Ebony. . .shaft?

plshrk22

A Holes Billiards
Silver Member
Well, if a cheap carbon Cuetec has a hoppe ring, and silver railroad ringwork at the joint(and maybe above and below a leather wrap, if I go that route). . .then sure. :)


I was just stating my opinion. And I am sure Cuetec has one that looks just as you described :D.
 

TexasLawDog

Registered
Don't be too hash on me but you're looking for a very solid yet light weight shaft for breaking only right?

T6051 Aluminum in a 2" solid bar stock is $120. Machine it to your specs, then you have a shaft with no play no flex, yet light weight.

Get it either anodized or powder coated black matte or gloss.
 

Cue Guru

Close, but no roll...
Silver Member
Interesting idea there TLD.

I think it wold be heavier than the ebony however.

<-----Has seen aluminum guitars... HEAVY
 

TexasLawDog

Registered
Interesting idea there TLD.

I think it wold be heavier than the ebony however.

<-----Has seen aluminum guitars... HEAVY

Well for some weight saving you could mill out a cone shape mid way through the shaft, so you have a light weight yet still heavier, but structually sound shaft.
 

TexasLawDog

Registered
Aluminum is about three times as heavy as ebony.

Machining the aluminum will take much longer than machining ebony, will probably cost about $400 before it is done.

So you'll have an extremely heavy shaft that plays like garbage and costs a ton of money.

dld

Well that's where on aluminum, you could get away with boring out the inside of the shaft and still be a more solid of a shaft, yet weigh as much.

I don't think this guy really cares on the play part cause it will be a shaft for breaking only.

Now that I think of it I will have to find a cue maker willing to try it out!
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
I was on the thought you were referring to wanting a black shaft. Am I off on that thought? I might have missed what you were referring to in your post.

I think maple shafts break fine.
I really don't know why one would want a black shaft.
I suppose you can have maple acrylic-impregnated to grey.
 

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
It can be done. One of the makers on AZ ebonizes forearms and handles frequently. I might be wrong but I believe he uses India ink.
That or someone knowledgeable at the paint store would be able to help you with the proper stain.
 

Cue Guru

Close, but no roll...
Silver Member
India ink and/or Ebony stain work well under a clear finish.. For a shaft, I don't know...
 

Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
You're right Jim. I have a couple of shafts that have a light finish of thin CA
on them. Thats what I was thinking when I suggested the ink.
The CA finish on a shaft works great. I've experimented with the India ink and it does leave a dull matte finish on wood, so it would need to be cleared.
 

Spyral7

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I think maple shafts break fine.
I really don't know why one would want a black shaft.
I suppose you can have maple acrylic-impregnated to grey.

I agree that Maple shafts break great, I have nothing against them at all. I've never even broke with a PH shaft.

It was more from an Aesthetic standpoint that I wanted a black shaft, and since Ebony is already a black wood it seemed the most logical.

TLD, if you find someone to make one for you, let me know how it turns out. I was really wanting to stick to wood, which is why my original thought was ebony.

Thanks everyone for the input, and more discussion is encouraged.

I know it's not the MOST original idea or anything, I have just always enjoyed ebony cues, and thought it would be an interesting twist to have a shaft that matched the black on the butt of a cue. And a break cue just seemed the most logical place to use it.
 

TexasLawDog

Registered
I agree that Maple shafts break great, I have nothing against them at all. I've never even broke with a PH shaft.

It was more from an Aesthetic standpoint that I wanted a black shaft, and since Ebony is already a black wood it seemed the most logical.

TLD, if you find someone to make one for you, let me know how it turns out. I was really wanting to stick to wood, which is why my original thought was ebony.

Thanks everyone for the input, and more discussion is encouraged.

I know it's not the MOST original idea or anything, I have just always enjoyed ebony cues, and thought it would be an interesting twist to have a shaft that matched the black on the butt of a cue. And a break cue just seemed the most logical place to use it.


I'm already on the hunt, if I can work up something and get a prototype made I'll let you be the first to try it (other than me :grin:).
 

cannon9313

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Imo i would use the whitest clearest maple i could get and dye it. It takes color the best. Any waves or birdeyes will contrast the color. I worked for breedlove custom guitars for a few years a while back in there finish department. One of my jobs was to stain the electric guitar tops. Most of them were a clear maple or curly maple.

One day we have a custom order come in for a d25 master class that had a stained maple back and sides (red). We had some issues since this color leached thru the wood so parts of it could be seen thru the sound hole on the inside of the body. Looked tacky as hell. But the point is the dye went thru about 1/2 inch of maple.

I would think you would have more problem keeping chalk out of the shaft than anything else going this route. I really believe PH wouldn't take the color as well as a maple, and personally wouldn't waist my time trying it. As for the aluminum, i have a spun aluminum one piece cue thats hollow made back in the 70's. It has a 12mm tip and conical taper like a bar cue. It hits so poorly it is my granny stick with batwing on it. The deflection was horrible with this cue.

If your just looking for something different you could have a cue maker splice some ebony in the shaft close to the joint so you have a custom shaft that flows with your ebony butt. But i wouldn't use very much since it is almost double the weight of maple. Gl and have fun :thumbup:
 

ridinda9

AKA: Sandy Bagger
Silver Member
Don't be too hash on me but you're looking for a very solid yet light weight shaft for breaking only right?

T6051 Aluminum in a 2" solid bar stock is $120. Machine it to your specs, then you have a shaft with no play no flex, yet light weight.

Get it either anodized or powder coated black matte or gloss.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5026702&findingMethod=rr#Item+Description
Or , you could simply BUY an aluminum shaft , have it anodized black , and have it fitted to the custom butt you're describing.

Aluminum cues were a big fad back in the 70's . .
.
Until people felt the hit !
Vibrates like a basterd !

might not matter to you on a break cue , though . . .
 

Spyral7

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I get you there rdinda, but I was going for something a bit more unique then that. I just didn't know if it was possible to make an ebony shaft or not.

Seems to me concensus is that the best thing to do would actually be to dye a maple/PH shaft and take it from there. I will just have to ask around when I come to the point where I want it made, and find out who would want to do it.
 

poolfool1957

I know the pieces fit
Silver Member
How do you like this? I too have a thing for black!

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=199385

I took it out and played for about 2 hours yesterday and really liked the way it shot.
As far as doing an ebony break shaft....I wouldn't recommend it. You may find it to be too brittle for true power breaks.
I am currently doing a dedicated break cue for a customer who also wanted all black to match his shooting cue. We went with a Purpleheart butt and shaft that will be stained black with the buttcap and all joint collars in a brown canvas phenolic. The beauty of this is that he gets the purpleheart shaft he wants (I sold one of our TNT jump/breaks with a purpleheart shaft to a friend of his and he tried it and loved it) and because its already a dark wood the fact that at some point the stain will wear off wont be that big a factor. When it begins to wear off you would still have to look pretty hard to notice it's actually purple.
If you have an interest in the shooter let me know. If you want us to build you a breaker we can certainly do that. Just look up my postings for the TNT cues we sell.
 

Shaft

Hooked and Improving
Silver Member
Not to the point of your original question, but I have a predominately black butt with a padouk (fiery ORANGE-RED) shaft custom-built by cuemaker Bill Mitchell.

I like this shaft a lot, but it looks very unconventional. I don't care.
 
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