O
onepocketchump
Guest
First, regarding the issue of Predators and warpage. I have sold hundreds of Predator shafts and owned about a half dozen and none of the shafts I sold ever warped on me while in my shop and my personal shafts were all straight when I sold them. My personal equipment gets rough treatment as I generally do not pay much attention to cold, moisture or heat. Right now, all my cues are in my truck in my car in the Florida heat and humidity, including my last Predator shaft. So, I would say that if the shafts warped due to enviromental/construction reasons rather than physical manipulation then they are the exception rather than the rule based on my experience with Predator shafts.
Secondly, regarding the concept of straightness in pool cues. Personally I consider a cue to be "straight" if, when assembled, it will roll without the tip losing contact with the surface of the table. Generally this will allow for some wobble through the middle of the shaft but shows me that the piece of wood is probably straight through it's center from bumper to tip yet not perfectly round.
The perfectly round combined with straight is what I believe most people think of when they say a cue is or should be straight. I think that it is nearly impossible to make a cue perfectly round all the time and probably impossible to keep it that way once it is being used. So, to me being straight but not neccesarily perfectly round is acceptable in most cues I evaluate.
Someone else mentioned the issue of facings. I also feel that this is something that is not very well understood. When I check a cue where the shaft rolls true and the butt rolls true apart but not together then I immediately inspect the joint pin and the facings. I have found that the tiniest, seeminly insignifigant particles can cause the cue to not screw down flat and appear to be warped. Recently I have seen dental cleaning tools at the Dollar Store which would have been perfect for removing such debris in the past. I also check the pin to see if it is bent as that is an obvious reason why the components would not seat properly.
Regarding using a pool table to check straightness. It is important to check the cue from both sides of the pool table to insure that the table is indeed flat and not causing the cue to appear warped. One piece slates can be warped or sag through the center, three piece slates can be slightly or even grossly misaligned. I once had a table that would make any cue appear to be drastically warped if rolled across the two pieces of slate from the break end but would show accurate results if the cue was rolled across the slates from the rack end. This was revealed to be a bad job of joining the slate which did not show up very much in playing on the table. As to using the rail it it important to use more than one rail because the rubber could have bumps and waves in it due to the cloth being stretched unevenly. This will distort the visual results and make a cue appear to be warped. I rarely use this method because of this. When I do though I check it on at least three other rails to make sure the results are the same. I once had someone do this to a cue of mine and argue with me and I took the cue to another table and did the test and the cue was dead straight. The buyer didn't know about the possibility of the rail not being perfect. He apologized to me and bought the cue.
Lastly, I have discovered a tool that I like very much for checking straightness. It is called the Pocket Lathe and is available through www.PlayPool.com It consists of a pair of machined units each with two wheels ringed with rubber washers. The idea is to put the shaft between the rollers and spin it with your hand while shaping the tip. I suppose that this might work, I have never tried it. What I use them for is to check straightness and roundness using any surface long enough to place the two units. Using these totally eliminates any imperfections of the surface and instantly shows all wobble in the cue. When I owned Instroke each and ever Bunjee was tested using a set of these before it went out the door and as a result we very rarely ever got a cue back because of warpage. So I heartily reccommend a set or two of these to anyone who buys and sells a lot of cues.
Going to bed now,
Good night.
John
www.cuecaserepair.com (on vacation)
Secondly, regarding the concept of straightness in pool cues. Personally I consider a cue to be "straight" if, when assembled, it will roll without the tip losing contact with the surface of the table. Generally this will allow for some wobble through the middle of the shaft but shows me that the piece of wood is probably straight through it's center from bumper to tip yet not perfectly round.
The perfectly round combined with straight is what I believe most people think of when they say a cue is or should be straight. I think that it is nearly impossible to make a cue perfectly round all the time and probably impossible to keep it that way once it is being used. So, to me being straight but not neccesarily perfectly round is acceptable in most cues I evaluate.
Someone else mentioned the issue of facings. I also feel that this is something that is not very well understood. When I check a cue where the shaft rolls true and the butt rolls true apart but not together then I immediately inspect the joint pin and the facings. I have found that the tiniest, seeminly insignifigant particles can cause the cue to not screw down flat and appear to be warped. Recently I have seen dental cleaning tools at the Dollar Store which would have been perfect for removing such debris in the past. I also check the pin to see if it is bent as that is an obvious reason why the components would not seat properly.
Regarding using a pool table to check straightness. It is important to check the cue from both sides of the pool table to insure that the table is indeed flat and not causing the cue to appear warped. One piece slates can be warped or sag through the center, three piece slates can be slightly or even grossly misaligned. I once had a table that would make any cue appear to be drastically warped if rolled across the two pieces of slate from the break end but would show accurate results if the cue was rolled across the slates from the rack end. This was revealed to be a bad job of joining the slate which did not show up very much in playing on the table. As to using the rail it it important to use more than one rail because the rubber could have bumps and waves in it due to the cloth being stretched unevenly. This will distort the visual results and make a cue appear to be warped. I rarely use this method because of this. When I do though I check it on at least three other rails to make sure the results are the same. I once had someone do this to a cue of mine and argue with me and I took the cue to another table and did the test and the cue was dead straight. The buyer didn't know about the possibility of the rail not being perfect. He apologized to me and bought the cue.
Lastly, I have discovered a tool that I like very much for checking straightness. It is called the Pocket Lathe and is available through www.PlayPool.com It consists of a pair of machined units each with two wheels ringed with rubber washers. The idea is to put the shaft between the rollers and spin it with your hand while shaping the tip. I suppose that this might work, I have never tried it. What I use them for is to check straightness and roundness using any surface long enough to place the two units. Using these totally eliminates any imperfections of the surface and instantly shows all wobble in the cue. When I owned Instroke each and ever Bunjee was tested using a set of these before it went out the door and as a result we very rarely ever got a cue back because of warpage. So I heartily reccommend a set or two of these to anyone who buys and sells a lot of cues.
Going to bed now,
Good night.
John
www.cuecaserepair.com (on vacation)