Floaters vs. standards

Lazerrus

Lazerrus

I LUV CURLY MAPLE!!!!!
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Just curious what you all think. Now obviously this falls into what the cuemaker can do but as averages go what do you all prefer. Floating points or standard points. I am a big fan of floaters. I don't know why I just love them.:lovies:
 
I prefer to build structured points over floating. The floating points are only inlayed .150 into the forearm. Where a structure point is cut into the forearm almost to the center of it. The structured points will hit firmer than floating points.
 
Interesting Doug. Thanks. I didn't know the physics of them and now I do. I still love the appearance of floating points though.
 
I also like the appeareance of the floating pont too! When not over done. I am just a huge fan of vintage style cues though. Can't beat a 4 point cue with veneeers IMO.
 
My first custom cue was a Bobby Hunter. It had an ebony forearm with five floating BEM points. It was gorgeous! Bobby makes some killer floating point cues.
 
patrickcues said:
I also like the appeareance of the floating pont too! When not over done. I am just a huge fan of vintage style cues though. Can't beat a 4 point cue with veneeers IMO.
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I also love vintage style cues. They are sometimes labeled Hoppe styled when they have the ivory ring on the bottom. I have a old Titlist in my collection that is made from a gorgeous piece of Brazilian rosewood. I am not a good enough cue maker to convert this to a custom, but I would like a qualified cuesmith to evaluate it someday:)
 
Hi Lazerrus; if you check out my web site, you'll see that I like both, but cue #10 is my personal playing cue & happens to be the best playing cue I've ever made & I think it's one of the most beatiful. I believe in simple things...JER
 
I prefer standard points. I've always preferred old school to new school in most everything in life.
 
The funny thing is that some cue makers can inlay the points below the wrap and when they are done there is no difference to spliced points. I am referring to shallow pocket flat bottom points not v-groove points.

I can't comment on the playability. Frankly I couldn't tell much difference in my Scruggs with spliced points and my Scruggs without points.

As for decoration - it all depends on how it's done. To me Schon has some of the most beautiful and tasteful floating point designs ever done. What I really hate to see though is the BIG radius points. I mean something that looks like a 1/8" radius on the end of a slab. That really turns me off big time and I can't imagine anyone who thinks that such points, you can't even call them points - just blobs stuck into a cue, look good.
 
patrickcues said:
I prefer to build structured points over floating. The floating points are only inlayed .150 into the forearm. Where a structure point is cut into the forearm almost to the center of it. The structured points will hit firmer than floating points.
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Doug, because you're a cuemaker, you need to put "IMO." Because your words automatically have more weight to them as a trusted cuemaker (as opposed to a hack cuemaker of which we have enough on these boards).

As someone who has interviewed over 50 cuemakers for my articles, none of you guys agree on this, therefore, I can conclude that none of you are correct in your beliefs.

Two of the most competent engineers who happened to make cues (Spain and Schuler) completely were at different ends of the spectrum on this subject.

And then there's Ginacue.

Fred <~~~ IMO
 
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Lazerrus said:
Just curious what you all think. Now obviously this falls into what the cuemaker can do but as averages go what do you all prefer. Floating points or standard points. I am a big fan of floaters. I don't know why I just love them.:lovies:
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Either can look great. Either can look like dog $hit.

My two main shooting cues have spliced in points (Gilbert) and inlaid full points with floating point inlays (Schuler). The Schuler is the most solid cue I hit with.

Fred
 
Fred,

Thanks for your posts, you always bring an objective and eye opening insight to these threads!

You are right in that, even among the greatest cue makers ever, there is much disagreement about which method makes a cue hit good. So much so that you have to ask the question, "is it really the point construction method that makes the difference?".

I have always wondered if it was something else that we are just overlooking. The same goes with the different joint screws too. We have all heard the stories about covering the joints and asking people to tell what it was just by the way it hit. I actually did a little of this myself and the results surprised me.

It stands to reason that the future holds new things for cues, and maybe this will be one of the areas of change.


Royce Bunnell
www.obcues.com
 
As long as they're pointed, both floating and spliced points are ok. However, I tend to find myself favoring spliced more often. Very few makers (Cogs, Hunters) in my mind make an attractive and tasteful floating point cue.
But, I say again that if you're gonna make a floating point.................make sure to at least give them a chance by making them pointed!!
dave
 
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