How much do you worry about your shafts? Taper, playability, looks?

Guerra Cues

Guerra Cues

I build one cue at a time
Silver Member
This seems to be a mean question but it is not. Often I see cues that cuemakers worry more about the points, inlays, etc and leave the shaft at another level - I would say that they do not pay that much attention as they do with the butt of the cue.
What do you do as a cuemaker to make sure your shafts are awesome, high quality, taper, ferrules, tip, etc. What kind of self-research do you folks do? Continuous improvement? In the long run I think if a cuemaker has that thought on the back of their minds their unknown status will come to life...
One of the names that comes to my mind is Eric Crisp from Sugartree Cues, he stand out of the crowd due to his awesome shaft wood and "hit". Jim Lee has great shaft wood, James White, Searing, Klein, etc, etc with no disrespect for other cuemakers in this forum. Just a simple question for discussion...
 
BENFICA said:
This seems to be a mean question but it is not. Often I see cues that cuemakers worry more about the points, inlays, etc and leave the shaft at another level - I would say that they do not pay that much attention as they do with the butt of the cue.
What do you do as a cuemaker to make sure your shafts are awesome, high quality, taper, ferrules, tip, etc. What kind of self-research do you folks do? Continuous improvement? In the long run I think if a cuemaker has that thought on the back of their minds their unknown status will come to life...
One of the names that comes to my mind is Eric Crisp from Sugartree Cues, he stand out of the crowd due to his awesome shaft wood and "hit". Jim Lee has great shaft wood, James White, Searing, Klein, etc, etc with no disrespect for other cuemakers in this forum. Just a simple question for discussion...
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I thin that the shaft is THE most important part of a cue. My cues have continued to be updated. This year alone I have shaved .010" off of the butt diameter & shortened my ferrule .250". A cuemaker's work is always evolveing...JER
 
The shaftwood I was getting 13-15 years ago that I was happy with at the time I would not use today. Some of the problem is most guys when starting out don't have their preferred sources nailed down for many years. Another issue is having enough bankroll to be able to buy enough wood to hand select the very best pieces and then eat the unusable ones or resell the rejects.
I have always been focused on how the cue plays. looks are secondary.
 
Chris Byrne said:
The shaftwood I was getting 13-15 years ago that I was happy with at the time I would not use today. Some of the problem is most guys when starting out don't have their preferred sources nailed down for many years. Another issue is having enough bankroll to be able to buy enough wood to hand select the very best pieces and then eat the unusable ones or resell the rejects.
I have always been focused on how the cue plays. looks are secondary.
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Well said, Mr. Byrne.
The key is to find a supplier that knows their #@$&. Then buy their best stuff. I never understood how a custom cuemaker could justify buying less than the best for shaftwood.... saving $10 or so on something you expect to be worth hundreds is pretty silly.
The last batch of wood I got came from a supplier who said he hasn't seen wood this nice in 25 years! SCORE!
 
I have never once heard a custom cuemaker say he did not worry much about the playability of his cues. Not once.

Kelly
 
BENFICA said:
This seems to be a mean question but it is not. Often I see cues that cuemakers worry more about the points, inlays, etc and leave the shaft at another level - I would say that they do not pay that much attention as they do with the butt of the cue.
What do you do as a cuemaker to make sure your shafts are awesome, high quality, taper, ferrules, tip, etc. What kind of self-research do you folks do? Continuous improvement? In the long run I think if a cuemaker has that thought on the back of their minds their unknown status will come to life...
One of the names that comes to my mind is Eric Crisp from Sugartree Cues, he stand out of the crowd due to his awesome shaft wood and "hit". Jim Lee has great shaft wood, James White, Searing, Klein, etc, etc with no disrespect for other cuemakers in this forum. Just a simple question for discussion...
Click to expand...
Myself I am always looking to improve on any area of my cues. If you look at some of my cues that I have posted here they are not really elaberate! But they do play good. That is why i got into this. So I can build a very good playing cue for a good price! Sometimes I build a pretty cue that plays good! Its not all about the looks here! Its about playability! I have made some changes this year on my cues for the better IMO! I also shortened my ferule length and changed the taper slighty! I have made some other changes to the structure of my cues over the last couple years that have really imroved the way they play! So to answere you, I am always looking to improve my cues anyway I can to make them play better. I am positive that just about every builder here is always looking for imrovement of the product also!!
 
The saying in golf seems to apply here as well: "drive for show, putt for the dough."
Mr H


PS, the butt is the driver, the shaft is the putter... :grin:
 
SK Custom Cues said:
How secretive are we about these sources of shaft wood? Would anyone care to share their source?
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Most are afraid to tell you, because they think that the 100 pieces that you might buy will end up being the "last of the good stuff." :rolleyes:
However, since everyone is so forthcoming with almost every other aspect of their design, techniques, and suppliers, I forgive you all! :grin:
Mr H
 
Don't be lazy! Use the search option. 95% of the known shaftwood sources in the USA and Canada have been shared here over the last 4 years. If you expect to be spoon fed I hope you get nada:grin-square:

Martin


SK Custom Cues said:
How secretive are we about these sources of shaft wood? Would anyone care to share their source?
Click to expand...
 
jazznpool said:
Don't be lazy! Use the search option. 95% of the known shaftwood sources in the USA and Canada have been shared here over the last 4 years. If you expect to be spoon fed I hope you get nada:grin-square:

Martin
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Thank you for reminding me how new to cue making (and AZ) I really am, and yes, I can be lazy. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to drop me a tip, and have a great Thanksgiving! :wave:
 
I've actually listed 3 or 4 and was glad to do it! There all here and more for the guys who are really interested. You just have to use the search option and study a bit. Great shaftwood isn't squat without a good and playable taper! And, if the platform (butt) is weak...you have a turkey of a cue IMO.

Martin

patrickcues said:
I remember a while back Martin listed a good shaft source on here!
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Shafts

JoeyInCali said:
It's an obsession.
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Obsession and a Jones!

I am a firm believer that the parabolic shaft taper is superior to straight, conical, or coke bottle style tapers. I know that there are some who may disagree but I just have that opinion.

I am a pretty bad pool player ( 4 in the APA ) and as bad or inconsistent of a stroke that I have, even I can feel that the parabolic shaft taper produces a better feel, it's very noticeable. I own an large pool hall here and have some very good "A" players and some pros who come by and the response to the hit of the shaft taper has been 1000 percent positive.

My partner Ray Hernandez was the last cue maker to work in the DPK Omega Shop here in Illinois and was exposed to the concept. He plotted his design arcs on Auto Cad and we cut our metal tapper bar on the CNC to be similar to David Kersenbrock's magic.

When you hold the shaft up to the light and sight down the edge you can see the geometry of the constantly changing radii. It also gives the cue a very cool appearence. I love it!!!!!

Rick Geschrey
 
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