heavy shafts

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

This is a great read. In my mind I don’t even know what deflection is. That term wasn’t thrown around much 20 or so years ago. Whippy or stiff, doesn’t matter. The term deflection means 0 to me and probably many others playing with a standard shaft. No matter the cue, if it shoots true or the same shot to shot you can easily adjust accordingly. I shoot the same with a house cue as one with a whippy shaft. Just feels better with “my” cue. Give me a predator and I’d throw it out. Can’t aim with that LD shaft. Feels like a $1000 house cue with the conical taper and it’s harder to aim with than a Dufferin.

Just saying if your 5 oz has more deflection but you like it, you should have no problem adjusting. Just start closer to center.

 

[evergruven]

Just saying if your 5 oz has more deflection but you like it, you should have no problem adjusting. Just start closer to center.

totally. so much of this is about feel.
when I ask about technical stuff, I'm usually trying to understand more scientifically, what I already understand intuitively

to that point, I asked about deflection initially, and pat was kind enough to reply:

does the cue deflection change, if the "extra" weight isn't in the first 12 in.?

No.

pj
chgo

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so, if the weight is closer to the joint (as michael mentioned previously), deflection doesn't seem to be much an issue
I can also say that I play as well with the 5 oz. shaft as I did before I added the weight, and I might even play better now
and I say that because due to the extra weight, the shaft/cue feels more comfortable in my bridge hand

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

Nice. Sorry to go on my rant there. Technically I could be ok with low deflection. But it’s out of the normal scope of cues I’ve ever used. So the point on that was it would take a while to adjust to one. Anything around what you are used to shouldn’t matter was the real point. Seems you got that and it also sounds like you like that 2x4. So go for it! Good luck.

And It’s good that you are inquiring on things. Back when I was ok, I could’ve been a lot better had I asked questions instead of powering through. I’m not that old but feel a lot older when it comes to all the LD stuff. Some couldn’t get enough of their Predators when they first came out, but the switch to LD didn’t make them any better. Placebo effect maybe…

 

[evergruven]

Nice. Sorry to go on my rant there. Technically I could be ok with low deflection. But it’s out of the normal scope of cues I’ve ever used. So the point on that was it would take a while to adjust to one. Anything around what you are used to shouldn’t matter was the real point. Seems you got that and it also sounds like you like that 2x4. So go for it! Good luck.

And It’s good that you are inquiring on things. Back when I was ok, I could’ve been a lot better had I asked questions instead of powering through. I’m not that old but feel a lot older when it comes to all the LD stuff. Some couldn’t get enough of their Predators when they first came out, but the switch to LD didn’t make them any better. Placebo effect maybe…

you're all good. I honestly don't pay much attention to deflection, I usually just get down and shoot
deflection is a thing tho, whether we're conscious of it or not. if I were smarter, maybe I'd use a cf cue
but I don't like the feel- so, I do the best I can with what I have. anyway, I guess that's the bottom line.

 

[Stickman9]

I'm with you. I tried cf a few years ago and it played well, but I prefer the feel of wood.



your use of this terminology just reminded me that I have done these calculations before..
from a feel perspective, I'd figured that a ~30/70 shaft/butt weight ratio felt good to me
this said, now that weight on my bridge hand has occurred to me, I'm not sure 30/70 is still it
I think balance also plays a part. I came up with an overall balance point % that I like as well
and then there's individual shaft and butt balance points..but yea, "just play pool," too ^_^

I meant to say shaft-to-cue weight ratio, not shaft-to-butt. My point was that all of my cues are consistent with have the ratio that Bavafongoul's posts. I was pretty surprised by the consistency across cue builders.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Interesting discussion. I have several cues from well-known makers (Scruggs, Rauenzhan, Frey, Nitti), and I recorded the weight of the butt and shafts of each. But I never calculated the shaft-to-butt weight ratio. I just checked, and all of the shafts are right around 20 percent of the total cue weight.

My Nitti cue is an interesting case. When I got it, the butt was 15.6 ounces and the shafts were 3.6 and 3.9 ounces—a bigger difference in weight than I would have expected. It turns out that there was a .9 ounce weight bolt in the butt. The shaft-to-cue ratio is right around 20 percent with the following combinations: 3.9 ounce shaft with the weight bolt and 3.6 ounce shaft without the weight bolt. I had been playing with the lighter shaft and the weight bolt in, and it didn’t feel right. After I took out the weight bolt, it felt much better. At some point, I’ll have to try the heavier shaft with the weight bolt.

Your post and own experience coincides with what I have been preaching since I originally joined the Forum
well over a decade ago. Some folks get on my case and say I’m making this stuff up. I’m just trying to pass
along meaningful, helpful information for the overall benefit of cue makers, cue buyers and sellers alike but
mainly for the overall pool playing community. The better cue makers adhere to this and you can go back
in time as far as you like. When you really understand pool cue anatomy, like a cue builder should, this really
becomes more like common sense. But as a cue maker, you build what the customer requests so if they want
to disregard this guiding rule, so be it. After all, it’s their money but some cue makers won’t even do that. Why?
If they think it would result in an inferior cue build, well, their reputation is too important to them to release a cue
they wouldn’t normally make. And the best cue makers can do that since they aren’t suffering from lack of orders.