Does a Short Ferrule really make a differnce

[JC]

Why the short ferrule? Does it play any different than a longer one? Maybe to wine tasting fly fishermen , not to me.

So why use a short or long?

You can tell which cue makers buy their ferrules pre made because they are long. That's how they are sold but not quite long enough to make two out of or they would. People who buy the material in rod form tend to make them shorter. Why? Because pool cue makers are pool players and pool players are as cheap as humans come. If there is no playing advantage to a long ferrule why would you burn a foot of material to make a dozen of them when you could make 20 with the same rod? Now if longer was really better the money would be spent but waste not, want not. Hell we even have people trying to eliminate the ferrule altogether now and convince us it's great. These people buy their seasoned wood on installments one stick at a time from other cue builders but only after a buyer has laid down a deposit.

You guys can debate all you want and pretend it's science, but only Johnny will tell you the dirty little truth.

Occam's razor coming down in three part harmony.

 

[hang-the-9]

Why the short ferrule? Does it play any different than a longer one? Maybe to wine tasting fly fishermen , not to me.

So why use a short or long?

You can tell which cue makers buy their ferrules pre made because they are long. That's how they are sold but not quite long enough to make two out of or they would. People who buy the material in rod form tend to make them shorter. Why? Because pool cue makers are pool players and pool players are as cheap as humans come. If there is no playing advantage to a long ferrule why would you burn a foot of material to make a dozen of them when you could make 20 with the same rod? Now if longer was really better the money would be spent but waste not, want not. Hell we even have people trying to eliminate the ferrule altogether now and convince us it's great. These people buy their seasoned wood on installments one stick at a time from other cue builders but only after a buyer has laid down a deposit.

You guys can debate all you want and pretend it's science, but only Johnny will tell you the dirty little truth.

Occam's razor coming down in three part harmony.

It's not a debate or pretend, it's a fact, what causes deflection and what causes less of it in shafts is known and established as much as what causes disease. It's not some voodoo secret god, people can make a shaft and depending on how it's built it will react differently. Smaller ferrules end up with less deflection unless you do some fancy hollowing out of the tip area. It's easy to test, easy to re-create and consistent. No pretending there, it's built, it's tested, there are documented results anyone can re-create.

 

[LWW]

The heavier the weight at the end of the cue, the more deflection you get. Most ferrules are made of something heavier than the wood that was taken off the cue in order to install the ferrule.

Shorter = lighter
Lighter = less deflection

BINGO BANGO BONGO!

That's it in a nutshell, however the lightness is obtained be it a shorter or a thinner ferrule ... or both.

It's simple physics that the less mass at the end ... which is where the most deviation of movement will occur ... the more deflection there is and the more amplification of stroke error there is. Even a lighter weight tip makes some difference.

Don't anyone say it please, everyone's stroke deviates from perfection.

It's kind of like the automakers going to everything using alloy wheels. Style is more easily obtained with steel wheels and a wheel cover, but when fuel prices started rising it was easy to pick up mileage by reducing unsprung weight at all four corners ... after all, the wheel/tire combo is the only thing that actually rolls. Shorter sidewall tires impact is amplified because it is at the far end of the wheel/tire combo, and racers even shave most to all of the tread off to reduce the overall wheel/tire weight and increase road adhesion.

Now, whether someone likes the feel and hit of a tin shaft with a short ferrule and light tip is all subject to personal taste ... but the difference is real.