Pia Filler hates wood shafts

[overlord]

You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.

 

[Chris]

… for a really bad, sharp edge ding I use a little light sandpapering to expose the wood cells, then hit it repeatedly with a Q-tip that's just been dipped in boiling water -- dant't take but a few minutes.

While we're sharing techniques, here's mine.

I tear a small piece from a paper towel, wet it, and ball it up to about the size of a BB, but not so much that all of the water is squeezed out. I place that in the ding of the shaft, with the shaft laid on a table. I wait 30+ minutes for the shaft to absorb water from the paper towel. The goal is for the ding's surface to swell to a level slightly higher than the surrounding wood. For most dings, one session with a "paper towel BB" is enough, but for bigger dings, it might take another session or two. Once the ding is raised and the shaft is dry, I use a smooth shot glass to knock the wood at the ding back down to match that which surrounds it. Finally, I use a square of leather to burnish the shaft. The end result is a shaft that looks, feels, and measures like brand new. Total labor is typically five minutes or less, but the whole process, including wait times, is about an hour.

I don't use heat or sandpaper.

I don't know if the method I use would work with a torrefied wood shaft. I have my doubts, but it might.

 

[Lowell]

same thing will happen with wood so what's your point here??

Wood is not advertised as being indestructable

 

[lfigueroa]

You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.

At one time or another I have dinged almost every shaft I own and I guarantee you would not be able to tell nor spot where I've removed a ding.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Kim Bye]

I see about as many CF shafts and wood shafts in my shop, so they are far from indestructible. If you go back and listen to the original promo video Predator made for the Revo line of shafts, Pia is basically just parroting those claims, so this is nothing more than marketing in a more personal form. The constant comparison to tennis rackets, golf clubs and hockey sticks is a bit dishonest, as none of these pieces of sports equipment have a high focus on feel and feedback. I think a more fair comparison would be instruments where feel is essential and if you have a look there, Carbon fiber has made very little inroads in the music instrument market..
If you prefer wood or carbon fiber, they both have advantages and disadvantages, saying categorically that one is better like Pia (and Predator) does is just not true. It really depends on what features you emphasis.

 

[garczar]

Wood is not advertised as being indestructable

never heard cf shafts advertised as 'indestructible'. love to see that ad. are you really so gullible? who told you this? Even Pred has never been so stupid to say that. 'Significantly more durable than wood' That's on their site pard. Please.

 

[garczar]

You can steam minor dings out of a wood shaft but the shaft will never be perfect again.

Major dings you have to fill with wood filler.

Major dings are when you actually lose wood.

The fins under certain pool table lights will ding wood shafts big time.

CF is smooth as silk.

Dings are annoying.

i've fixed a few 'craters' by sanding some maple into epoxy and then fill the mark. its visible but they never came apart. for regular dings i prefer using spit and a toothpick. put a dab in the dent, wait, repeat til level. slower than steam but in my experience a better fix. this way you only pull the dent, steam can pull the wood around the dent, making the fix even harder.

 

[Black-Balled]

Nobody claimed otherwise.

What was said was that carbon fiber shafts are not impervious to damage, and repairing that damage is not trivial. It was also stated that removing dings from wood shafts in a non-destructive way (e.g., no sanding) is very easy and requires very little time. (The method I use is probably the slowest, and even it usually only requires about an hour, the overwhelming majority of that time spent waiting.)

Stop it. They aren't even in the same category for durability.

 

[Black-Balled]

So they get dinged/nicked in the same ways that wood shafts get dinged. Got it.

Incorrect...aside from major traumas.

 

[Chris]

Incorrect...aside from major traumas.

It sounds like you've told that to yourself so many times that you've come to believe it. That's okay. Some people live their lives believing Earth is flat, too.

 

[Chris]

Stop it. They aren't even in the same category for durability.
View attachment 919906

"Highly resistant" to scratches, drops, and dents is not the same as "impervious" to scratches, drops, and dents. No one is claiming that carbon fiber shafts are as easily dinged as wood shafts. What has been pointed out is that carbon fiber shafts are not immune to being damaged, and when that damage occurs, repairs are more complicated, when they're even possible, compared to repairing the same damage on a wood shaft.

Do you believe that if a busy pool room replaced their wooden house cues with carbon fiber cues, the shafts of those new cues would largely remain pristine after a few months of use by bangers?

Experienced players don't frequently ding their wood shafts. Nor are high-quality wood shafts prone to warpage when stored as recommended (e.g., not left in a car year-round). A lot of the so-called advantages of using a CF shaft are really about solutions in search of problems. I'm old enough that I've learned to avoid paying for such solutions. Younger me was more prone to marketing hype.

Like most everything else, it's a tradeoff. It's okay to want a shaft that's more resistant to minor damage, even if that comes at the expense of minor damage being much more difficult to repair when it does happen. It's also okay to prefer a shaft that is easily repaired, even if that repairability comes at the expense of requiring minor repairs/maintenance more frequently. It's about preferences, not about one approach being objectively better than the other.

The most significant "improvement" that carbon fiber shafts bring to the table (so to speak) is their higher profitability. That's great for manufacturers and retailers (assuming enough of the extra profit margin is passed on to said retailers), but less great for players. While the higher margins allow for better sponsored tournament payouts and pro player sponsorships, that extra money comes at the expense of making pool even less financially accessible to new younger players. Too many new (and even experienced) players are susceptible to marketing and social media hype, and they believe that they need a low-deflection CF shaft if they have any hope of playing well. The reality is that one can become a good player using house cues. It's the archer, not the arrow.

 

[Black-Balled]

"Highly resistant" to scratches, drops, and dents is not the same as "impervious" to scratches, drops, and dents. No one is claiming that carbon fiber shafts are as easily dinged as wood shafts. What has been pointed out is that carbon fiber shafts are not immune to being damaged, and when that damage occurs, repairs are more complicated, when they're even possible, compared to repairing the same damage on a wood shaft.

Do you believe that if a busy pool room replaced their wooden house cues with carbon fiber cues, the shafts of those new cues would largely remain pristine after a few months of use by bangers?

Experienced players don't frequently ding their wood shafts. Nor are high-quality wood shafts prone to warpage when stored as recommended (e.g., not left in a car year-round). A lot of the so-called advantages of using a CF shaft are really about solutions in search of problems. I'm old enough that I've learned to avoid paying for such solutions. Younger me was more prone to marketing hype.

Like most everything else, it's a tradeoff. It's okay to want a shaft that's more resistant to minor damage, even if that comes at the expense of minor damage being much more difficult to repair when it does happen. It's also okay to prefer a shaft that is easily repaired, even if that repairability comes at the expense of requiring minor repairs/maintenance more frequently. It's about preferences, not about one approach being objectively better than the other.

The most significant "improvement" that carbon fiber shafts bring to the table (so to speak) is their higher profitability. That's great for manufacturers and retailers (assuming enough of the extra profit margin is passed on to said retailers), but less great for players. While the higher margins allow for better sponsored tournament payouts and pro player sponsorships, that extra money comes at the expense of making pool even less financially accessible to new younger players. Too many new (and even experienced) players are susceptible to marketing and social media hype, and they believe that they need a low-deflection CF shaft if they have any hope of playing well. The reality is that one can become a good player using house cues. It's the archer, not the arrow.

Doubtful anybody reads all that

In terms of frequency and severity of dents, most are of minimal measure- those you and others can address- and 100% avoided with carbon.

The major traumas are rare and all bets are off when you enter that zone

 

[Chris]

Doubtful anybody reads all that

In terms of frequency and severity of dents, most are of minimal measure- those you and others can address- and 100% avoided with carbon.

The major traumas are rare and all bets are off when you enter that zone

You have too much unjustified faith in carbon fiber. Like any other material, it has its strength and its weaknesses. Impervious to damage it isn't, regardless of what you have been led to believe.

 

[Black-Balled]

You have too much unjustified faith in carbon fiber. Like any other material, it has its strength and its weaknesses. Impervious to damage it isn't, regardless of what you have been led to believe.

And the point that the vast majority of dings one might sustain with a wood one would have been avoided with carbon?

Carbon is impervious to minor dings only?

 

[Chris]

Carbon is impervious to minor dings only?

At best.

 

[Straightpool_99]

And the point that the vast majority of dings one might sustain with a wood one would have been avoided with carbon?

Carbon is impervious to minor dings only?

It's resistant to minor dings. If you hit one too hard or just the wrong way, it breaks or chips and repairs are not straight forward or guaranteed to work. It probably shouldn't happen if you are careful with your cue, but it can happen. I guess the cue being solid has value if you chuck it in the trunk after playing or play in bars etc. It can also have some value to a pro that has to travel a lot with the cue from humid to dry environments, probably. If you fly from Nevada to the Phillipines then to Germany and China, it's good to know the shaft won't warp.

I'm not a world beater at this game and I never will be. The enjoyment is in the playing, hitting the ball sweetly and getting that great feeling you get when you hit the ball just right and the cue makes that wonderful sound and gives you a nice feel in the hand. The soulless, hollow "thunk" or "plink" from a carbon cue just doesn't deliver that for me. Most people playing carbon tend to use soft tips, to mitigate the horrible feel and sound, and that's just the opposite of what I prefer. The lousy feedback also robs me of information about how I'm hitting the ball as a bad stroke feels no different to a perfect one. I feel it's harder to stay on top of my game with carbon.

 

[Black-Balled]

It's resistant to minor dings. If you hit one too hard or just the wrong way, it breaks or chips and repairs are not straight forward or guaranteed to work. It probably shouldn't happen if you are careful with your cue, but it can happen. I guess the cue being solid has value if you chuck it in the trunk after playing or play in bars etc. It can also have some value to a pro that has to travel a lot with the cue from humid to dry environments, probably. If you fly from Nevada to the Phillipines then to Germany and China, it's good to know the shaft won't warp.

I'm not a world beater at this game and I never will be. The enjoyment is in the playing, hitting the ball sweetly and getting that great feeling you get when you hit the ball just right and the cue makes that wonderful sound and gives you a nice feel in the hand. The soulless, hollow "thunk" or "plink" from a carbon cue just doesn't deliver that for me. Most people playing carbon tend to use soft tips, to mitigate the horrible feel and sound, and that's just the opposite of what I prefer. The lousy feedback also robs me of information about how I'm hitting the ball as a bad stroke feels no different to a perfect one. I feel it's harder to stay on top of my game with carbon.

I play with wood too... disclosure

 

[Black-Balled]

At best.

Common ground!