Free Predator Shaft?

schmizz

schmizz

Mr. Nice Guy
Silver Member
Okay, here's a weird one. I recently bought a Predator Cue Case and when I open it up to my surprise, there is a shaft in a plastic bag inside the case. It is not a finished shaft, but does have a ferrule and a very short, but unused tip on it.
At first I thought maybe it was a cheap piece of wood they put in there for marketing purposes or something, but that makes no sense to me. Then I thought maybe this is a 314 or z blank shaft, but when I looked them up, they had a smoother look to them and the joint area is different looking, but it could be.
This shaft has no markings, except for some imprints in the joint area. Could this be a good blank shaft that someone at the factory put in by mistake? Can anyone explain this greatest of mystery's to me? It would be sweet if I had a free $200 shaft! here are some pics.

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I think JoeyA said Efren plays with a shaft like that. Keep it, it may help you play at the Efren level if you learn to use it correctly.
 
a lot of cases come with a blank shaft in them. usually a crappy piece of wood but with a tip and ferrule.
not usually a desirable shaft blank. i recently got a case with a radially spliced shaft blank with an everest tip.
its about 2 inches shorter than a regular shaft though.
looks like a predator blank that was cut to thin (12.05) or possibly ring work was messed up and the shaft was just scrapped.
 
your first thought is correct.

It is not a predator shaft for a fact for several reasons:
it is not laminated
the tip and ferrule isnt right
the quality of wood is below that even for predator

My thought is that whomever you bought it from just wanted that shaft gone.
 
I was thinking that, but just couldn't figure out why they would put it in the case.
 
Your first thought was correct, it's a cheap piece of wood shaped like a shaft.
Ramin wood to be specific.
To your second thought, no it's not a Predator partial. Again, it's a piece of Ramin wood.
The reason it's in there in the first place is because of duties/fees paid on the case.
If the case is shipped empty, it's charged at a higher rate because it's the intended product.
If the case is used to ship a shaft or something else that would fit in there, it's
charged at a much lower rate.
Your Ramin wood shaft is cheaper than the difference btwn the two rates.
Think of it like this. You don't pay duty on the cardboard box that's used when you ship something,
just the value of it's contents. In this case, a $2 shaft.
It's about working the system. May not be ethical but it's legal.
 
similar experience

I bought a 3x6 cue case in the mid-summer of 2011,, to my suprise there was a unfinished cue shaft inside,,
it also was in plastic and was very rough to the feel,and included a ferrule and a lepro tip..
I sanded it down abit, then buffed it out ,,it was fairly smooth compared to how it was at 1st..

I then bored out a 3/8x10 joint,, I attached it to my cheap mcdermott,,and began to shoot with it ..
I got the my 4th shot with it, this shot had required slight side spin ,
so I chalked it up and and proceeded with my routine warm up stroke, then shot the q-ball..
Next thing I knew,, the shaft was laying on the table,,and my cue butt was still in my hand..
It had cracked at the joint,and flew right off the pin,, I picked the shaft up off the table and looked at it,
and I noticed it was also cracked by the ferrule a good 3inches down the shaft..
I was p*ssed after I took that time to sand, buff,and bore it out, only to see it busted like that..
It had actually had a good stiff hit them 1st 3 shots ,I guess it just wasnt meant to be ..:D
 
Last edited:
Yeah ,, there were quite a few people there getting laughs in,,
at that particular point I didnt find it to amusing :angry:,,
but looking back on it,, it was a funny incident.....:lol:
 
KJ Cues said:
Your first thought was correct, it's a cheap piece of wood shaped like a shaft.
Ramin wood to be specific.
To your second thought, no it's not a Predator partial. Again, it's a piece of Ramin wood.
The reason it's in there in the first place is because of duties/fees paid on the case.
If the case is shipped empty, it's charged at a higher rate because it's the intended product.
If the case is used to ship a shaft or something else that would fit in there, it's
charged at a much lower rate.
Your Ramin wood shaft is cheaper than the difference btwn the two rates.
Think of it like this. You don't pay duty on the cardboard box that's used when you ship something,
just the value of it's contents. In this case, a $2 shaft.
It's about working the system. May not be ethical but it's legal.
Click to expand...

Exactly correct on all points. When I used to work at Billiards & Sports we would get these kinds of shafts with certain cue cases that we orderd in bulk for store stock. And it was for the very reason mentioned above. Ramin wood shafts are absolutely worthless. The best thing that can done with them is to use them for kindling wood.
 
When a company ships a product from overseas to the U.S. a tariff or tax is paid. It costs more in this tax to ship a pool bag than it does for a shaft. Therefore, companies say they are shipping an inexpensive shaft. They have to put the shaft in some kind of container. There is no tax paid on a shipping container. If the container just happens to be a nice case so be it.
When I went to the APA tournament in Vegas a few years ago the trash cans were filled with these 'shafts'. I asked why so many junk shafts and I was given this information.. It makes sense to me.
You might say the governments imposing these taxes are 'given the shaft'.
 
kaznj said:
When a company ships a product from overseas to the U.S. a tariff or tax is paid. It costs more in this tax to ship a pool bag than it does for a shaft. Therefore, companies say they are shipping an inexpensive shaft. They have to put the shaft in some kind of container. There is no tax paid on a shipping container. If the container just happens to be a nice case so be it.
When I went to the APA tournament in Vegas a few years ago the trash cans were filled with these 'shafts'. I asked why so many junk shafts and I was given this information.. It makes sense to me.
You might say the governments imposing these taxes are 'given the shaft'.
Click to expand...

Or shafted.
 
kaznj said:
When I went to the APA tournament in Vegas a few years ago the trash cans were filled with these 'shafts'.
Click to expand...

Should've threw in a pail full of boiling water, then you'd of had Ramin noodles :thumbup:!!!

Maniac
 
Broken Shaft

SKILLZELITE said:
I bought a 3x6 cue case in the mid-summer of 2011,, to my suprise there was a unfinished cue shaft inside,,
it also was in plastic and was very rough to the feel,and included a ferrule and a lepro tip..
I sanded it down abit, then buffed it out ,,it was fairly smooth compared to how it was at 1st..

I then bored out a 3/8x10 joint,, I attached it to my cheap mcdermott,,and began to shoot with it ..
I got the my 4th shot with it, this shot had required slight side spin ,
so I chalked it up and and proceeded with my routine warm up stroke, then shot the q-ball..
Next thing I knew,, the shaft was laying on the table,,and my cue butt was still in my hand..
It had cracked at the joint,and flew right off the pin,, I picked the shaft up off the table and looked at it,
and I noticed it was also cracked by the ferrule a good 3inches down the shaft..
I was p*ssed after I took that time to sand, buff,and bore it out, only to see it busted like that..
It had actually had a good stiff hit them 1st 3 shots ,I guess it just wasnt meant to be ..:D
Click to expand...

I had a smililar incident. The only difference is I bought a Predator Sneaky Pete off a friend who had just bought the cue because of some closeout special. (the green veneer'ed sneaky pete). I was playing league and Mike Massey was doing an exhibition. Well before his exhibition he takes sign ups for challengers. I signed up but right before my turn I was posted for league. By the time my match was over he was just wrapping up the 'challenge matches' and played me as the last one but wanted to make it quick. Instead of walking all the way to the other end of the pool hall to get my break cue, i used the predator to break with. I broke 70% power and the next thing I know the shaft had come off (cut my hand) and fell to the floor. Mike asked what kind of shaft it was and I told him predator 314. Everyone looked at it and the wood had a clean seperation from the joint (probably not enough epoxy). I grabbed a cheap Action cue and beat Mike. Afterwards he joked and said Predator will honor their warranty and if they dont then I could tell them it happened in front of 100 people at Mikes exhibition. Then he added "just don't tell them you beat me or they wont believe you" lol

This was an odd experience, but Predator honored their warranty and gave me a new shaft.
 
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