Carbon sealer

[PracticeChampion]

I recently built a carbon shaft and have cleaned it multiple times with alcohol and soap/rag and it's occasionally leaving black streaks on the rail, so is there a sealer that can go on them or a better cleaner to stop that

 

[cueman]

I usually just clean carbon fiber shafts with water on the lathe then use cue wax on it.

 

[Floyd_M]

(I agree with cueman) Start with cue wax, if not then try what worked for me.
Car non-wax finishes that are clear going on & buff to a nice shine worked well and most of them you can layer up and add anytime in the future. Fairly easy to remove with Naphtha.

 

[Sheldon]

Another reason to avoid them. (for me)

 

[Floyd_M]

The thing about Carbon Shafts is one cannot hone down the shaft to make it 'pop' they way you like. It's nearly ruined if you do.
Personally I think Carbon Shafts is a FAD and will wane soon. Priced way to high for what you get... unless you accept it like a 'Silver Ghost' in the car world. Got it (to be different), flaunt it (cause of its high cost), can't park it. due to its high susceptibility for theft.
.
A friend got one a month ago, asked him how it's working out.
Shrugged his shoulders and only said 'It's OK'. I hit a ball with it and... ya, it's just OK.

 

[PracticeChampion]

I liked my old wood shaft just fine but it broke and in a quick jam I picked up a carbon fairly cheap. I later got a good wood shaft and tried going back but after several months using the carbon the color, feel, sound and use of glove was hard to get away from. No doubt eventually I'd over come it but its working for now

 

[Sheldon]

There are pros and cons to both! This is why it's great to have choices.

 

[GBCues]

From reading here, it would seem that many think all carbon shafts are the same.
They are not.
I prefer mine with a little flex to them, so yes, they are more like a maple shaft.
My 2 cents
Gary

 

[PracticeChampion]

From reading here, it would seem that many think all carbon shafts are the same.
They are not.
I prefer mine with a little flex to them, so yes, they are more like a maple shaft.
My 2 cents
Gary

You are correct. Before I ordered that one I looked around and there's alot of different thicknesses in both diameter and wall thickness, lengths and of course all kinds of different tapers so yeah they will all play a little different. Mine has a long taper so flexes pretty good compared to others

 

[Thunder Thighs]

Carbon shafts have been around for years now. It's a permanent material that will continue to be used for cues and shafts in the future, It is not a fad.

 

[whammo57]

carbon fiber... keil wood......... just fads....... no value added...... gimmicks that attract players that want magic instead of practice ................... stick with good old hard maple...............

Kim

 

[PracticeChampion]

carbon fiber... keil wood......... just fads....... no value added...... gimmicks that attract players that want magic instead of practice ................... stick with good old hard maple...............

Kim

The real advantage to carbon is it's always straight, smooth and no dings to worry about but other than that wood is cheaper, easier and cleaner to work with.

 

[Murray Tucker]

They are only straight as long as the mandrel they are built on is straight and the guy operating the finish sander is competent.

 

[BarenbruggeCues]

My biggest complaint with CF is finding a place that will make one to my spec and not theirs.
Most are entirely to stiff imo. Thinner wall with a different taper than most have would be a plus.
The problem is keeping them straight out of the oven and off the mandrel.

 

[Kim Bye]

My biggest complaint with CF is finding a place that will make one to my spec and not theirs.
Most are entirely to stiff imo. Thinner wall with a different taper than most have would be a plus.
The problem is keeping them straight out of the oven and off the mandrel.

You would have to pay for the mandrel(s) and the machining and I guess you would have to order a substantial number of shafts.
I Agree about the excessive wall thickness in most shafts and the bad QC after it's cured and removed from the mandrel. Whan buying CF tubes, the reject rate is similar to buying maple dowels, which is way to high, considering the cost of the CF tubes.

 

[Thunder Thighs]

carbon fiber... keil wood......... just fads....... no value added...... gimmicks that attract players that want magic instead of practice ................... stick with good old hard maple...............

Kim

 

[conetip]

The real advantage to carbon is it's always straight, smooth and no dings to worry about but other than that wood is cheaper, easier and cleaner to work with.

I don't know where you get the idea that it is always straight and stable and does not ding.

 

[PracticeChampion]

I don't know where you get the idea that it is always straight and stable and does not ding.

I've yet to see one that wasn't straight or was dinged. Of course they can break or be smashed but the standard dings I feel in wood isn't happening to the carbon shafts around me

 

[whammo57]

The real advantage to carbon is it's always straight, smooth and no dings to worry about but other than that wood is cheaper, easier and cleaner to work with.

true

 

[boogieman]

carbon fiber... keil wood......... just fads....... no value added...... gimmicks that attract players that want magic instead of practice ................... stick with good old hard maple...............

Kim

One hidden advantage of keilwood, it vastly helps stabilize the new maple that should never be used for pool shafts. You can take a piece of maple that would have been rejected in the past (slight twists in the grain, wide grain pattern, sugar spots, light weight. etc.) and make a good playing shaft out of it.

It has more deflection due to weight, but you really can't beat the playing characteristics of good rock hard maple. It's just getting harder and harder to find good maple anymore. If you can take today's crappy maple and make it play good without warping and just happen to get lower deflection out of it as a byproduct of the drying process, that's a good thing.