wood and CF
As the price of CF comes down and the price of quality wood goes up, I think CF will take over the bulk of the market. We used to seek wood with thirty rings per inch for shaft wood. Now we pay a high premium for twenty lines an inch and even that is hard to come by. Too lines per inch aren't the only thing making wood top quality for cue shafts.
The problem is veneers and factory ships. The veneer builders have factory ships sitting off the coast of the US and I assume Canada. They can pay a higher price for logs than cue builders can. Then the logs are hauled out to factory ships shaved into veneers like sharpening a pencil, and paneling is made without ever hauling the wood to another country. A log goes a long ways when it is just the outer layer of a piece of paneling.
Carbon fiber is consistent and there is little fear of warping if a shaft is good when you get it. CF can hit very well, good feel, and can be tuned to changing customer demands easier than wood.
I have mixed emotions about it but I think CF will take over the bulk of the market with mostly very cheap and very expensive cues made with wooden shafts. Of course, if demand falls off for shaft blanks suppliers may be less and less inclined to spend the time and money required to find good blank wood.
I don't have a lot of experience with CF, one shaft I hit with when I get a chance. I was biased, having hit with fiberglass and fiberglass wrapped wood I expected a hit I wouldn't like from a CF shaft. I like some feedback, not too much, not too little. Much to my surprise, that is what the shaft I tried gave me. Reluctantly I have jumped on the CF bandwagon. It can be made to play better than wood and feel better.
CF technology for cues is in it's infancy, it will get better. Wood technology is pretty much where it is going to stay. CF will have the bulk of market share for shafts in twenty years I do believe. Somebody that rolls out a one piece at a price halls can pay would make a nice score too I believe. Might even be good for pool if people could play off the wall with a quality cue, maybe for a small rental fee.
From the viewpoint of someone that generally dislikes change, CF is coming, CF may be here now. There were a lot of black shafts at the Scotty Townsend Memorial according to pictures.
Hu