Help with cue shaft please

L

livemusic

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hello, first, I don't know much about cues. I have a "low deflection" Pure X HXT15 skinny 11.75 mm cue. I find that the shaft is a little too skinny for me, so, I will just sell the shaft and get another. I would like a bit wider, I have one that measures 13mm and that seems ok. I don't see that but I do see a 12.75mm shaft in that brand. BUT... I am not that good a player, just a decent intermediate, so, I could probably do fine by spending less. Can anyone recommend a decent shaft of 12.75 - 13mm size? Or do you think I should just buy a 12.75mm low deflection shaft matching this same brand/cue and have a 'matched' cue? I really only need one cue, lol, but I have a table, and a friend could use my spare. Or I guess it's good to have a spare anyway in case you break a tip!

I have been told that my cue is 5/16 x 18, whatever that means.

Someone on here said my eBay-bought cue is a frankencue, that it is a piloted butt but not a piloted shaft. I posted pics in another thread. I don't understand cue parts very well but I see that the 12.75mm in same brand, it has a brass part kind of sticking out the shaft. I see that the butt of my cue has kind of a round slot... is that where brass protrusion would fit? Question being, will it fit.

I note that I have another two-piece cue, not expensive at all, I probably paid maybe $100 for the whole cue and I was able to screw its shaft onto the butt of my cue and it does not have that brass part that sticks out of the shaft.

TIA! Pics of my cue with the skinny shaft...


 
13mm vs 12.75mm is 2% different. It is only 10 thousandths of an inch, or the same as the thickness of three sheets of typing paper. Is this enough for you to notice? I doubt it, but a lot of people seem to think so. I think they convince themselves because they own harbor freight calipers.

5/16-18 is the diameter of the pin (5/16) and the number of threads pet inch (-18). This is a standard machine thread. It is rare to have a piloted thread this size.

The pilot is the brass piece you are seeing on the shaft you are considering. The butt should have a pilot hole around the base of the pin. This was originally an alignment feature. The effectiveness varies.

Generally, piloted cues use a coarser thread, 5/16-14. To measure this properly one can use a caliper to check the diameter, then measure one inch on the pin and county the number of threads in that inch.

If you aren't very experienced, stop spending money on equipment, play with what you have, and get some lessons.

I played with three different cues last night, all have different weights, shaft diameter, tips, and balance points. Didn't change how I played.
 
DeeDeeCues said:
13mm vs 12.75mm is 2% different. It is only 10 thousandths of an inch, or the same as the thickness of three sheets of typing paper. Is this enough for you to notice? I doubt it, but a lot of people seem to think so. I think they convince themselves because they own harbor freight calipers.

5/16-18 is the diameter of the pin (5/16) and the number of threads pet inch (-18). This is a standard machine thread. It is rare to have a piloted thread this size.

The pilot is the brass piece you are seeing on the shaft you are considering. The butt should have a pilot hole around the base of the pin. This was originally an alignment feature. The effectiveness varies.

Generally, piloted cues use a coarser thread, 5/16-14. To measure this properly one can use a caliper to check the diameter, then measure one inch on the pin and county the number of threads in that inch.

If you aren't very experienced, stop spending money on equipment, play with what you have, and get some lessons.

I played with three different cues last night, all have different weights, shaft diameter, tips, and balance points. Didn't change how I played.
Click to expand...
Very good advice. Take lessons. Don't throw good money after bad before you really know what you need.
 
livemusic said:
Hello, first, I don't know much about cues. I have a "low deflection" Pure X HXT15 skinny 11.75 mm cue. I find that the shaft is a little too skinny for me, so, I will just sell the shaft and get another. I would like a bit wider, I have one that measures 13mm and that seems ok. I don't see that but I do see a 12.75mm shaft in that brand. BUT... I am not that good a player, just a decent intermediate, so, I could probably do fine by spending less. Can anyone recommend a decent shaft of 12.75 - 13mm size? Or do you think I should just buy a 12.75mm low deflection shaft matching this same brand/cue and have a 'matched' cue? I really only need one cue, lol, but I have a table, and a friend could use my spare. Or I guess it's good to have a spare anyway in case you break a tip!

I have been told that my cue is 5/16 x 18, whatever that means.

Someone on here said my eBay-bought cue is a frankencue, that it is a piloted butt but not a piloted shaft. I posted pics in another thread. I don't understand cue parts very well but I see that the 12.75mm in same brand, it has a brass part kind of sticking out the shaft. I see that the butt of my cue has kind of a round slot... is that where brass protrusion would fit? Question being, will it fit.

I note that I have another two-piece cue, not expensive at all, I probably paid maybe $100 for the whole cue and I was able to screw its shaft onto the butt of my cue and it does not have that brass part that sticks out of the shaft.

TIA! Pics of my cue with the skinny shaft...



Click to expand...

Players makes a PureX HXT shaft that is 12.75. Pretty much any decently cheap shaft in the 12.5 + mm range will be higher deflection than yours. I owned both a 12.75 and the 11.75 HXT, liked the 12.75 much better but I had it turned down to 12.5.

If you want to stick with a good LD property in a shaft, look for shafts in the 12.2 - 12.5 mm range rather than over 12.5 I have several custom made LD shafts 12.2 - 12.3 mm and they are a great combination of feel, stiffness and LD.
 
livemusic said:
Hello, first, I don't know much about cues. I have a "low deflection" Pure X HXT15 skinny 11.75 mm cue. I find that the shaft is a little too skinny for me, so, I will just sell the shaft and get another. I would like a bit wider, I have one that measures 13mm and that seems ok. I don't see that but I do see a 12.75mm shaft in that brand. BUT... I am not that good a player, just a decent intermediate, so, I could probably do fine by spending less. Can anyone recommend a decent shaft of 12.75 - 13mm size? Or do you think I should just buy a 12.75mm low deflection shaft matching this same brand/cue and have a 'matched' cue? I really only need one cue, lol, but I have a table, and a friend could use my spare. Or I guess it's good to have a spare anyway in case you break a tip!

I have been told that my cue is 5/16 x 18, whatever that means.

Someone on here said my eBay-bought cue is a frankencue, that it is a piloted butt but not a piloted shaft. I posted pics in another thread. I don't understand cue parts very well but I see that the 12.75mm in same brand, it has a brass part kind of sticking out the shaft. I see that the butt of my cue has kind of a round slot... is that where brass protrusion would fit? Question being, will it fit.

I note that I have another two-piece cue, not expensive at all, I probably paid maybe $100 for the whole cue and I was able to screw its shaft onto the butt of my cue and it does not have that brass part that sticks out of the shaft.

TIA! Pics of my cue with the skinny shaft...


Click to expand...
5/16x18 is your joint/pin type. Tons of options in this category if you want to keep your butt and just upgrade your shaft. 12.75 to 12.5 mm is what I like. It's all preference though. I would leave the skinny stuff (low 12's and 11's) to the high fargo players, it won't do you any favors. Mezz makes some very high-quality L/D wood shafts. Predator is also popular. I have a mezz sigma, long pro taper and it shoots lights out.
 
livemusic said:
Hello, first, I don't know much about cues. I have a "low deflection" Pure X HXT15 skinny 11.75 mm cue. I find that the shaft is a little too skinny for me, so, I will just sell the shaft and get another. I would like a bit wider, I have one that measures 13mm and that seems ok. I don't see that but I do see a 12.75mm shaft in that brand. BUT... I am not that good a player, just a decent intermediate, so, I could probably do fine by spending less.
Click to expand...
The HXT at $200 is probably as low budget as you can go for a decent low deflection shaft. The bottom line is, either get a new 12.75mm HXT , look for a used LD shaft, or switch to a standard maple shaft.
 
garczar said:
those have the old style wood ferrules. fine if you like a real soft hit. get the ob classic if you want a little crisper feel.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's super soft hit. The classic deflects a little more. Not sure what is the difference between 1 and 1+, as I never had plus shafts.
 
Wolven said:
Yeah, it's super soft hit. The classic deflects a little more. Not sure what is the difference between 1 and 1+, as I never had plus shafts.
Click to expand...
i've owned both. deflection difference is so small you can't tell playing it. i had the classic+ on a greg kucharski cue and it played super good. difference in the plus is they went to solid strips of wood in the lamination versus laminated strips in the originals.
 
Wolven said:
Yeah, it's super soft hit. The classic deflects a little more. Not sure what is the difference between 1 and 1+, as I never had plus shafts.
Click to expand...

The + models were done with a higher grade of wood, I don't think there is a difference in construction of deflection.
 
Thunder Thighs said:
That's a good deal if those are the ones without the quality/warpage issues.
Click to expand...
I had many ob1, and 1 classic when they first came out. I did break ferule on couple, but never had one warp. I heard some of the newer ones did, but I don't know when the problem started.
 
l bought a ob-rez a few months ago for 155 from ob cues. Comes in different diameters
Ob classic had a laminated shaft like the earlier shafts,classic+ was a 4 spliced shaft
I have both in one of the cases
 
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