BALABUSHKA CUE - On EBAY- " BELL-TAPERED SHAFTS ??????

Black-Balled said:
Probably sandpaper induced, I'd guess.

If you inferred George 'tapper-ed' it like that, that makes one of us.

I took it as the seller describing the taper, solely.
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It's a real thing BB. Doc Frye in the late 60's made shafts with ''bell tips." He would make two shafts for you and one would be a bell tip if you desired. The ferrules were fluted. I remember them vividly and knew of at least two guys that had them.

I have asked many if they ever heard of them and I never heard of anyone that has except for one cue maker, Dan Janes. I spoke to him about these tips and he was aware of them.

Gold Crown, who posts here grew up in Philly and still has a Doc Frye from those days. Maybe he can weigh in on this.
 
philly said:
It's a real thing BB. Doc Frye in the late 60's made shafts with ''bell tips." He would make two shafts for you and one would be a bell tip if you desired. The ferrules were fluted. I remember them vividly and knew of at least two guys that had them.

I have asked many if they ever heard of them and I never heard of anyone that has except for one cue maker, Dan Janes. I spoke to him about these tips and he was aware of them.

Gold Crown, who posts here grew up in Philly and still has a Doc Frye from those days. Maybe he can weigh in on this.
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Wow. That's weird. You'd think they'd be whippy as hell.
 
I have one of those shafts myself, but I don't a have a butt (McDermott, I think) to try it on. I've kept it all these years, now I think I will try it out.
 
garczar said:
Wow. That's weird. You'd think they'd be whippy as hell.
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The shaft thickness is the same as a normal shaft. The ferrule flutes out from where the ferrule is attached to the shaft and gradually widens up to the tip so the tip has a larger radius than normal.

Both guys I knew who had them were very accomplished players.
 
philly said:
It's a real thing BB. Doc Frye in the late 60's made shafts with ''bell tips." He would make two shafts for you and one would be a bell tip if you desired. The ferrules were fluted. I remember them vividly and knew of at least two guys that had them.



I have asked many if they ever heard of them and I never heard of anyone that has except for one cue maker, Dan Janes. I spoke to him about these tips and he was aware of them.



Gold Crown, who posts here grew up in Philly and still has a Doc Frye from those days. Maybe he can weigh in on this.
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There are rambow examples of the same as well as brunswicks . The belled tip isn’t the same thing the op is speaking of tho


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philly said:
The shaft thickness is the same as a normal shaft. The ferrule flutes out from where the ferrule is attached to the shaft and gradually widens up to the tip so the tip has a larger radius than normal.

Both guys I knew who had them were very accomplished players.
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That's not what's being hash'd out here. The ad for the 'bushka has bell-shaped shafts not ferrules. I've seen shafts get that way from sanding and i've never heard/seen of the bell ferrules you describe. What is the reasoning behind the bell ferrules?
 
garczar said:
That's not what's being hash'd out here. The ad for the 'bushka has bell-shaped shafts not ferrules. I've seen shafts get that way from sanding and i've never heard/seen of the bell ferrules you describe. What is the reasoning behind the bell ferrules?
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Gotta be for pepe who want thinner diameter shafts than ferrules...
 
garczar said:
That's not what's being hash'd out here. The ad for the 'bushka has bell-shaped shafts not ferrules. I've seen shafts get that way from sanding and i've never heard/seen of the bell ferrules you describe. What is the reasoning behind the bell ferrules?
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I imagine more tip on the cue ball. I am talking about 50 years ago even though it feels like yesterday.
As I have said before here, I took 43 years off from the game going to school, building a family, and a life. Only back in the game about 6 years but I remember those Doc Frye sticks with bell tips. I never hit one to my recollection.
 
One reason for a bell shaft that I heard is that on the forward stroke the shaft sort of releases in your (closed) bridge and moves more easily rather than binding as the stroke goes forward. Sort of like an extreme pro taper.

But I agree with the above that a lot of bell tapers were from hand sanding. It used to be that if you went to a tournament with a pocket full of #600 you would be the most popular guy there.
 
Bob Jewett said:
One reason for a bell shaft that I heard is that on the forward stroke the shaft sort of releases in your (closed) bridge and moves more easily rather than binding as the stroke goes forward. Sort of like an extreme pro taper.

But I agree with the above that a lot of bell tapers were from hand sanding. It used to be that if you went to a tournament with a pocket full of #600 you would be the most popular guy there.
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can't help but think of "COUNTRY CALVIN" working over his McDermott shafts
 
Bell tip shaft

Best player to use the "bell tip" shaft regularly was Cicero Murphy back in the 60's.
No sure if he played with a Balabushka...maybe.
 
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