How to classify a high quality maple shaft??
- Thread starter Dunn
- Start date
Wity
Banned
Same as you do with any shaft.... by it's feel/feedback.
The tight straight grains and evenly spaced v's of an ash shaft that folks pay extra for mean nothing playability wise it's just cosmetics.
From what i was reading on these forums the other day (somewhere in the ask the cuemaker section) the trend stateside is to opt for as white a maple shaft as possible whereas the cuemakers were saying the older growth thats more brown is better wood. Over here those that use maple tend to opt for the patina / nicotine colour that comes naturally on old cues.
Looked at a wood merchans site a while back , one who supplies lots of blanks to the U.S. trade and they were going on about the growth rings, saying the more the merrier/ low deflection they were(rubbish in my opinion).
Botton line as a buyer is you just have to trust the cuemaker and his experience of selecting the pieces to provide what you want from a shaft.
The tight straight grains and evenly spaced v's of an ash shaft that folks pay extra for mean nothing playability wise it's just cosmetics.
From what i was reading on these forums the other day (somewhere in the ask the cuemaker section) the trend stateside is to opt for as white a maple shaft as possible whereas the cuemakers were saying the older growth thats more brown is better wood. Over here those that use maple tend to opt for the patina / nicotine colour that comes naturally on old cues.
Looked at a wood merchans site a while back , one who supplies lots of blanks to the U.S. trade and they were going on about the growth rings, saying the more the merrier/ low deflection they were(rubbish in my opinion).
Botton line as a buyer is you just have to trust the cuemaker and his experience of selecting the pieces to provide what you want from a shaft.
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Thanks for your comments, wity. I have 2 brand new cues I would like to select one. The first one is a canadian maple cue which is pearl white without visible grain, is hard, firm and solid. The another one is a British made maple cue with clear grain like ash, very smooth and good cue ball control.
I like them both, but in term of maple quality, which one is better and more durable??
Do you think, these 2 shafts are comming from different part of the tree??
I like them both, but in term of maple quality, which one is better and more durable??
Do you think, these 2 shafts are comming from different part of the tree??
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Wity
Banned
If you feel you get better cue ball control with the one then thats the keeper. Anyone can pot a ball but winners leave the white where they want it.
The whiter one with less visible grain may well be more desired and command a better price but as for durability it's probably 6 of one versus half a dozen of the other. The chances of warping being much the same unless it was not dried enough at the onset which nowadays with even the cheap cues being kiln dried is unlikely unless ill treated by yourself.
The whiter one with less visible grain may well be more desired and command a better price but as for durability it's probably 6 of one versus half a dozen of the other. The chances of warping being much the same unless it was not dried enough at the onset which nowadays with even the cheap cues being kiln dried is unlikely unless ill treated by yourself.