Carbon, back to wood...

I'm still using CF. When I first switched from a regular maple shaft to an LD maple shaft it was a huge hurdle and I kept going back to my regular shaft. Switching from wood LD to CF was much easier. Honestly I like the feel of wood, but I like the ease of maintenance of CF. Tip selection makes a huge difference in feel on CF.
Tried Carbon own by friend, I am use to Wood. Saw nothing that I wanted to change for. Maybe I am Old School guy who think Carbon is just latest FAD. Wonder how many Pro are using Carbon because they are getting paid to do so?

Follow the money.
There's nothing wrong with wood. I don't think CF is a fad anymore. It may have started as that or a marketing gimmick.

Nowadays Good shaft wood is hard to find, CF solves the problem. My fist cue was a McDermott, back when they had really tight grained straight wood shafts. Just pretty shafts, no sugar spots or anything. Most new shafts have sugar spots/dark spots, 10 grain lines at max etc. You can't beat old shaft wood but they just don't make it anymore. Modern farmed wood just ain't great.

I'd take some old growth any day but it just isn't available like it used to be. Mostly it's regular deflection which can be a negative for some. Really, once you get used to LD it's nice. If you play enough with any shaft you don't really have to think about deflection but there's less to adjust for with LD.
 
I'm still using CF. When I first switched from a regular maple shaft to an LD maple shaft it was a huge hurdle and I kept going back to my regular shaft. Switching from wood LD to CF was much easier. Honestly I like the feel of wood, but I like the ease of maintenance of CF. Tip selection makes a huge difference in feel on CF.

There's nothing wrong with wood. I don't think CF is a fad anymore. It may have started as that or a marketing gimmick.

Nowadays Good shaft wood is hard to find, CF solves the problem. My fist cue was a McDermott, back when they had really tight grained straight wood shafts. Just pretty shafts, no sugar spots or anything. Most new shafts have sugar spots/dark spots, 10 grain lines at max etc. You can't beat old shaft wood but they just don't make it anymore. Modern farmed wood just ain't great.

I'd take some old growth any day but it just isn't available like it used to be. Mostly it's regular deflection which can be a negative for some. Really, once you get used to LD it's nice. If you play enough with any shaft you don't really have to think about deflection but there's less to adjust for with LD.
Quality maple still exists but the curing/turning/aging process is so long to get it right. And even then you don't know how its gonna hit.
 
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Still rocking traditional wood and NO GLOVE. I seem to be the odd one nowadays...

I've hit carbon plenty but never purchased, just not interested especially since I stay mostly on bar-box these days. Do like them a bit on Break and Jump cues but not worth the $$ to upgrade for specialty shots like that.
 
Still rocking traditional wood and NO GLOVE. I seem to be the odd one nowadays...

No glove is even more rare than a traditional deflection shaft these days. I remember when I got back into playing around ‘09 and very few players were wearing gloves. Nobody in the league I joined did. I have sweaty hands though and always liked the idea of a glove so started wearing one. Now the large majority of serious players I see are all wearing gloves.

I do like the feel of a good wood shaft and a non gloved hand….for about 10 minutes and then my hand starts sweating and it gets sticky, haha. If I had naturally dry hands though….
 
even the energy transfer boost is tiny. i noticed it but it wasn't huge. no difference in amount of spin tho.
it is about 15%. Very noticeable especially on carom table. No difference amount of spin but if your arm is moving same speed as with wood and you get more speed it will create more spin too. That why we feel carbon creates more spin.
 
No glove is even more rare than a traditional deflection shaft these days. I remember when I got back into playing around ‘09 and very few players were wearing gloves. Nobody in the league I joined did. I have sweaty hands though and always liked the idea of a glove so started wearing one. Now the large majority of serious players I see are all wearing gloves.
When i was in college ('09-'14) i was the first in that crowd to wear a glove (sweaty hands also). They made fun of me for it. Now it's rare to see players without.

I've gone from Players maple > 314-2 > Z-3 > Revo and Cynergy. Switching back to wood is really strange. I prefer the hit of the Revo to anything else. Really solid. The Cynergy feels softer and more springy. Not sure how much of that is the Kamui Clear Black Soft on the Revo vs the Tiger Sniper on the Cynergy though.
 
carbon fibre is deemed safe. but having constant contact with it rubbing your hands and fingers for long periods over years may cause problems in later years.
they told us cigs were safe for decades until cancer started taking most of the smokers. and they may be if you only have an occasional one.
same might be with shafts.
i am not dying to get one.
 
Switched back to wood as I missed the touchy safety shots I was known for in Bar Box 8 ball. I will add at first, I felt the wood shafts felt flat to me during the transition. I had to get passed this as everyone said the wooden shaft felt fine. I now play with a firmer tip than I used to previously on wooden shafts. There is something to be said about the feel and feedback of a wooden shaft - A major part of your game.
 
So how much of an adjustment would it take for me to go from traditional maple high deflection to a low deflection carbon fiber? I've never played with even a wood LD shaft before.
 
I started out playing with a LD wood shaft, eventually I did get a carbon fiber shaft in the hopes of having one shaft forever that wouldn’t get nicked. I got the cuetec synergy and I do like it but I don’t love it.

I stick to my 314 shaft 95% of the time but occasionally I’ve switched to the carbon when I’m playing bad and the slight difference can sometimes help with focus.
 
carbon fibre is deemed safe. but having constant contact with it rubbing your hands and fingers for long periods over years may cause problems in later years.
they told us cigs were safe for decades until cancer started taking most of the smokers. and they may be if you only have an occasional one.
same might be with shafts.
i am not dying to get one.
Most are playing with gloves now.

Funny thing about gloves now, They all have some gimmick and they are advertising them like you're not wearing one at all.
 
and the 1950's people put filters on the ends of their cigs. although they lasted a few years longer.

and rubbing the shaft for hours on end with your nose on it will release minute amounts of dust you breath in. will it do you in?. who knows.

most likely junk food will do it first.
 
Cue makers I have used, my friends and acquaintances at different pool halls and readers of this Forum have come to
know, I am a pain in the ass about maple shafts. They have to be in a specific weight range, taper & diameter to get my
a seal of approval. I’ve tried several CF shafts, but admittedly for short durations which probably wasn’t a fair test. I did
care for any and preferred my original cue shafts built to my specs. Recently, my opinion changed just like it did in 2004
when I discovered how much I preferred flat ivory joints over piloted steel and switched. For years I never gave it any
thought until I played with one for a weekend & that was it for me. The very same thing recently happened with shafts.

I bought a roasted maple shaft (RMS) which is the very same as Kielwood but the cue maker isn’t able to use that
description because of trademark protection. The shaft met my specs or else I wouldn’t have even considered it. Well,
the shaft has exceeded my expectations and if I could, all my cues would have Kielwood shafts. Fortunately, to make
that happen, I simply need 3 Kielwood shafts (radial, 3/8x10 and 3/8x11) so the 6 cues would have a Kielwood shaft.

At the moment, I only have a radial shaft by Cory Barnhart via Martin @Superior Cues. Unfortunately radial is the only version Cory offers so I’m still looking for a cue maker for 2 more shafts but the shafts have to meet my specs and weight is a deal breaker. My shafts are flat faced and Kielwood shafts tend to be lighter after treatment. So finding the heavier weight is harder and of course, taper, length, ferrule size and diameter are factors that come into play. But my Barnhart radial shaft meets my requirements and exceeds my expectations for a wood shaft with low defection. It truly does plays better than any wood shat I’ve tried or presently own including my Scruggs, Prewitt & Owen shafts.

My friend just recently received two Kielwood shafts from Schmelke.I’m impressed with the quality and the price is
absolutely the best around. I would still like to consider other cue makers and Richard Hsu is always recommended.

However, I’m really disinclined to pay that much when I already paid less for one of Cory’s shafts I found plays great.
As I mentioned, the Schmelke shafts seem like a genuine bargain but I’d still like to consider some other makers before
getting 2 more shafts. Both would be Barnhart shafts if I could Cory to make a different thread but not gonna happen.

If you get a Kielwood shaft, try to have it match the specs of your current pool shaft. Don’t spend your money until you
understand what you are now playing with and match the new shaft as close as possible to those specs. Like me, you
may find that hard to that but it is truly worth the effort. I tried light weight Kielwood shafts & did not like any of them.
 
it is about 15%. Very noticeable especially on carom table. No difference amount of spin but if your arm is moving same speed as with wood and you get more speed it will create more spin too. That why we feel carbon creates more spin.
So CF requires more speed adjustment and wood requires more aim adjustment - it all adds up even when you play with one or the other all the time.
 
I simply need 3 Kielwood shafts (radial, 3/8x10 and 3/8x11) s
Pure X's kielwood shaft comes with a 3/8x10 joint. It is a maple kielwood and carbon-fiber combination.


Kielwood Pure X FUZE.jpg
 
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