Is it possible to straighten a warped cue shaft?
- Thread starter jviss
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Who made the cue?
I have a couple cues that I hung up with those rubber hangers, and after a very long time they straightened back up. Also used that Jacoby shaft straightening tool, although it grooves your shaft so I wasn't the biggest fan(although maybe I did it wrong). Shaft stayed straight though.
heinosuke1
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You can avoid the grooving by placing a material between the tool and the shaft. A hand towel is what I’ve always used.
Roll the cue on a flat surface until you see where it's bowed, with the ferrule pointing down. Put one hand where it's bowed and take your other hand and grip the joint end lightly pull up. Make sure you check each pull and repeat until it's straight. If you put to much pressure, you could snap it like a twig.
Woods Snooker Cue
It's a Woods cue. After I posted this, I found this:
How to straighten a bent cue stick shaft
Figuring I had nothing to lose, I followed step 3, "Bend It Back." It worked! Holy cow. It's still not perfect, I will continue to tweak it a bit, than hang it up for a week or so. But, amazing.
I would appreciate any other advice on caring for a snooker cue, like oils, and ho to re-fill the grain.
Thanks,
jv
It's a Woods cue. After I posted this, I found this:
How to straighten a bent cue stick shaft
Figuring I had nothing to lose, I followed step 3, "Bend It Back." It worked! Holy cow. It's still not perfect, I will continue to tweak it a bit, than hang it up for a week or so. But, amazing.
I would appreciate any other advice on caring for a snooker cue, like oils, and ho to re-fill the grain.
Thanks,
jv
The short answer is no. Eventually no matter what you do, shafts prone to warpage will warp back. Messing around with it could also cause a double warp. There are many reasons why shafts warp, but be assured it's at the cellular level. Oftentimes the wood was not properly dried and transported before turning. Experienced, quality cuemakers discard wood prone to warpage in the curing process.
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I am not a cue maker and know jack shit about making them, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, with that disclaimer being said, and I am basing this off a very limited sampling pool of only 1 shaft.
I think I might disagree slightly with you on this one, simply because the shaft I straightened is still straight, I guess it's been 15 months or so since I did it, it may warp in the future again, but as of now, it looks pretty stable. I have read other's accounts that the shaft would warp again shortly after straightening, so maybe I was lucky in that sense.
I’ve had a cuemaker demonstrate this approach to me.
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An old friend of mine that passed away showed me this years ago. He was a carpenter and built cues as a hobby. He recommended as soon as you get it straight, sell it and buy a new one. LOL
Jviss, if we see a shaft in the for sale section, we'll know what's up. lol
We have a cue repairman who's very good at what he does and he's from the Philippines, anyhow he can straighten any warped shaft in the world except for mezz products, just give it to him and leave it for a day, come back the next day and it's straight as an arrow, I don't know how he does it though.
But here's the kick, he says he can straighten any warped shaft except for Mezz shafts, he cannot fix any Mezz shaft, he says if you have a Mezz shaft and it's warped, just throw it and buy another one.
But here's the kick, he says he can straighten any warped shaft except for Mezz shafts, he cannot fix any Mezz shaft, he says if you have a Mezz shaft and it's warped, just throw it and buy another one.
I claim no knowledge here, but this thought occurred to me: if a warped shaft of wood (pool cue, dowel or other) will always return to that warped state after being subjected to some force that temporarily alters its shape and makes it straight, then shouldn’t it also be the case that a straight shaft of wood - think of one which has remained straight for many years post-curing - will always return to that straight shape notwithstanding its having developed a non-straight shape as a result of force (e.g., a weight placed on its mid-point for an extended period of time). But is that always the case? Or do some shafts of cured wood that were straight until put under stress stay curved (to some degree) after the stress is relieved? I’m guessing that some of these shafts stay at least somewhat curved. If they do, it would suggest that at least some pool cue shafts can be permanently straightened. To refine the question, I guess we should really be talking about maple.
why is it warped?
I am probably in the linked thread saying the same thing but the real question is why is the shaft warped? If it is warped because of basic flaws of the wood Tate is 100% correct, the shaft will always have a tendency to warp again. You can straighten it but it isn't likely to stay straight.
Then there is the cue shaft that was warped due to neglect of some sort. An example, somebody propped the cue in a corner of your home pool room and the sun shined on it for hours a day. The stick developed a warp over time. Odds are pretty good that a shaft warped due to something like this can be straightened and stay straight.
If you like the shaft it is worth trying to straighten, once. If it warps again, odds are the shaft is a natural stinker and the garbage can is the best place for it. I have cut wood over a hundred years old that appeared straight and flat in the plank. When I started cutting a 1"x1" blank off of the side, the wood which wasn't known for warping curled like a shaving from a knife. Incredible internal pressures on that seemingly straight piece of wood after over 100 years of aging, most inside a wall. That was an extreme example but illustrates my point.
Some warps are caused by relieving internal pressures of the wood when the slaft blank is cut. These shafts will always want to warp. Other shafts are warped by outside pressures and the warp is not a natural feature of the wood. These shafts can be straigtened with an excellent chance of staying straight if they are sealed and not abused.
Is the warp caused by pressure or pressure relief? Makes all the difference in the world if the shaft is going to stay straight after it is straightened. There are some things worth trying if a shaft you like warps that involve steam and a master woodworker. The average shaft isn't worth the time and money spent on it to try to relieve natural pressures.
Edit: I see Seth gave the short version of what I was saying while I typed the long version!
Hu
I am probably in the linked thread saying the same thing but the real question is why is the shaft warped? If it is warped because of basic flaws of the wood Tate is 100% correct, the shaft will always have a tendency to warp again. You can straighten it but it isn't likely to stay straight.
Then there is the cue shaft that was warped due to neglect of some sort. An example, somebody propped the cue in a corner of your home pool room and the sun shined on it for hours a day. The stick developed a warp over time. Odds are pretty good that a shaft warped due to something like this can be straightened and stay straight.
If you like the shaft it is worth trying to straighten, once. If it warps again, odds are the shaft is a natural stinker and the garbage can is the best place for it. I have cut wood over a hundred years old that appeared straight and flat in the plank. When I started cutting a 1"x1" blank off of the side, the wood which wasn't known for warping curled like a shaving from a knife. Incredible internal pressures on that seemingly straight piece of wood after over 100 years of aging, most inside a wall. That was an extreme example but illustrates my point.
Some warps are caused by relieving internal pressures of the wood when the slaft blank is cut. These shafts will always want to warp. Other shafts are warped by outside pressures and the warp is not a natural feature of the wood. These shafts can be straigtened with an excellent chance of staying straight if they are sealed and not abused.
Is the warp caused by pressure or pressure relief? Makes all the difference in the world if the shaft is going to stay straight after it is straightened. There are some things worth trying if a shaft you like warps that involve steam and a master woodworker. The average shaft isn't worth the time and money spent on it to try to relieve natural pressures.
Edit: I see Seth gave the short version of what I was saying while I typed the long version!
Hu
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So what causes warpage is tension at the cellular level. One side of the wood is pulling the other side, causing a warp. Moisture causes the cells to expand and contract like small sponges. If those cells don't expand and contract at the same rate, for whatever reason, the wood warps.
I have seen it where a shaft pops back to straight under tension and stays that way. I have always believed that the tension was relieved by causing microscopic tears in the cellular fibers, relieving the tension. Not sure if this is a good way to fix a shaft from a playability standpoint. When I say the short answer is "no they can't be straightened", it really means that it's not necessarily practical. It might be worth a try though, you never know. I usually just order replacement shafts.
Ps. the future is carbon fiber. Really, it is.
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Leave it alone .
It might move back to it's former self.
It's still acclimating where you are .
It is winter. It might be too dry or too wet where you are compared to where it was made .
Let it go through summer before doing anything.
It is a straight as you can stroke now.
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I believe that's true however warped and slight tapper roll may be a different story , I told a friend of mine I had 30 shafts and maybe 5 might be dead dead straight many laminated, he got freaked and took all his predator and ob shafts about 50 all new out of the plastic and rolled them
Over Half was not dead nuts
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Yeah, I know. I have gotten completely over wood. Two years with carbon fiber shaft and butt, now wood seems like an 8 track tape.
I needed another cue like a hole in the head, but I just ordered one of these in red from my Italian buddies at Becue (the Ducati of cues), Rebel red lightning design, 5.1 Prime shaft. Sold off my wooden cues. Can't wait!
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I was just recently looking at those and the "naked" version as well, Hawaiian Eye got me interested. So is it a full splice or just designed to look like one? I was torn between these and the plain one.
No splice, no wood. The entire butt is carbon fiber and those are the graphics. Very high quality and I recommend them. My preference is the 5.1 stiffer shaft, his is the Prime M pro taper. I have the naked now - it's got a great carbon fiber look. I ordered the new one for appearance and I'll convert my old one to a break cue.
If there is any way to try the two shafts, they are quite different from each other.