Are all Predator shafts warped???

W

Williebetmore

Member, .25% Club
Silver Member
I have used a 314 for 2 years and always thought I would stay with it until recently. My ferrule was cracking so I returned the shaft to Predator for a new ferrule, and bought a replacement shaft at the same time (both shafts are 1" longer than standard). When my old shaft was returned, it had a huge bend in it, I returned it again and they tried to fix it, but it still has a small curve to it. I then checked out the new shaft and it also has a small curve to it. I am in the process of returning the new one to see if they will fix or replace it. The interesting thing is that I told all of this to the local billiard supply store manager, and he reports that he and a friend have 6 Predator standard shafts between them - and only one is dead straight (and he believes that warping is a common problem with Predator shafts, even though that is what they are supposed to be designed to minimize). I understand the principle of acceptable tolerances, but only 1 of our 8 shafts is playable (seems unacceptable to me).

My question is, do other people also have this problem?? Maybe Rocky will check this thread and weigh in with an opinion. I love the way the shaft plays, but if I can't find one that will stay straight I'm looking elsewhere. I would definitely check any Predator for straightness before paying anyone for it (DCP are you listening).

P.S. - Just re-posting this note from another thread. I know most of the shafts must be okay or the company would not be in business, but 1 out of 8 is not good - maybe we are just cursed.
 
Hey Willie, when we gonna play some? I ain't that far away. As far as the billiard shop, which one? I've got a serious problem with one in Indianapolis. The guy took a big chunk out of my ferrel when replacing a tip. Then stands there and tells me it's because my shaft had a bobble in it, and that happens to about 90% of the cues he works on. I think he needs a new line of work. It was a couple of years ago. I won't mention the name on the net, but if you ask me privately. Let me know when you want to play some. Sam
 
Williebetmore,

I have been playing with a predator shaft since 95', own three shafts that are all perfectly straight, never had a problem.

Best of luck to ya!
Jim
 
I've had about 10 predator shafts over the past 5 years. They were all in excellent to "normal" straighness. By normal, I mean a few of them have warped the same amount as a conventional cue. Nothinkg that affects their playability, however. I used to keep them in a locker at the pool room. But for the past year or so I just keep them in my trunk, during summer and winter, and have not had any problems.
 
i dont think that a 100% straight shaft is possible, do to the nature of wood. When i picked my predator shaft i had about 10 to choose from and i rolled them all. All of them rolled out a tiny bit, barely noticable to the eye... Infact the only way i could tell was by shining a light on the other side when rolling so i could see a difference in lighting. The one i picked probably only rolls out 1 or 2/1000. At the same time i was picking a second non predator shaft and they all rolled out too, just slightly though.
 
I have two 30" Predator shafts on two different cues. Both are several years old and both are straight.

I have heard from manufacturers that if a laminated shaft is going to warp, it tends to do so pretty quickly after being glued up - not like a solid maple shaft which will warp over a period of time and needs to be turned several times.


Chris
 
i purchased a predator a long time ago, that warped in 2 years. this perplexes me, because how can a shaft of that construction possibly warp?
 
My wife and I have/had 3 Predator shafts, her brother and father each have one of those all except my newest have been perfectly straight. All of the others are 2+yrs old, mine is 3 months old. It has a slight curve that I only notice when I down over a shot. The local cue guy said that the quality of the new Predators is not as it once was, but I don't know. The new one hits fine. Thats my 2cents.

dday
 
I got my predator shaft about a month and a half ago, and so far it is perfectly straight. My father purchased one 4 months ago and has not had any problems yet either.
 
I hate to break it to you but there's no such thing as a perfectly straight shaft. It sounds like you need to think more about the indian and less about the arrow.
 
oceanweb said:
I hate to break it to you but there's no such thing as a perfectly straight shaft. It sounds like you need to think more about the indian and less about the arrow.
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That arrow is $200. It better roll true. :D
 
Well, thanks everyone for the input. The consensus (some by P. M.) seems to be that the shipping conditions are probably responsible for my current plight. Its interesting that some posters think that there is no such thing as a straight shaft, and others think their own shafts are perfectly straight. Who is correct and who is wrong? Is it unreasonable to want and search for a perfectly straight shaft (my Predator break cue seems perfectly straight)????????? Please respond.
 
Williebetmore said:
Well, thanks everyone for the input. The consensus (some by P. M.) seems to be that the shipping conditions are probably responsible for my current plight. Its interesting that some posters think that there is no such thing as a straight shaft, and others think their own shafts are perfectly straight. Who is correct and who is wrong? Is it unreasonable to want and search for a perfectly straight shaft (my Predator break cue seems perfectly straight)????????? Please respond.
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I seriously doubt anyone has a perfectly straight cue shaft.
What perfectly straight measuring device would you use?
"Straight to your eye" or "No observable wobble" are about as close to perfectly straight as a cue shaft will get.
Is your stroke any straighter than your cue shaft??
 
Williebetmore said:
Well, thanks everyone for the input. The consensus (some by P. M.) seems to be that the shipping conditions are probably responsible for my current plight. Its interesting that some posters think that there is no such thing as a straight shaft, and others think their own shafts are perfectly straight. Who is correct and who is wrong? Is it unreasonable to want and search for a perfectly straight shaft (my Predator break cue seems perfectly straight)????????? Please respond.
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It all depends on what the tolerances are when you say "perfectly straight". If it is a picometer off is that not perfectly straight? Nanometer? Centimeter? It all depends on how nitpicky you want to get. I would venture to say most shafts you can see at least a tiny bit of light under it when you roll it slowly.

Just my $.02
 
Joseph Cues said:
That arrow is $200. It better roll true. :D
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I've sold hundreds of cues, and in my experience there are some people who can find "problems" with any cue out there. Most people have no idea how to accurately check a cue for straightness.
 
oceanweb said:
I've sold hundreds of cues, and in my experience there are some people who can find "problems" with any cue out there. Most people have no idea how to accurately check a cue for straightness.
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Ocean, How do you correctly check the straightness of a cue? I typically roll the shaft, butt and then the whole thing screwed together. Thanks in advance for the info.
 
Rackin_Zack said:
Ocean, How do you correctly check the straightness of a cue? I typically roll the shaft, butt and then the whole thing screwed together. Thanks in advance for the info.
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If you have a lathe that's one way, but for us people that do not....here's what you do.

Go to your nearest pool table with the cue assembled.
Lay the butt of the cue on the table bed, and lean it against a rail, so that the shaft is hanging over the edge of the table.
Probably best if the joint is right around the rail.

Make your stick perpendicular to the rail so that the shaft sticks straight out at a 90 degree angle.

Now just roll it back and forth and look at the tip.
If it is perfectly straight/true, you will see no wobble in the ferrule and tip. It will spin and it will look like your sliding the cue sideways instead of actually rolling it.
If the shaft is not true...you will notice the wobble in the tip and ferrule to varying degrees.
Probably surprise some of you how warped some of your shafts are when you thought they were straight.

SUPERSTAR
 
SUPERSTAR. Lay the butt of the cue on the table bed said:
That's fine as long as the facing on the joints are true. But what if it's not. Start seperately, then the final would be to roll it on the rail to check facing, I have seen cues where the butt is warped but the person claims it straight because it rolls on the rail, but rolling the butt on the table you could see the joint bounce up and down. I use both systems, Rackin Zack and Superstar combined.
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Your right. I am assuming that the facings joint perfectly. Guess the problem could happen on lathes as well when the facing doesn't match perfectly so it causes wobble.

good info to know.

thanks

SUPERSTAR
 
Michael Webb said:
SUPERSTAR. Lay the butt of the cue on the table bed said:
That's fine as long as the facing on the joints are true. But what if it's not. Start seperately, then the final would be to roll it on the rail to check facing, I have seen cues where the butt is warped but the person claims it straight because it rolls on the rail, but rolling the butt on the table you could see the joint bounce up and down. I use both systems, Rackin Zack and Superstar combined.
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All of this has been quite interesting and an eye opener when I tried this with all of my cues and shafts. What appears to roll smoothly and dead straight on the table bed when joined toghether, doesn't necessarily do that in the rail wobble test. I have 17 cues and only 3 of them are as pure as you could possibly get. There isn't even a trace of wobble at the tip or anywhere, separately or joined. They are 2 different Hercek's, and hold onto your hats for this one because it just might cause a coronary or two....a Meucci power piston with a red dot shaft. All of the black dots wobble like hell, but then so do a lot of my other cues...Joss, Schon, Falcon, Lucasi and more. The only other one that is real close to pure is a Helmstetter. I don't know that it matters because many times I like to play with a Schon and a Joss shaft combo that wobbles quite a bit but I shoot lights out with it.
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