was thinking I;d experiment on , many seem to have these cheap plastic ferrules that slip over resulting in a tip larger than the shaft. I figure they were sold as replacement tips and designed for home users to just glue on wihtout any precision fitting.. maybe I need to buy a bot of plastic that is good, I have bronce, or could use cue balls but some of the products people are discussing could be more appropriate.
a lot of those old plastic ones are aged and I think he plastic itself has an age limit before it just gets brittle.
I have a bunch of cheapo cues, motly ben and not worth having.. I was thinking I;d experiment on , many seem to have these cheap plastic ferrules that slip over resulting in a tip larger than the shaft. I figure they were sold as replacement tips and designed for home users to just glue on wihtout any precision fitting.. maybe I need to buy a bot of plastic that is good, I have bronce, or could use cue balls but some of the products people are discussing could be more appropriate.
a lot of those old plastic ones are aged and I think he plastic itself has an age limit before it just gets brittle.
SSDiver2112
Escott Cues
First absolutely get rid of those Slip tips, they are an abomination. That said, you never know what you will find underneath. Could be a tipless ferrule, a chewed-up ferrule, or just wood.
I normally use Tomahawk. I have 1" blanks I can bore and tap as needed. I also have it in a rod so I can fully customize it when needed.
Repairs need this variation. A cue maker would mostly have their preferred material and design standardized for the shafts they make.