How straight are you cues (shafts and butt)?

Cuemaster98

Cuemaster98

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi Guys,

I've been selling cues only for over a decade now. One of the most common questions that I get about a cue is whether it's straight or not? This area has always been a grey area and is very subjective and different from everyone.

So, my question to the general public is, What is your expectation of a cue shaft and butt been straight?

Cat 1: Dead Straight (100%) fresh from the lathe? Is that even possible
Cat 2: Straight (95%)...roll flat on the table and no light variance?
Cat 3: Straight (90%)...roll flat on the table with minor light variance?
Cat 4: Slight Taper Roll (85%)...roll flat on the table with light variance?
Cat 5: Slight wobble (75%)...shaft doesn't roll flat on the table with noticeable light variance?
Cat 6: Wraped (50%)...shaft wobble when rolled with noticeable light variance?

99% of the time people don't even realize their cue is not perfectly straight. I had a old timer that have been playing with his cue for 30 years...I look at his stick and it's CAT 5 but he play light out with that cue and he tell me it's straight.

At what level do you think the straightness of your cue affect your playability? CAT 5 or CAT 6?

I have a Pete Tascarella conversion that it's in CAT 4: and it probably like my top 5 best playing cues that I had the chance to play with (I must have had played with over 500 different cues easily). The cue was used by George (Ginky) for over 2 years and it's monster player.

If you had a cue that plays super and it's not perfectly straight...would you buy that over a cue that doesn't play as well but is dead straight? What if it the same cue like eg. Schon when one have a super shaft but it's not perfectly straight like CAT 3 compare to a CAT 1 that doesn't play as well? Would you choose the straight shaft?

Anyway, just trying get a consensus of what players, buyers, sellers expectation is when it comes to the straightness of your cue?

How should a cue listing for sales be described when it come to straight?

Do you call CAT 2 to CAT 4 straight? Warped? Not Perfect?

BTW, I do have a number of cues for sales for this holiday listed here if anyone is interested:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=210488

and Some higher end one here:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=2742311#post2742311


Regards,
Duc.
 
Last edited:
Some of my best players are from Cat 2 to Cat 4!!! My Joel Weinstock is my holy grail of cue and it's a CAT 2 - 3 depending on the shaft (butt is cat 2 for sure on table and lathe). I don't think CAT1 exist!! Maybe on a CNC lathe but after the cue is finish...humidity and other natural factor will come into play.
 
Last edited:
Out of about 20 vintage cues that I keep on display in my pool room(home) 16 are cat 3, with the other four cat 5. Out of about 20 cues that I play (mostly production cues and a few I have made) 17 are cat 3 or better. I guess I am lucky because I have bought many cues sight un seen and they have been very straight, even the vintage cues. I keep them in wall racks year around so nobody can tell me that this can cause cues to warp:wink:.

I think that if you roll a cue on the pool table and the shaft tip leaves the surface it can effect the playability of the cue. This for me is more of a mental thing then physical. In other words once I THINK a cue is warped enough to effect the way it plays the damage is done.

I have a large picture window (I know a pool players nightmare) adjacent to my table so during the daytime it is easy to detect even the slightest wobble in a cue. And it is rare to find one that is perfect when you put that much light behind it.

A buyer needs to remember when asking a seller if a cue is straight or not is subjective also. What they see on their kitchen floor may look great to them:rolleyes:.
 
Cuemaster98 said:
I don't think CAT1 exist!!
Click to expand...

Good thread Duc!

It does seem that just about every cue I see has some kind of variance. Some of the straightest cues I have seen lately are lower end cues. I usually tell people that as long as the tip and ferrule do not leave the table then it should be fine.

I would say my main player is Cat. 3 or 4 or so.
 
Last edited:
I dont know. At purchase i check for straightness and that is the last time.

Everyone says a little wobble doesnt hurt so i dont check it cause ill just get aggravated by it. Ignorance is bliss.
 
Straight

I wouldn't buy a cue unless it is in CAT1-3, but I will play with a cue that would fall into 4+ if I like the feel of the cue. I would rather play with a shaft that isn't perfect but has a taper, weight, balance and hit I like.
 
My regular playing shaft (314-2 with custom ringwork) has a taper roll to it whether it's attached to the butt or not. It's about halfway through the shaft when you roll it, looks like you could slide a credit card under it. The tip and butt ends (last 8-10" or so) never leave the table and look to roll just fine. I guess I was way more concerned about it than I should of been, because when I asked Mike Webb to toss a new tip on it he commented about the fact that I was making it sound way worse than it was. He was spinning it up on his lathe and had no real concerns. I've since stopped caring about it as it shoots just fine for me. :)
 
Cuemaster98 said:
Hi Guys,

I've been selling cues only for over a decade now. One of the most common questions that I get about a cue is whether it's straight or not? This area has always been a grey area and is very subjective and different from everyone.

So, my question to the general public is, What is your expectation of a cue shaft and butt been straight?

Cat 1: Dead Straight (100%) fresh from the lathe? Is that even possible
Cat 2: Straight (95%)...roll flat on the table and no light variance?
Cat 3: Straight (90%)...roll flat on the table with minor light variance?
Cat 4: Slight Taper Roll (85%)...roll flat on the table with light variance?
Cat 5: Slight wobble (75%)...shaft doesn't roll flat on the table with noticeable light variance?
Cat 6: Wraped (50%)...shaft wobble when rolled with noticeable light variance?

99% of the time people don't even realize their cue is not perfectly straight. I had a old timer that have been playing with his cue for 30 years...I look at his stick and it's CAT 5 but he play light out with that cue and he tell me it's straight.

At what level do you think the straightness of your cue affect your playability? CAT 5 or CAT 6?

I have a Pete Tascarella conversion that it's in CAT 4: and it probably like my top 5 best playing cues that I had the chance to play with (I must have had played with over 500 different cues easily). The cue was used by George (Ginky) for over 2 years and it's monster player.

If you had a cue that plays super and it's not perfectly straight...would you buy that over a cue that doesn't play as well but is dead straight? What if it the same cue like eg. Schon when one have a super shaft but it's not perfectly straight like CAT 3 compare to a CAT 1 that doesn't play as well? Would you choose the straight shaft?

Anyway, just trying get a consensus of what players, buyers, sellers expectation is when it comes to the straightness of your cue?

How should a cue listing for sales be described when it come to straight?

Do you call CAT 2 to CAT 4 straight? Warped? Not Perfect?

BTW, I do have a number of cues for sales for this holiday listed here if anyone is interested:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=210488

and Some higher end one here:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?p=2742311#post2742311


Regards,
Duc.
Click to expand...

Hey Duc..most of mine are 2-4s..doesnt matter much..just that when
you roll them together the butt and shaft tip stay on the table..when
you line up to the CB doesn't matter if you could shoot around corners
with it..you will still hit the CB where you aim..this whole idea of dead
straight required is a crock..no cue is dead straight that i have ever
owned..some just better than others..i dont care who made them..want
to keep um straight as possible..Hang them up..i have had cues actually
straighten on their own..sell..sell..as long as the butt is straigt and the
tip dont rise when hooked up..SA
 
Cuemaster98 said:
Hi Guys,

I've been selling cues only for over a decade now. One of the most common questions that I get about a cue is whether it's straight or not? This area has always been a grey area and is very subjective and different from everyone.
Click to expand...

Ya, and it is something that could be easily quantified. A test indicator with stand and a set of V blocks is all you need .... a poor mans concentricity gauge.

Dave <-- never measured his shaft
 
All three of my cues are currently in cat-2 {play, break, jump}.

I don't generally worry about the straightness until one is nearing cat-5. Smoothness is a different mater. I like my shafts smooth.
 
My Lucasi rolls dead flat with no lift at all.
My Perchauer has a slight lift of the shaft.
 
When buying or selling a cue, it is crucial that the butt collar is straight and that the pin is horizontal with the butt. The shafts can have a little of the taper being off centered as that's maybe do to a little swelling of the wood and mostly appearance. If the shaft has a pure wobble, the tip will come off the table. Several cues I have purchased actually have the shaft in good shape and the problem has been that the butt of cue has actually warped which gives a person very little room to work with as if the cue can be cut to help straighten the butt out, then what happens to the inlays if they are present in the cue. I've been lucky and have had cue makers save a cue here and there, but, to me, worlds worst is that a shaft can be made as long as the butt end is straight.
 
cat2 for me.I believe the more crooked the shaft the less pure transfer of energy to the backhand and almost a distorted feel sometimes.Its like hitting a drum with a crooked drumstick,to what degree of warp would determine the effects or feel of the hit.
 
Cuemaster98 said:
Hi Guys,



Cat 1: Dead Straight (100%) fresh from the lathe? Is that even possible
Cat 2: Straight (95%)...roll flat on the table and no light variance?
Cat 3: Straight (90%)...roll flat on the table with minor light variance?
Cat 4: Slight Taper Roll (85%)...roll flat on the table with light variance?
Cat 5: Slight wobble (75%)...shaft doesn't roll flat on the table with noticeable light variance?
Cat 6: Wraped (50%)...shaft wobble when rolled with noticeable light variance?
Click to expand...

Don't like the scheme because it is qualitative, not quantitative.

I want to know how many mm variation there is when rolled. If not, then I don't want to know because it means squat if it is qualitative. I honestly don't know exactly what "light variance" is and neither does anybody else regardless of their claims to know exactly what it is. Unless somebody quantifies it for me, not straight means bent and that's where I start when considering the value. But I don't get as upset as some about a cue being less than straight either...so..... :) I tend to be happier than some I guess. :wink:

As for function, cues can function quite well with remarkable variance in straightness. I always laugh about people saying the feel of the hit has something to do with what the cue ball will do. It only has to do with what the shooter will do in his head. It's a feeling, a perception.

Most of mine fair pretty well with some that are a little worse. I do have some that are frankly straight. Dead straight. And I have one that is frankly bent.

My old JOSS shafts aren't perfect, but they have been stable for more than 25 years.

But it seems you are talking about selling new cues I think. In that case, people are going to want them to be straight. I mean straight. Whether or not this is completely reasonable is another matter.
 
Everything but CAT 1 is warped. No "taper rolls", no "wobble", they are warped. Anything below CAT 2 is unacceptable. jmo.
:p
 
I think Duc was trying to come up with a universal grading scale, like with comic books, and cars. Of course everyone wants a mint, or near mint comic book. What is acceptable for collecting, versus playing? I wouldn't be surprised if some new cues aren't CAT 1 coming out of the plastic sleeve.

Here is another thread on what does it take to make and keep a shaft straight.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=254152

rayjay said:
Everything but CAT 1 is warped. No "taper rolls", no "wobble", they are warped. Anything below CAT 2 is unacceptable. jmo.
:p
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top