Aluminum radial pin?

CeaseLess

CeaseLess

Active member
I've had my Jacoby for a couple years but I've always liked a more rear weighted player. So I took my cue up to Tiger and I'm having them switch the pin from a stainless steel to an aluminum radial pin, it'll remove an ounce. I was originally gonna go with a g10 but switched it up. I honestly don't know anything about aluminum radial pins, anyone have any info or experience with them? Negative or positive.

Edit: I picked up my cue from Tiger this morning, on a side note Tiger is great, extremely professional, likeable and most importantly do great work in an extremely timely manner. I hung around for a couple hours shooting and chatting and here's my take on the cue after changing the radial pin to aluminum. First off, obviously, it took an ounce of weight off the cue, exactly what I wanted. It sits at 18 oz now, which is right where I wanted it. Surprisingly the actual measurement of the balance point didn't move much, maybe a half inch or so down. But the feel of the balance point DEFINITELY moved and I can feel it. The more forward balanced cues have always steered my stroke, it feels more controlable and responsive to what I'm trying to do now, which feels great but is completely subjective and individual. Now for the controversial part. Did the feel of the hit feel different after the change? Keep in mind nothing else was changed and this has been my player for 2 years.. Yes, the hit feels a bit softer. It's hard to describe, the hit feels the same just a bit softer (maybe not exactly the right word for it) . Not like going from a metal bat to a wooden bat, but more like going from a metal bat to using a metal bat but with leather gloves on. It feels like the vibration through the softer material is felt. To me it feels more natural, like a nice one piece feel. That being said, I enjoy it, feels especially nice on soft and touchy shots, great for one pocket.
 
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Years back I had a cheap cue with aluminum joint/pin. Glad to see it go and told myself never again. Love radial pins. What got you off G10?
 
Biloxi Boy said:
Years back I had a cheap cue with aluminum joint/pin. Glad to see it go and told myself never again. Love radial pins. What got you off G10?
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Yea I also love radial pins. I was gonna go with the g10 but I was talking to the owner, who's obviously very knowledgeable about everything pool cues, and he suggested I go with aluminum because he said the hit resonates better through aluminum than g10. So I said screw it and went with that. I think half of it was my curiosity honestly.
 
garczar said:
Other than BP changes the pin has no effect on how a cue plays.
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Seconded. The only concern i would have is the thermal expansion of aluminum. With how tight good joints are it doesn't take much for them to stick. That's why i like steel on brass. Brass has a natural "lubricity" that keeps that from happening. Could be of no consequence, but something i would ask about.
 
CeaseLess said:
I've had my Jacoby for a couple years but I've always liked a more rear weighted player. So I took my cue up to Tiger and I'm having them switch the pin from a stainless steel to an aluminum radial pin, it'll remove an ounce. I was originally gonna go with a g10 but switched it up. I honestly don't know anything about aluminum radial pins, anyone have any info or experience with them? Negative or positive.
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Never liked aluminum screws because they can get bent easily during lathe work.
Titanium is so much better but weighs around 3/4 oz. SS is about 1.3 oz.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Never liked aluminum screws because they can get bent easily during lathe work.
Titanium is so much better but weighs around 3/4 oz. SS is about 1.3 oz.
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Other than the point you made do you think the material and density change the feel of the hit at all?
 
I don't think there's a player in the world that could tell the difference between an aluminum or G10 pin installed in the same cue.
I've replaced aluminum pins that eventually started making a creaking noise. I've never seen that happen with a G10.
 
CeaseLess said:
Don't think that the softer nature of aluminum compared to ss will lead to a slightly softer hit?
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I would doubt that. I have a pair of cues that are practically identical in weight, balance, shaft, and tip. Only functional difference is one is UniLoc (steel to brass) and the other is Radial (steel to whatever synthetic Predator uses). I'm sure that synthetic is softer than aluminum. They feel and hit exactly the same.
As others have said: my only concerns would be oxidization and the pin bending.
 
Sheldon said:
I don't think there's a player in the world that could tell the difference between an aluminum or G10 pin installed in the same cue.
I've replaced aluminum pins that eventually started making a creaking noise. I've never seen that happen with a G10.
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Is that because the pin gets slightly bent and when screwing it on the creaking is the pin getting straightened back?
 
CeaseLess said:
Other than the point you made do you think the material and density change the feel of the hit at all?
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Hell no.

In order for a material to serve the purpose of a pin, it needs to have a certain similar properties.

Joint pins are more similar than different, comparatively.
Screenshot_20220124-111539.jpg
 
I have a G10 pin (3/8 x 10 modified) in a Gulyassy full splice. Closest thing I have felt to a one piece cue. Everyone that tries the cue loves the hit. Maybe one day they’ll love it enough to give me a whole bunch of money. 🤣🤣
 
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