Do Shafts Wear Out?

D

desmocourtney

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It seems as though after playing with a cue for two or three years some shafts loose a degree of their stiffness. I seem to notice an unlaminated break shaft will make fewer balls than when it was new and a regular playing shaft will play softer than when it was new. No I don't sand them.

Do you notice this or is it just me?

Courtney
 
i have had a similar experience with my Predator 314-2 shaft i used one for about a year and then last week it broke and now has a rattle when hit against you hand, so i bought a new one and it played completely different, i hated it it felt completely different.

I had to re-adjust alot of shots and re-learn how much spin to use and it seems to deflect slightly more than my old Predator with the same tip.
I even started using the old shaft as i couldn't play well with the new one..but i have got used to it now...i think the shaft needed hitting in a bit.
 
desmocourtney said:
It seems as though after playing with a cue for two or three years some shafts loose a degree of their stiffness. I seem to notice an unlaminated break shaft will make fewer balls than when it was new and a regular playing shaft will play softer than when it was new. No I don't sand them.

Do you notice this or is it just me?

Courtney
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oh my!!!
wait till joey in cali sees this one!!!! :D
i leave the comedy to him on this thread
 
Shaft happens

There is an old story about Luther Lassiter ordering another set of shafts for his Rambow. He sent the old shafts back to Herman and ordered that the new shafts be made "exactly like these". Herman wrote him back and asked him if he really wanted 11 1/4 mm shafts. Seems that sanding and playing had reduced the shafts considerably over the years. Lassiter changed the order to 13mm shafts.
 
The wood gets better with age, as the Cowboy mentioned. The key is to maintain it without cleaning it with harsh chemicals or water, and to avoid sanding it. When you sand a shaft, not only does it get smaller over time, its size becomes different throughout the taper, due to uneven sanding, so the taper is actually changed, or totally destroyed.

Joe
 
it could be that the material is from a fairly young tree. wood strains are made up of tiny cells, cells with walls consisting primarily of bor, and they are hollow. the thicker the walls, the more bor, and the more bor the stronger and harder wood. too young hardwood won't have enough bor (it is a mineral litterally being sucked up from the roots and this takes a long time) it will seem strong and stiff but will wear down. i don't know if this is the reason cue makers talk old strain wood, but it should be.
 
..There is one Multiple World Champion who says they wont play with a Predator because it wears out in 6 months and they dont want to have to get used to a new shaft that often.
 
Predators do change over time in my experience. They seem to lose a bit of the stiffness that they have when new. I myself seem to play better with a "broken in" predator shaft vs. brand new. That may be because I've only had 3 predator shafts over 11 years though.
 
WesleyW said:
I've heard many saying the Predator will wear out after a while.
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I knew there was a reason I miss! I've been thinking it was my table, but when I go to the pool room the same thing happens! It's gotta be the shaft!:D
 
9 on the snap said:
I knew there was a reason I miss! I've been thinking it was my table, but when I go to the pool room the same thing happens! It's gotta be the shaft!:D
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One would think, if your that perceptive about conditions etc. your well on your way to Efren enlightenment.
 
Even if you don't sand a shaft, it can still "wear out" through use. I play with a guy who is an ironworker whose hands are as rough as sandpaper. His shaft wears considerably faster than anyone else I've ever seen.
 
Island Drive said:
One would think, if your that perceptive about conditions etc. your well on your way to Efren enlightenment.
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One would think, but sadley that's not the case. Unless Efren's game has taken quite a slide as of late.:D
 
It could be that those who are perceiving that their shafts are 'less stiff' over time is actually not less stiffness, but more resonance, ie; 'feel'.

Just like the wood in acoustic guitars, the more it it used or played, the more the wood 'opens up'. By 'opening up', they mean more vibrations are transmitted, therefore, more resonance.

Knowingly or not...the more you play with a shaft, of the solid maple variety, the more you are 'training' that shaft to your true playing style. Just like you unknowingly train your tip to your true playing style...if it is going flat, you are playing more center ball than you may think.

One needs to pay attention to what your equipment is trying to tell you.

Lisa <====could be just talking out my a$$. :rolleyes: :p
 
My shaft always wears out after too much use;) Just couldnt help it. Seriously though, ive never played with a predator long enough to tell so I wouldnt know. but my maple shafts play better over time and I mean at least 2 years of playing.
 
ridewiththewind said:
It could be that those who are perceiving that their shafts are 'less stiff' over time is actually not less stiffness, but more resonance, ie; 'feel'.

Just like the wood in acoustic guitars, the more it it used or played, the more the wood 'opens up'. By 'opening up', they mean more vibrations are transmitted, therefore, more resonance.

Knowingly or not...the more you play with a shaft, of the solid maple variety, the more you are 'training' that shaft to your true playing style. Just like you unknowingly train your tip to your true playing style...if it is going flat, you are playing more center ball than you may think.

One needs to pay attention to what your equipment is trying to tell you.

Lisa <====could be just talking out my a$$. :rolleyes: :p
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I try not to pay attention to what the equipment says, because usually it's something spiteful like: YOU SUCK!:eek:
 
I think shafts break down and change

Baseball bats are made out of maple and ash also. Ash in particular has a comparatively short life because the cell walls break down and the ball doesn't get the same pop off of the bat.

I'm reasonably certain that the same thing happens in a cue shaft. The real question is this: Once the cell walls in the cue shaft break down, is the shaft bad or just broken in? Some people change shafts seemingly constantly and some play with one shaft seemingly forever.

Hu
 
Paul Huebler used to say about 100 hrs break in time for anyshaft in the 70's. It was the same for Jim Mcdermott and Joss West. Hard french Champs were popular tips. If you and your repair guy take care shafts will last almost forever. It is abuse and sanding and wetting the cue that make it different. It is the foam core inside of the preditor (shaft) that changes density. (most recent find mcdermott ? 70-80 shafts Ivory ferrules, never hit a ball or played with mine 12.5 or 12.75.Plus I have 15 b-model shafts unplayed, 2-schon elite shafts,unplayed. It is all about the wood.
 
desmocourtney said:
It seems as though after playing with a cue for two or three years some shafts loose a degree of their stiffness. I seem to notice an unlaminated break shaft will make fewer balls than when it was new and a regular playing shaft will play softer than when it was new. No I don't sand them.

Do you notice this or is it just me?

Courtney
Click to expand...

I use a 15yr old Joss shaft that was original on my cue, it feels the same if not firmer than new.
 
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