My two cents worth…
What exactly is a non-capped ivory ferrule? If you remove the tip from one of these types of shafts, will you see the sleeve of the ferrule and the wood as well? And do they play better? And is a ferrule-less shaft just end in a tip? Or is there something different about the area where there would be a ferrule? What is the purpose of a ferrule? I always thought it was to prevent the wood from splitting and cracking? Do ferrule-less shafts really play better?
I am having an ivory ferrule installed this week, and I am leaning to having it done uncapped, so I could really use some info. Thanks all.
Braden
I'm not an expert, but I coach/instruct in addition to still playing some, thus get to try a lot, as well as listen to players. I'll address these in order: I don't see how an ivory ferrule could be referred to as "non-capped" if it isn't. I would expect a pad to be used between it and the tip, though (safer, so as not to chip off the edge). I used to do some retipping years ago, just recently started doing the same again for students, haven't seen one of those in a while, but yes, they exist. Personally I believe
any non-capped ferrule feels more direct than capped (e.g. Southwest of old), but am not sure if that actually makes a cue perform "better" or "worse". As to ferrule-less, the ones I've seen all have a pad (and not a "soft" - relatively speaking! - one as with ivory, but carbon fibre, for example). I'm not convinced ferrule-less has any advantage whatsoever over a
short ferrule (although for sure over long ones - those tend to make a shaft's deflection behaviour more erratic, with the possible exception of Acrylite ferrules, but those are no longer made). Worse yet, the ferrule-less shafts I've seen all suffer from the constant impact (they bloat right beneath those pads, even if more or less slowly). Maybe there are exceptions to that, but I've yet to see one - until then, I won't invest a dime in a ferrule-less shaft (I'm old-timey - I own shafts I've played with for 20 years, which have stayed straight as a arrow, continue to play and feel well etc., which haven't changed apart from blueing, in short, I have little patience for anything less than perfect, and that includes durability). As to uncapped ivory ferrules, I personally wouldn't dare use one without a shock-absorbing pad between tip (the old red or red/grey/red nicely dense cardboard ones were the best, not sure one can still find those) and ferrule for fear of bursting (same problem as with rubber bumpers that reach into an ivory butt cap - careful not to hit the floor with the bumper after a miss, nor even drop the cue from high up, seen those crack and burst that all too often!). Ivory is a somewhat unidirectionally structured material, to put it mildly, so be sure the tenon doesn't protrude changing tips (better yet, order with pad and leave that on), or the shaft wood will make the ferrule burst during impact.
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
