Hey Folks,
I recently started shooting again after a 2 year hiatus. I was shooting previously with a pred 314-2 for about 5 years so I was well adjusted to low a deflection shaft. I shot well with the 314-2 but never really enjoyed shooting with it. I also tried pred z2, ob 1, ob classic, lucasi hybrid and Mezz wd700. I shot well with all of them, but I just didn't enjoy the experience all that much compared to the old cheap but solid sneaky pete I started shooting with 20 yrs ago.
Restarting again after a long break, I thought I would try something different. I picked up a cue with a 11mm conical taper shaft. It's a solid shaft with a 5/8 fiber ferrule.
Interestingly enough, I really didn't have to consciously adjust my aim at all when using english. In other words, aiming with english was pretty similar to aiming with the 314-2 that I'm used to.
I expected low deflection properties with a small tip (i.e lower end mass) but I thought I would take some measurements and compare it to a standard shaft.
Here's what I came up with:
Diameter at tip: 10.88mm
Diameter at 5 inch mark (127mm): 12.38mm
A shaft with a conical taper is basically a conical frustum (a cone with the top chopped off). using the volume calculator here: http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-solids/conicalfrustum.php, i came up with a volume of 13510mm3.
to compare it with a standard pro taper shaft (13mm)
diameter at tip: 13mm
diameter at 5 inch mark (127mm): 13mm (yes, i'm assuming that a pro taper is a cylinder for the first 5 inches. I think for most shafts that I've measured there's a tiny increase in diameter so not quite a cylinder but I think it's close enough for approximation). Volume = 16857mm3
Going from the 13mm shaft to the 10.88mm shaft, there's a decrease in volume of 19.86% in the first 5 inches. (i.e. = ((13510 - 16857) / |16857|) * 100).
Since Mass = Density x Volume. It should be just shy of a 20% decrease in end mass. I would love to be able to compare this with a 314-2 or the like but chopping up one of those shafts in order to measure could be a costly endeavor!
Note: I am not an engineer or a scientist, just a pool player. Also to note, I think my measurements are bit biased towards showing a smaller % change. Namely:
- Most 13mm shafts have a 1 inch ferrule (and since the material is usually denser than maple...)
- With the conical taper, the largest % difference is measured closest the to the tip. If I chose to measure the difference over a 4 inch or 3 inch span the percentage would be higher. )
All that said, it's really nice to shoot with a solid shaft that happens to be low deflection. The smaller tip hasn't bothered me at all and the shaft is in no way whippy with the conical taper.
I recently started shooting again after a 2 year hiatus. I was shooting previously with a pred 314-2 for about 5 years so I was well adjusted to low a deflection shaft. I shot well with the 314-2 but never really enjoyed shooting with it. I also tried pred z2, ob 1, ob classic, lucasi hybrid and Mezz wd700. I shot well with all of them, but I just didn't enjoy the experience all that much compared to the old cheap but solid sneaky pete I started shooting with 20 yrs ago.
Restarting again after a long break, I thought I would try something different. I picked up a cue with a 11mm conical taper shaft. It's a solid shaft with a 5/8 fiber ferrule.
Interestingly enough, I really didn't have to consciously adjust my aim at all when using english. In other words, aiming with english was pretty similar to aiming with the 314-2 that I'm used to.
I expected low deflection properties with a small tip (i.e lower end mass) but I thought I would take some measurements and compare it to a standard shaft.
Here's what I came up with:
Diameter at tip: 10.88mm
Diameter at 5 inch mark (127mm): 12.38mm
A shaft with a conical taper is basically a conical frustum (a cone with the top chopped off). using the volume calculator here: http://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/geometry-solids/conicalfrustum.php, i came up with a volume of 13510mm3.
to compare it with a standard pro taper shaft (13mm)
diameter at tip: 13mm
diameter at 5 inch mark (127mm): 13mm (yes, i'm assuming that a pro taper is a cylinder for the first 5 inches. I think for most shafts that I've measured there's a tiny increase in diameter so not quite a cylinder but I think it's close enough for approximation). Volume = 16857mm3
Going from the 13mm shaft to the 10.88mm shaft, there's a decrease in volume of 19.86% in the first 5 inches. (i.e. = ((13510 - 16857) / |16857|) * 100).
Since Mass = Density x Volume. It should be just shy of a 20% decrease in end mass. I would love to be able to compare this with a 314-2 or the like but chopping up one of those shafts in order to measure could be a costly endeavor!
Note: I am not an engineer or a scientist, just a pool player. Also to note, I think my measurements are bit biased towards showing a smaller % change. Namely:
- Most 13mm shafts have a 1 inch ferrule (and since the material is usually denser than maple...)
- With the conical taper, the largest % difference is measured closest the to the tip. If I chose to measure the difference over a 4 inch or 3 inch span the percentage would be higher. )
All that said, it's really nice to shoot with a solid shaft that happens to be low deflection. The smaller tip hasn't bothered me at all and the shaft is in no way whippy with the conical taper.
