Collectable Wood shafts?

PickPocket

PickPocket

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does anyone Collect Wood Shafts? Like what shafts would be desirable by themselves?

Perhaps stuff that was made well, but isn't made anymore for one reason or another etc.

Just talking Wood, but all variations considered.
Performance, Vintage, Standard etc.

Predator Pre-cats, Universal, True Shaft?

Thoughts?
 
PickPocket said:
Does anyone Collect Wood Shafts? Like what shafts would be desirable by themselves?

Perhaps stuff that was made well, but isn't made anymore for one reason or another etc.

Just talking Wood, but all variations considered.
Performance, Vintage, Standard etc.

Predator Pre-cats, Universal, True Shaft?

Thoughts?
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Funny you should ask.

I have a number of them.

I have a number of brand new Brunswick Hoppe cue shafts. Real NOS. Grabbed them for cheap years ago.

Also a variety of others. Nothing Predator, Universal or any kind of "engineered shaft", not a single one.

Side note: I only have one cue with a laminated shaft and that is an old Dufferin sneaky. I have no idea how rare that might be but it is original.

All "vintage" and/or major makers like McDemott, Joss, Meucci (old Meucci before they laminated), Adam, and some that are just really nice old wood but unknown. A few matched pair unknowns with custom ring work. The really good wood is simply harder to get.

Do I "collect" them? I guess so. What for? Over the years I have paired a few with cues. I also have the notion to use them with various different projects like conversions.

I don't know how many I have.
 
I used to have a shaft collecting habit.

I still do, but I used to too.
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Zerksies said:
People collect anything. I mean i've never heard anyone specifically collecting shafts, but i am sure enough people have so many shafts it would be considered collecting.
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Yeah...

I don't "collect" shafts. But I guess I have a collection of shafts.

I have talked to others that do the same.
 
What's the alternative? No way I am going to throw them in the garbage or assign them to the garden. The problem, I think, is one of identification. Out of need/demand, a science, or rather an art, of identifying cue butts has developed. Not so for shafts alone, probably due to a lack of demand or need. A system of classifying shafts would likely involve development and proving of a data base and index of sorts -- plug in certain parameters and the answer is x or the possibilities are x, y, or z. Perhaps technology will provide the way.
 
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I have a bunch of wooden shafts, every cue that I have has one or two original shafts that are mostly only test hit, I’ve always had a Predator shaft fitted to my cues.
 
Personally - for me, old original, reasonably straight and smooth shafts from Brunswick pre 1960, any Rambow, Balabushka, Szamboti (Gus) would be of interest in terms of owning.
I will add to this cues, including shafts owned and played by historic great players from the 1920s thru the 1990s - after that you get into laminated wood or CF- which I have no interest in collecting.
 
mikemosconi said:
Personally - for me, old original, reasonably straight and smooth shafts from Brunswick pre 1960, any Rambow, Balabushka, Szamboti (Gus) would be of interest in terms of owning.
I will add to this cues, including shafts owned and played by historic great players from the 1920s thru the 1990s - after that you get into laminated wood or CF- which I have no interest in collecting.
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Agree with that. I would also add that if you have early Joss, Scruggs, or other well-known makers shafts that are straight and not too thin, those are collectible too. Part of the reason is these good shafts were made before the release of The Color of Money, which made demand for maple so high, the trees were likely cut sooner than they should have been. In fact, I'm sure of that, because like all of us have seen, many shafts made afterwards were light and absorbed chalk much easier than the older shafts.
 
My original thought was more or less that by owning particular makers shafts, even played on a different butt, the age, ferrule material etc that may not be available anymore. Would give you a good idea of how it would have felt when playing.

I've hit some with some shafts that definitely stood out from others. Got my attention enough to look into that maker more.
 
In other words, upload either scaled photos of joint and ferrule or accurate measurements of each element, plus other info, to a website, and, within a few hours, you receive positive ID, list of possibilities (scored), or request for additional information. AZ Techies -- Is this possible?
 
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