G10 pin vs. conventional steel pin

TAP

TAP

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Silver Member
I have recently hit with some cues, made by well known builders, that had gone to the G10 joint pin to lower the weight of the cue (I believe that is why). I found the hit to be "mushier" than with the conventional metal pins. Is this just my imagination, or is there a drastic difference in the hit?
I know I've heard of them breaking. That scares me. What do you think?
 
I have not used G10 pins myself, but I am farmiliar with the material.

It is good stuff. Unless you dropped the cue on the pin at an angle on concrete for example, I seriously doubt you would break it. Don't use the pin to pry stuck car doors open either. That might break it as well.

Mushier hit? That is dificult to pin down (ha ha get it!) as you would need two idential cues wih the only difference being the pin material, however it is a catch-22; if you change to the lighter pin you move the balance point, so...

Tough question, but I don't think you need to worry about G10 breaking, ertainly not in normal use, although it is possible- everything CAN be broken.
 
I started a thread with a similar question here. Lots of great responses on the topic were given. Hope this can be of some help to you.
 
Cue Guru said:
Mushier hit? That is dificult to pin down (ha ha get it!) as you would need two idential cues wih the only difference being the pin material, however it is a catch-22; if you change to the lighter pin you move the balance point, so...
Click to expand...

That was my concern with G10 pins also, but the weight moved wouldn't be a great deal anyways.
 
G10 pins

Thanks for the come back, especially you, Donovan. Just like most things, it looks as if it's a personal choice. At least there are some that agree with me that the hit just seems to lose something...??
Thanks Again.
 
had a g10 pin in a rosewood 4point into maple and it had a nice crip hit, no mushiness included. The joint was flat faced and the cue hit great. I found that you could cinch the cue together better, as that pin gave some torque and maybe helped with compression. All in all I liked that cue and pin when I had it.
 
I have also been curious about the g10 pin. And when i asked a friend of mine sheldon lebow he brought to my attention that they are much more abrasive than a polished metal pin. And that using a phenolic sleeve would be a way to make the shaft last longer.
 
I like the A joint comb of g-10,g-10 joint flatfaced.

poster; You have a great cuemaker (joeyincalf)answer your question. If I can't tell the diference- or Danny Janes,your not feeling it myfriend. Have you experienced the play of g-10 ferrules?? mark
 
most people are not able to tell the difference between just the pins..I like g-10 pins on the cog's. they hit well but i also like the pin of sw 3/8-11 both of them are flat face and they both hit well.

I don't think you can narrow down the hit simply based on one factor. it's a summation of lots of things: tips, taper in shaft, woods, joint type, technique and tolerances.

the pin just reflects balance and thread types on the shafts.
 
i agree with Joey.

in fact i have found the G-10 pins to actually hit crisper,harder or louder in most cases.
 
I have used g-10 pins in a few cues, my normal pin is a 3/8-11 brass, and the hit was similar. Simply put the cue construction is the most deciding fastor in the hit. Reason being, I could put a g-10 pin in a cheap import, but it would still be a cheap import only with a g-10 pin.
 
masonh said:
i agree with Joey.

in fact i have found the G-10 pins to actually hit crisper,harder or louder in most cases.
Click to expand...

I agree on all your comments, especially on the louder part. That cue I had would sing it pitch clearly and louder than most for longer when i poped the joint with my palm. I really liked the pin.
 
First off, it would be impossible to accurately determine the difference in hit from cue to cue if only the joint was different. Every cue will hit (slightly) different even if it has the same pin and it's made from the same species of wood because lets face it, wood grows naturally and no two pieces are exactly alike. That being said, there are ways of controlling the production process (such as coring the forearm) to minimize the difference in the way each cue plays/hits from a given maker. Still, unless the cue was made out of a man made material such as plastic, metal, graphite, ect. each one will play different.

As far as the G10 breaking I have heard stories of Joe Gold actually taking a cue durings a shop tour for a customer and throwing it into a bench like a dart to prove the durability. So leads me to believe that the chances of it breaking during "normal" use is pretty unlikely.

I think the OP is a little off base on why the makers are using the G10. Yes, there is a good chance they would use it to get to a target weight of a cue but it will also affect the balance point.
Paul Drexler and I had a long conversation one day regarding how the style of pin will change the overall weight and balance point and that he will sometimes use a different pin to get the desired result the customer is looking for.
 
masonh said:
i agree with Joey.

in fact i have found the G-10 pins to actually hit crisper,harder or louder in most cases.
Click to expand...
I have been using the g10 pin for a while on billiard cues. It allows me to use harder hitting woods in the forearm and still maintain the balance I want which is slightly butt heavy. The combination of g10 and phenolic insert in the shaft produces a stiff, hard hitting cue yet light which moves the billiard balls easily and players seem to love. Either that or they're all lying. :)

Mario
 
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TAP said:
I have recently hit with some cues, made by well known builders, that had gone to the G10 joint pin to lower the weight of the cue (I believe that is why). I found the hit to be "mushier" than with the conventional metal pins. Is this just my imagination, or is there a drastic difference in the hit?
I know I've heard of them breaking. That scares me. What do you think?
Click to expand...

I doubt you'd really be able to tell the difference in the pins. I'll share another tidbit. When I was learning to make cues, David Kersenbrock was one of my mentors. I asked him once how he came by the brass 3/8X11 pin his and Jerry Franklins cues were so well known for. He told me he wanted something different but functional. He decided on the 3/8 X 11 carriage bolt thread (he called it) and had made up some himself out of brass to test. He planned to send one of his brass proto-types to a screw shop to be duplicated in SS. This was about the time he went to Chicago with a bunch of cues and was "discovered" by the masses. He had used the brass proto-types in this batch of cues because he hadn't found a supplier for the pins in SS yet. He said that with the sudden popularity of his cues he didn't want to change anything that wasn't broke, so he stayed using the brass proto-type pin. I asked him what difference, if any, the pin made in the hit of a cue. He echoed my sentiment in that he said he felt that any pin that held the two mating surfaces together firmly was adequate and anything more was probably overkill.
 
The collision force will be directly transmitted from the shaft to the butt via the joint surfaces that are held tightly together by the pin and insert. The type of pin or the material that it is made of will have no bearing on that physical event, provided the torque applied to tighten the joint remains uniform. The only reason to use a G10 pin would be if you wanted to reduce weight. And the only reason to use radial vs say 5/16-18 is if you want to spend less time and effort tightening your joint. The pin will have no bearing on the feel or quality of your shot. Unless, of course, you succumb to the marketing pitches, in which case your perception of reality will likely be skewed.
 
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