Traditional wood shafts making comeback?

That's different than what most people here are talking about though. They are talking about the sound of how KW or Ivory sounds, in general. Which is what I find strange. "I don't like the sound of KW/CF/whatever hitting the ball".

You said, "Ivory makes a unique sound"
Garczar said, "KW shafts and i thought they played fine but i'm not a big fan of how they sound. Kind of a weird hollow 'tonk' sound."

I'm assuming here that him saying they played fine but I'm not a fan of how they sound = I didn't miscue, I just don't like the way they sound in general. Whereupon I remarked that I thought sound in general seems like an odd criterion for a cue.
 
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Moe Szyslak said:
That's different than what most people here are talking about though. They are talking about the sound of how KW or Ivory sounds, in general. Which is what I find strange. "I don't like the sound of KW/CF/whatever hitting the ball".

You said, "Ivory makes a unique sound"
Garczar said, "KW shafts and i thought they played fine but i'm not a big fan of how they sound. Kind of a weird hollow 'tonk' sound."

I'm assuming here that him saying they played fine but I'm not a fan of how they sound = I didn't miscue, I just don't like the way they sound in general. Whereupon I remarked that I thought sound in general seems like an odd criterion for a cue.
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If my cue sounded like a wet fart when hitting the cue ball but was followed by the sound of the object ball being pocketed EVERY time....I think I would learn to love that sound.......
 
garczar said:
I've only test hit a couple KW shafts and i thought they played fine but i'm not a big fan of how they sound. Kind of a weird hollow 'tonk' sound. Need to test drive before buying if possible.
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If you don't like that, my hard tipped Revo would probably have you plugging your ears. 😂
 
With the latest wood shaft such as this, it's no wonder everyone is coming back to wood. Really low deflection and hits a ton. Not only that you can set your chalk on it when not shooting.
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skor said:
It doesn’t play better, it plays differently.
The process makes the shaft lighter that reduces cue ball deflection.
It is more durable to dents and nicks.
I don’t know if it’s true but I heard that the process makes the wood brittle, so that sounds as a con.
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In my experience, the weight difference is not enough to affect deflection much at all. And I feel like torrified wood dents easier than normal kiln dried. Probably about the same as vacuum dried though.
It does make the wood more brittle, I've personally witnessed them blow up. :LOL:
I like radially laminated torrified shafts a lot better than the solid ones.
 
skogstokig said:
when you own a planer but no lathe
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After seeing it, I had to make some shots with it that night. Surprisingly it wasn't bad at all for a 30 yr old shaft with as you would expect some battle scars/ dings in the shaft. No using a closed bridge for sure. Interesting for sure.
 
If my cue sounded like a wet fart when hitting the cue ball but was followed by the sound of the object ball being pocketed EVERY time....I think I would learn to love that sound.......
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Exactly

Roasted Torrified, good god, sounds like something from a snooty Fusion restaurant menu. At that point, just get a CF cue.
 
Paul_#_ said:
Do any production-cue companies sell them? Custom cue maker Dominiak Cues from Stafford NY sells them
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I use 6 piece blanks made by a guy in Washington.
I have used Dominiak's regular maple laminated shafts, they are great quality. I expect the roasted ones are good too.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
Exactly

Roasted Torrified, good god, sounds like something from a snooty Fusion restaurant menu. At that point, just get a CF cue.
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How long till they start saying the same type of shit about CF? I mean, they already do to some extent... with all the tech nonsense. But it's more like a gun or something. We'll have a hollowed point 12.5 calibre ball blaster soon enough.
 
Moe Szyslak said:
Whereupon I remarked that I thought sound in general seems like an odd criterion for a cue.
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Yup. And yet we are human. If you take it to the extreme, you can imagine that some quality of a cue that has nothing to do with how it technically performs, such as how it looks, feels or sounds, can definitely get in the head of a player if it is exaggerated and distracting.

I have been playing with my Joss for over 40 years. Any other cue I own or try gets compared with that in my hands. How it looks, feels, smells, tastes, whatever....some of which defies description. I'm not looking for something else, not looking to tap some strange. The relationship isn't cold. I am not on a search looking for "the one".

Odd? Maybe so. At the same time I understand it and feel it is quite normal.

Maybe try playing with a cue that has a buzz in the A joint, right next to your ear. It does not alter how the cue technically performs, but it could drive you nuts. The contact is made, the buzz reaches your ear after, technically it does not alter anything. Same thing with an odd noise from a ferrule, that mysterious "click" that some make.

It's like a woman...yeah...I will stop there...LOL! 🤪
 
Yes, those are of course two very specific examples.

General, example:
I can't use any (insert general type of cue here) cue, because of how they sound.
I don't like carbon fiber cues because they taste funny.

Specific, example:
I like how my old trusty cue sounds.
This cue has a broken joint that makes an annoying clicking sound.
This cue has a mini-fart machine embedded under the tip and everybody looks at me in the pool hall when I hit a ball.

Personally, I find the first two statements odd. To me, these criteria are odd things to take into account for selecting a cue. I don't think the variation in sound or taste or smell is wide enough to make it a major criterion on which I, personally, would make a choice. You, certainly, are free to make that choice, but I find that odd.
 
Paul_#_ said:
Does any other cuemaker make a hollowed-out wood shaft? There are many companies making hollowed-out wood shafts but there is a carbon-fiber rod inside.

Does Predator have a figure or photo showing the hollowed-out shaft?
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A guy out of Washington state, Bryan Covey (BC Cues), makes a sectioned 6 piece kielwood shaft that has a 1mm hollow channel through the middle. I use one of his shafts on my Schon and they feel excellent.
 
I am curious of how the switch to carbon from most of the manufactures has affected the sugar maple industry. A certain percentage of maple is sold to this industry, and the suppliers mill and select boards specific for building cue shafts. My fear is as demand lessons the wood industry will see less value in catering to cue making. So if the industry were to shift back and demand would increase it will be hard to find good supply of material. My guess is that eventually wood shafts will become more expensive and exclusive. I have a hundred or so blanks hanging that date back to the early 2000's. I believe this stock will be a solid investment.
 
garczar said:
Wood shafts will never disappear totally but as old farts like me and others fade away they will be seen less-n-less. Most younger gen players are all-in on carbon.
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They said the same thing about wood golf clubs 100 years ago, wood tennis rackets, wood hockey sticks, and tube TVs. CF shafts are already cheaper to make than wood so it's just a matter of time before sub $100 cues will come standard with CF.
 
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