Why shaft weights are so varied and who made some very light shafts?

qbildr knows what he's talking about. Of the 6 ivory joint cues I own, two are from the secondary market.
So I had absolutely no say or any input on how the cues were designed or the actual cue specifications.

However, the other four cues, although I wasn't involved with actually building the cues, the design
from stem to stern was what I came up with with some input from Bob Owen and Jerry Raunzahn. For
what it's worth, those two fellows are the nicest fellows to have build you a cue & workmanship is A+.

The one area where I took total control over was the cue specifications. If anyone has opportunity to
speak with Bob or Jerry, they'd tell you how challenging it was to build the cues to my specifications.

Nonetheless, each cue-maker nailed it and they didn't do it by building a light cue and then relying
upon using a weight bolt to hit my target weight. I ordered cues to be made using a butt weight target
of 14.5 ounces and shafts weighing 4 ounces or heavier. This yields a shaft weight ratio of >21% and
if the shafts came in heavier, then my ratio improves as long as the cue-maker controls the cue butt
weight. Again, I do not understand how a cue-maker is able to exactly control the building of the cue
but obviously the better ones can and do. It's a talent more than anything else because if you go back
and look at the specs I provided, both cue-makers missed the mark.............but not really.

14.5 oz. butt & 4 oz. shafts or heavier (12.75mm with 16-17" taper), flat faced is what I requested.
14.497 oz. & 3.99 oz. (shaft 1 - 21.53%) and 4.13 oz. (shaft 2 - 22.17%) is what Jerry produced.

My last cue Bob Owen made has a 14.55 ounce cue butt and has a lot of ivory inlays & fancy rings
and Bob didn't use any weight bolt. So Jerry missed the target butt weight by .003 ounces and Bob
missed it by .05 ounces and like I wrote, he didn't even use a weight bolt building my last cue. That is
friggin' incredible when you look at the design Bob had to tackle & he told me "No problems."
Bob never hesitated or ever expressed reservations about my cue specs and neither did Jerry


Matt B.


p.s. I'll verify the balance point on my cues when next at the pool hall.

Hi,

Just wondering how you would select what you consider A+ shafts for your premium cues? Weight is definitely a factor but what about ring counts, straightness of the grain, density, etc? You can find certainly 2 identical shafts weighing the same but I believe its much harder when it come to matching grain, sound and density etc. I think some cue builders tend to focus their shaft selection that are based on what they consider good quality shafts but they are generally not always good playing shafts.

Br,
Duc.

qbilder said:

Wood density ranges pretty dramatically. Its not uncommon for me to see an ounce or more variance between shafts as I am cutting them to size. I can cut 100 shafts to the exact same dimensions and end up with a range of weights from 3.4oz up to 4.5oz. That's actually pretty typical.

Personally speaking, I use matched shafts for a cue. For instance, a cue that's getting two shafts will have both shafts weighing the same, generally looking the same, and sharing similar tonal characteristics. This way they play as close to identical as possible. The shaft weights are chosen not only according to cue balance, but also overall cue weight. A 19oz cue with 19.25" balance point with either shaft doesn't just happen. It takes effort & planning to achieve. This is one of those areas of cue making that is rarely considered by buyers, and something you don't generally get from production cues/shafts. Many custom makers don't even pay it much attention. In my mind, it's one of the most critical factors in how enjoyable a cue is to play with. A comfortable cue that feels nice and is easy to play with makes the cue enjoyable, which translates into the player having confidence in it. It's not random or accidental. It's planned that way.

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Hi Kevin,

I must have hit balls with more than a thousand shafts, you never know what you think you like until you tried them. You can get a custom shaft made for you specific to your specs in term of weigh and just hate it. Just too many factors that you would have to consider in addition to the perfect weight you want.

Eg. Curly, Birdeye, Straight Grain...all comes in your weight range or can be modified via taper to achieve the weigh you want but really you can't just rely one this one criteria. Shafts in all weigh range can play amazing but not all shafts do for a number of good reasons. Good cue builder knows via experienced what to look for in a good shaft but as a player you should also know what you want and consider to be a good shaft. The only way you know what shaft is good for you....find one and remember the specs. Weight, taper, tips size, tip curvature, type of tip, ferrule (if any), etc. are all factor that will differ from players to players.

Over time, you'll start to recognized what is consider a good shaft and sometime the spec of a good shaft varies depending on the spec of your cue butt (weight, balance, etc) as some have already noted. Any cue builders can make you a shaft with your spec...heck if they have too...they can even core the weigh out. At the end of the day, most of the more experienced cue builders will get the right shaft for you but be prepared to pay a premium. Tascarella, SW, Ernie, Bender, etc...highly quality cues builders all know what a good quality shafts look like...but only you can define one that will play good for you (depends on how picky you are lol).

HelloBaby- said:

Need some expert opinions here.
Say a standard maple 29" 13mm shaft can weight from 3.3oz to over 4.0oz.
Why?
I'm thinking about density or age of the wood.
If so then why some lakewood are light but other old-grown like steve klapp's 150-year-old maple or timeleas timber are still relatively heavy (around 3.8oz)?
And the important question, from who can I order one below 3.3oz?
Thanks,
Kevin

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Cuemaster98 said:

Hi,

Just wondering how you would select what you consider A+ shafts for your premium cues? Weight is definitely a factor but what about ring counts, straightness of the grain, density, etc? You can find certainly 2 identical shafts weighing the same but I believe its much harder when it come to matching grain, sound and density etc. I think some cue builders tend to focus their shaft selection that are based on what they consider good quality shafts but they are generally not always good playing shafts.

Br,
Duc.

Click to expand...

In my case, it's not all that difficult to match shafts in pretty much every way. I differ from the majority of cue makers in the way we acquire shaft wood. Most buy shaft squares or dowels. I either cut the tree or buy raw lumber. Shafts cut from a board will all be relatively matching in all respects, and boards from a log will all be relatively matching. It's not uncommon for me to see a cue I built years ago and recall exactly which tree the shafts came from. If you have a cue of mine, there's a fairly good chance I can walk you through a forest & show you the stump where I cut the tree for your cue's wood. So long story short, matching a pair of shafts that weigh the same, look the same, and hit the same isn't a difficulty for me.