cue wood question

asianevil

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I prefer a softer hit with my cue....

Please excuse the elementary questions about cue-making, not well-versed with it.

Which woods have a softer hit?
What part of the cue-making process would make the cue hit softer?

Thanks
AE
 
I prefer a softer hit with my cue....

Please excuse the elementary questions about cue-making, not well-versed with it.

Which woods have a softer hit?
What part of the cue-making process would make the cue hit softer?

Thanks
AE

You can get as 'softer' hit from a flat-faced, big pin joint....than say from a SS piloted joint. JMHO.
 
You can get as 'softer' hit from a flat-faced, big pin joint....than say from a SS piloted joint. JMHO.

haha...............

many would disagree with you..............

I believe a SS joint gives a softer hit than a wood to wood moint..................

A lot of the feel of a soft hit can be found in the ferrule and tip selection....

Kim
 
well my experience and preference for a softer hit on my current cues are:
BEM with wood to wood joint,
Ivory Ferrules do have a softer hit but I have declined to play with anything ivory in this day and age.

I've played with:
Ebony and its too hard.
Cocobolo and its a bit harder than BEM
 
I prefer a softer hit with my cue....

Please excuse the elementary questions about cue-making, not well-versed with it.

Which woods have a softer hit?
What part of the cue-making process would make the cue hit softer?

Thanks
AE


4 aspects determine how soft/hard a cue hits; in order of importance, they are: 1) tip & ferrule, 2) joint material & mass, 3) major wooden components of the butt, and 4) weight bolt & bumper. Of those four aspects, only the tip composition measurably involves the quality of "compressibility", and therefore directly incorporates the physical quality of soft vs. hard "hit".

The other things (ferrule, joint material & mass, butt wood, and weight bolt & bumper) affect how the cue transmits (and releases) sound waves, and therefore how we perceive the relative "softness" of the hit.

TW
 
Thomas, what are your thoughts on shaft taper? Shouldn't that factor in at about 1.5?

"Hit" = the senses of feel and sound of a cue as it hits the cueball. Both of these are analyzed by our mental interpretations of the sound waves produced; the "sound" [we hear] is the result of those waves traveling through the air and the "feel" we sense is the result of those waves traveling through the solid material of the cue.

Shaft taper, in and of itself, should have relatively little affect on the "hit" perceived, since the vast majority of shafts are all made of similar material (hard maple). Of course each piece of shaft wood may have a slightly different density, and some are even made of woods other than hard maple. Any difference caused by those variations (i.e., wood density and species) is not a result of the taper itself.

As with any rule there are bound to be exceptions. If a shaft has a taper that falls outside of what we might think of as the "norm" - for example if it is very thick or very thin it may affect how the sound wave travels due to extremes in mass and flexibility. However, extreme variations from the normal taper will have a far greater effect on how the cue plays than just its perceived "hit".

TW
 
From experience, taking woods,the joint and construction into account, Ive changed the tip and ferrule on a cue with softer materials to a harder ferrule/tip and it made a big difference in feel. Everything put together makes a cue "feel" or "hit" harder or softer, but IMHO the tip and ferrule makes a big difference.
 
ivory ferrules

I'm surprised you think ivory ferrule hits soft.

My experience pertains to probably 7-8 cues in my lifetime.

I played with a BEM TAD cue for over 10 years, two shafts with ivory ferrules. I recently played with Coker, Josey, Gilbert and settled with a Carmeli over last year. None of which have an ivory ferrule. And none of which played as soft as the TAD. Again I not well versed on cue-making, hence this posting.

If I'm wrong about the ivory ferrules, then I'm looking for an education. The combination of BEM and ivory ferrule was the softest hit that I've found on a cue. Tho I see through the comments of the above posters that it might other factors that contributed to this "softness".
 
Ivory is the exact opposite of a soft feeling hit.
Maple hits soft and is easy to come by.
Softer tip and then softer plastic ferrules and softer plastic joints will be the next steps in achieving a softer hitting cue.
 
My experience pertains to probably 7-8 cues in my lifetime.

I played with a BEM TAD cue for over 10 years, two shafts with ivory ferrules. I recently played with Coker, Josey, Gilbert and settled with a Carmeli over last year. None of which have an ivory ferrule. And none of which played as soft as the TAD. Again I not well versed on cue-making, hence this posting.

If I'm wrong about the ivory ferrules, then I'm looking for an education. The combination of BEM and ivory ferrule was the softest hit that I've found on a cue. Tho I see through the comments of the above posters that it might other factors that contributed to this "softness".
i dont mean to hijack the thread so a pm reply is ok too
but my question to you is
why would you change your tad to another cue??
 
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