Anything Special About Ferrules?
- Thread starter jviss
- Start date
A huge difference in ferrules
There is a huge difference in ferrules and it is largely overlooked. As a general rule the closer something is to the tip the more important it is. Tip, ferrule, shaft, joint, butt, even bumper. Seeing the ferrule in second place emphasizes it's importance.
Unfortunately, there are open and closed ferrules, and endless materials to make them out of. A one-pocket player may favor a softer and longer capped ferrule to play softer, a nine or ten ball player a short collar or even ferruleless cue with just a pad to protect the shaft.
Looking at stills of a cue ball being hit or slow motion video it is easy to see a soft ferrule moves a lot. I redid a hundred and forty cues for a pool room. Some of the ferrules I took off seemed well seated and glued but every single ferrule I took off of those house cues had blue chalk under them between the wood and ferrule. That is something to chew on.
For myself, I like to take the ferrule out of the equation. A short white ferrule the length of the tip diameter helps me see the tip. It is just a sleeve with a large diameter tenon touching the pad or tip so transfer of energy doesn't rely on the ferrule.
Far more attention should be paid to ferrules but if really looked at there will be long threads like the tip and shaft threads and it comes down to personal preference anyway.
Hu
There is a huge difference in ferrules and it is largely overlooked. As a general rule the closer something is to the tip the more important it is. Tip, ferrule, shaft, joint, butt, even bumper. Seeing the ferrule in second place emphasizes it's importance.
Unfortunately, there are open and closed ferrules, and endless materials to make them out of. A one-pocket player may favor a softer and longer capped ferrule to play softer, a nine or ten ball player a short collar or even ferruleless cue with just a pad to protect the shaft.
Looking at stills of a cue ball being hit or slow motion video it is easy to see a soft ferrule moves a lot. I redid a hundred and forty cues for a pool room. Some of the ferrules I took off seemed well seated and glued but every single ferrule I took off of those house cues had blue chalk under them between the wood and ferrule. That is something to chew on.
For myself, I like to take the ferrule out of the equation. A short white ferrule the length of the tip diameter helps me see the tip. It is just a sleeve with a large diameter tenon touching the pad or tip so transfer of energy doesn't rely on the ferrule.
Far more attention should be paid to ferrules but if really looked at there will be long threads like the tip and shaft threads and it comes down to personal preference anyway.
Hu
Westinghouse Micarta, Ivory, & Juma because I like a clean ferrule. I don't play well enough to where the ferrule, tip, or cue is gonna make a ball or 2 difference. I just like 'em clean. I have 3 old McD's that attract chalk but I'm still able to keep 'em clean. I just can't let anyone else play with those 3.
I'm back to Le Pro and Triangle tips too, just old school for me I reckon.
I certainly admire watching good players though!
I'm back to Le Pro and Triangle tips too, just old school for me I reckon.
I certainly admire watching good players though!
get down with brown
Brown linen ferrules for me on my main two players paired with water buffalo tips. I like the contrast against a cue ball, and the hit and overall durability and playability. I did actually crack one, cut it off and replaced it with the same material. That was five years ago and no problem since. I have cues with LBM, Aegis, ivory, etc...but I prefer the brown linen.... and it never looks blue or dirty.
Brown linen ferrules for me on my main two players paired with water buffalo tips. I like the contrast against a cue ball, and the hit and overall durability and playability. I did actually crack one, cut it off and replaced it with the same material. That was five years ago and no problem since. I have cues with LBM, Aegis, ivory, etc...but I prefer the brown linen.... and it never looks blue or dirty.
Thanks!
Thanks for the great replies. Wow! I had no idea. I started some internet research because of the great information here and found a brilliant site discussing ferrules:
http://www.dzcues.com/ferrules.html
My thoughts, as an engineer coming at this topic from a position of ignorance follow.
I though the fundamental purpose of a ferrule on a cue was to strength the tip to prevent if from splitting. So, if the shaft is strong enough and not prone to splitting, no ferrule is necessary, right? You can do as "Icon of Sin" does, and simply glue the tip (with perhaps a pad) directly to the shaft.
To prevent splitting, though, you would fit a ferrule. I would think that you'd use the thinnest ferrule that would provide sufficient strength and longevity.
But then, there's tradition, which I value. And there may be some other properties that ferrules impart that I am not familiar with. Maybe a strike on the tip transmitted through a ferrule has a different character, maybe better, than a tip on a bare wood shaft produces.
I confess I intuitively don't like the threaded interface; a press fit with an open top, with the tip glued to both the ferrule and wooden shaft appeals to me, with a fairly thin-walled ferrule. But this might cause problems with different thermal coefficients of expansion of the shaft and ferrule materials, not to mention movement due to humidity. It might destabilize the tip glue joint.
I just don't know yet. What I do know is that what I currently have on a couple of cheap cues is very poor!
Still learning....
Thanks for the great replies. Wow! I had no idea. I started some internet research because of the great information here and found a brilliant site discussing ferrules:
http://www.dzcues.com/ferrules.html
My thoughts, as an engineer coming at this topic from a position of ignorance follow.
I though the fundamental purpose of a ferrule on a cue was to strength the tip to prevent if from splitting. So, if the shaft is strong enough and not prone to splitting, no ferrule is necessary, right? You can do as "Icon of Sin" does, and simply glue the tip (with perhaps a pad) directly to the shaft.
To prevent splitting, though, you would fit a ferrule. I would think that you'd use the thinnest ferrule that would provide sufficient strength and longevity.
But then, there's tradition, which I value. And there may be some other properties that ferrules impart that I am not familiar with. Maybe a strike on the tip transmitted through a ferrule has a different character, maybe better, than a tip on a bare wood shaft produces.
I confess I intuitively don't like the threaded interface; a press fit with an open top, with the tip glued to both the ferrule and wooden shaft appeals to me, with a fairly thin-walled ferrule. But this might cause problems with different thermal coefficients of expansion of the shaft and ferrule materials, not to mention movement due to humidity. It might destabilize the tip glue joint.
I just don't know yet. What I do know is that what I currently have on a couple of cheap cues is very poor!
Still learning....
i liked ivory ferrules because they were pretty
stayed white ,and didn't turn green with chalk
then somebody tried to explain deflection and stuff like that
to me,
I think a ferrule is nice to keep the shaft looking nice
other wise it turns green
when i was a kid the house cues had black ferrules,they played good
does the little red pad between the ferrule and the tip serve any function?
stayed white ,and didn't turn green with chalk
then somebody tried to explain deflection and stuff like that
to me,
I think a ferrule is nice to keep the shaft looking nice
other wise it turns green
when i was a kid the house cues had black ferrules,they played good
does the little red pad between the ferrule and the tip serve any function?