Ivory ferrrules: IMO Still the best

johnnysd · Aug 31, 2018

I know this will be met with disdain by some, but after getting my Tascarella and playing with it for a while, I have rediscovered the joy of ivory ferrules.

First for the elephant (or at least a piece of one) in the room. no they are not low deflection. But I guess I have never really gotten the low deflection thing. Every cue I have had has a different level of deflection, and after a little while it just sort of goes away, and you really never even think of how much deflection you need to account for.

But it has some serious advantages:

1. Feel nothing provides feel and feedback like ivory in my experience

2. Sound It's sound obviously contributes to the perceived feel, but it also helps with speed control as the sound changes predictably with the speed of the shot

3. Purity They stay clean. Quite honestly I find that ferrules that are dirty or permanently stained by chalk affects are just not as easy to aim with, they can be distracting.

Like I said a lot of people view deflection as EVERYTHING in a cue, but my Tascarella with its awesome ivory ferrules has reminded me how completely irrelevant it really is and that sometimes old school cues with superior construction balance and materials play better and more enjoyably for some.

All I know is that I play better pool with my old school Tascarella and its 1" ivory ferrules than any other cue I have played with.

Johnny Rosato · Aug 31, 2018

First of all congrats on the Tascarella. And yes, I like Ivory so much I'm thinking about having 'em put on my McDermott D-1, even though both factory ferrules are still perfect, (and clean), after 30 years.
I have an Ivory ferrule on 1 of my Rick Howard shafts. I would have both with Ivory but I had an old Westinghouse Micarta ferrule that I had been saving to put on the "right" cue. (Got 2 from "manwon", aka Craig Rittel, some years back).
My 3rd & final cue has a Juma ferrule, Pechauer Pro-H "sneaky".

Chopdoc · Aug 31, 2018

I know I like my ivory ferrules. All my best shafts have them.

Why? I simply do, and that's enough for me.

.

lfigueroa · Aug 31, 2018

johnnysd said:
I know this will be met with disdain by some, but after getting my Tascarella and playing with it for a while, I have rediscovered the joy of ivory ferrules.

First for the elephant (or at least a piece of one) in the room. no they are not low deflection. But I guess I have never really gotten the low deflection thing. Every cue I have had has a different level of deflection, and after a little while it just sort of goes away, and you really never even think of how much deflection you need to account for.

But it has some serious advantages:

1. Feel nothing provides feel and feedback like ivory in my experience

2. Sound It's sound obviously contributes to the perceived feel, but it also helps with speed control as the sound changes predictably with the speed of the shot

3. Purity They stay clean. Quite honestly I find that ferrules that are dirty or permanently stained by chalk affects are just not as easy to aim with, they can be distracting.

Like I said a lot of people view deflection as EVERYTHING in a cue, but my Tascarella with its awesome ivory ferrules has reminded me how completely irrelevant it really is and that sometimes old school cues with superior construction balance and materials play better and more enjoyably for some.

All I know is that I play better pool with my old school Tascarella and its 1" ivory ferrules than any other cue I have played with.

*Nothing* hits like an ivory ferrule and a solid maple shaft.

When the first Predators shafts came out, I bought three of them. I played with them non-stop for couple of years. Then one day I put one of my maple/ivory shafts back on my cue and immediately sold all three Predator shaft.

*Nothing* hits like ivory and maple.

Lou Figueroa

pt109 · Aug 31, 2018

Of the top 20 cue makers, I have owned about a dozen of their cues...
....had the ivory ferrules taken off every one of them...can’t stand them.

I’ll confess I left one on a Tad shaft because I was hooked to breaking with it...
...but eventually I cracked the ferrule.

I feel the same way about British brass ferruled snooker cues....
...why are they still being used when there are all these magic materials around?

I’ve had cue maker’s tell me I’m going to devalue a cue by losing the ivory...
....I would tell them that it would be an exercise in futility to retain the collector’s value....
....and lose my bankroll.

L I F D 1 · Aug 31, 2018

Ivory needs as natural an environment as possible, while the elephant possessed it, there was nature maintaining the stuff.
For small pieces (ferrules, diamonds, dots, ect) a humidor might do the trick.

Superiorduper · Aug 31, 2018

I agree with you in regards to the deflection, I don’t really notice. I hate to say it but I feel like the hit is overrated. It’s hard to explain, but I feel like the cue ball just comes off kinda flat, opposed to a spring like bounce off the cue with lots of action with minimal effort. And hitting off center has that snappy kind crack sound, opposed to that pingy woody tone.

Maybe it’s just the ones I’ve hit with, and maybe it was the shafts they were on. But if you like em and play well with them, then...good! I’m happy you have a cue that can make hitting a cue ball more enjoyable for you.

Straightpool_99 · Aug 31, 2018

Never tried an ivory ferrule cue that I liked. Even disregarding the deflection, I don't like the hit and then there are the problems: Can't take it abroad or ship it out the country, it can crack, it needs a pad under the tip, etc..etc..

Nope, I'll just stick to pedestrian plastic, or carbon fiber, which my new cue has. It's a Chinese 8 ball cue. The carbon fibre ferrule hits really nice.

Bavafongoul · Aug 31, 2018

Every cue I've ever owned, except for my Palmer, used ivory ferrules.
I completely concur about ivory ferrules re: sound, feel & cleanliness.

jazznpool · Aug 31, 2018

Ivory ferrules (uncapped, 3/4" length, large wood tenon if possible) are what I prefer too.

greyghost · Aug 31, 2018

They do play well.....but the best playing ferrule will always and forever be

No ferrule at all

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

gregnice37 · Sep 1, 2018

I've always enjoyed ivory ferrules over any other ferrules. As of the past 18 months I've been using a Revo and I do own 2 ultimate weapon shafts but I have a bunch of custom cues and everyone of those ferrules are ivory. Actually all the joints are ivory as well, that combo is incredible.

trob · Sep 1, 2018

To each his own.. if you like the way it feels play with it :thumbup: I personally didn’t like the feel of an ivory ferrul .

Michael Webb · Sep 1, 2018

johnnysd said:
I know this will be met with disdain by some, but after getting my Tascarella and playing with it for a while, I have rediscovered the joy of ivory ferrules.

First for the elephant (or at least a piece of one) in the room. no they are not low deflection. But I guess I have never really gotten the low deflection thing. Every cue I have had has a different level of deflection, and after a little while it just sort of goes away, and you really never even think of how much deflection you need to account for.

But it has some serious advantages:

1. Feel nothing provides feel and feedback like ivory in my experience

2. Sound It's sound obviously contributes to the perceived feel, but it also helps with speed control as the sound changes predictably with the speed of the shot

3. Purity They stay clean. Quite honestly I find that ferrules that are dirty or permanently stained by chalk affects are just not as easy to aim with, they can be distracting.

Like I said a lot of people view deflection as EVERYTHING in a cue, but my Tascarella with its awesome ivory ferrules has reminded me how completely irrelevant it really is and that sometimes old school cues with superior construction balance and materials play better and more enjoyably for some.

All I know is that I play better pool with my old school Tascarella and its 1" ivory ferrules than any other cue I have played with.

Seeing that I offer both regular and low deflection shafts. Your assessment of what you prefer for yourself is spot on. People like what they like and there's nothing wrong with that. Good post.

Sealegs50 · Sep 1, 2018

I own almost a dozen shafts with ivory ferrules. I have not found a reason to switch from my favorite shafts all of which have them. My friends tell me that there are shots that cannot be made with high deflection/squirt shafts. But I seem to do just fine with these shafts I acquired over the past 30+ years. As much as I like what I already own, I would not advise someone just getting into pool to learn to play with ivory. I think it is better to favor materials that will be readily available in the future.

mattb · Sep 1, 2018

Ivory to Micarta

My first decent cue had ivory ferrules. The sound, feel and playability was amazing. Then I discovered the old Micarta and was a changed pool player. I still have that old ivory ferreled shaft but it is outnumbered 10 to 1 these days.

DEXTER · Sep 1, 2018

I was blown away the first time I hit with a Ivory ferrule.
My favorite is Ivory joint and ferrule cue.

deanoc · Sep 1, 2018

seems like ivory played better
for sure they stay white better

however Billy Stroud told me that he would put the low deflectin
shafts on his cues if he were doing it today

he viewed it as a big improvement
Billy was a centerball player back in the day

He was the best player in Dallas and of course
he knows cues

Don Owen,Mark griffin,and I had lunch this week
and also made a good case for OB shafts

Don owns the company OB CUES

I pretty much just play the same thing I always played
that is,whatever feels good and shoots straight

I prefer South west cues with ivory,but in the absence of this
I play micarta ferrules and maple shafts

then again,i don't play too good

johnnysd · Sep 1, 2018

Sealegs50 said:
I own almost a dozen shafts with ivory ferrules. I have not found a reason to switch from my favorite shafts all of which have them. My friends tell me that there are shots that cannot be made with high deflection/squirt shafts. But I seem to do just fine with these shafts I acquired over the past 30+ years. As much as I like what I already own, I would not advise someone just getting into pool to learn to play with ivory. I think it is better to favor materials that will be readily available in the future.

I agree, I think for a developing player I would start him with something like a Revo, BeCue or the new Jacoby Ultra (pretty impressive) as it would speed development for the player and help long term. For a player like me that grew up playing ivory, LD is almost the opposite in that I have to almost consciously adjust for less deflection at least for a while.

Outside of that though, i think Ivory has distinct advantages.

I have heard recently that Arvorin, an Ivory substitute that is less known plays and sounds very much like real Ivory.

Runner · Sep 5, 2018

Love 'em... all my playing cues have them.
It's a feel thing... Hard to describe but I'm used to 'em.

Ivory ferrrules: IMO Still the best

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