I saw a thread once (and can't find it now) that a cuemaker only used about 20% of the shaftwood that they bought--the rest did not meet their standards. I can't even remember the cuemaker.
I wonder how many cuemakers have this high standard? Or maybe most of the shaftwood bought is high quality? Any info would be appreciated.
Thanks, KP
Finding good woods can't be any easier than 50 years ago. How much mediocre wood is used/cut and sold when it shouldn't be.... is always in play. You'll have much better luck at a dating site finding what you want before the test drive, than a cue stick. A cue hit feel/desire is ''immediate''.
This question about shaft wood, was talked about allot in the sixties and seventies and it was common to hear pool players/cue makers ''complain'' about Bad Wood.
Bob Meucci changed things with his shafts, then super slick, low nap 80/20 billiard cloth started showing up, and Bob had Thee best players using his equipment for free, a pool players dream, beginning of ld shafts.
The old players used to talk about the grain, the sound and feel of the hit from one shaft to another. At times you'd see a shaft with burl in the grain.
When you had thick cloth, a 13.5 mm shaft cut from a tree that was first borne' in the 1800's you had the ''graphite'' kryptonite in your day.
Good players always talked about the ''hit'' of the cue and that alone changed the PRICE a ton.
Whomever had that cue was looked up too somewhat, because they Did have an advantage with the play conditions, that could be brutally tough in the beginning years of Brunswick tables.
A perfect grain 13.5 mm shaft on nappy cloth, would and did get the same results, as a carbon fibre shaft on a worn 80/20 cloth of today.