Agreed, The only Ivory joint Id like to try would be a thin elk antler joint, or an Walrus Ivory joint as it is harder then Elephant ivory. I tend to like a harsher feel than a soft (dead) feel when hitting the cue ball.
Ivory joint questions
- Thread starter twal
- Start date
Agreed, The only Ivory joint Id like to try would be a thin elk antler joint, or an Walrus Ivory joint as it is harder then Elephant ivory. I tend to like a harsher feel than a soft (dead) feel when hitting the cue ball.
Ivory sleeved
I've never played with a full on ivory joint, but will discuss the sleeved versions...
I've played with a friend of mine's Huebler custom heart, Ivory sleeved, with a FF 5/16 -18 pin... versus my stainless steel jointed Joss and McD cues piloted 5/16 - 14 ... the word I would use is smooth...
That Huebler is sweet and works with me at times, almost forgiving a little bit. The Joss and McD do EXACTLY what i tell it to (heck the Joss was the first cue I ever ran a table with), but if I get a little out of line on my stroke BOY do they let me know...
Just an additional comment, I recently picked up a Michael Durbin Bocote with 3/8 -10 FF pin... it's buckhorn sleeved. It had a snooker style shaft that was warped... I had Scott Sherbine donate the shaft rings to a Tiger Ultra X LD shaft... and it has VERY similar properties to the Huebler... I can't pry it out of my wife's hands... She's just learning and her game picked up at least a ball as soon as she picked it up. I gotta say, the little bit I got to shoot wit hit, it was incredible...
So, Flat Faced Ivory/Buckhorn sleeved... Personally I like. It seems to provide a reasonable amount of feedback while still being just a touch forgiving. My $0.02
-Joe
PS - I've got a Lee Peppers coming soon. Elforyn sleeved FF 3/8-10... I'm going to be very interested to see how it compares.
I've never played with a full on ivory joint, but will discuss the sleeved versions...
I've played with a friend of mine's Huebler custom heart, Ivory sleeved, with a FF 5/16 -18 pin... versus my stainless steel jointed Joss and McD cues piloted 5/16 - 14 ... the word I would use is smooth...
That Huebler is sweet and works with me at times, almost forgiving a little bit. The Joss and McD do EXACTLY what i tell it to (heck the Joss was the first cue I ever ran a table with), but if I get a little out of line on my stroke BOY do they let me know...
Just an additional comment, I recently picked up a Michael Durbin Bocote with 3/8 -10 FF pin... it's buckhorn sleeved. It had a snooker style shaft that was warped... I had Scott Sherbine donate the shaft rings to a Tiger Ultra X LD shaft... and it has VERY similar properties to the Huebler... I can't pry it out of my wife's hands... She's just learning and her game picked up at least a ball as soon as she picked it up. I gotta say, the little bit I got to shoot wit hit, it was incredible...
So, Flat Faced Ivory/Buckhorn sleeved... Personally I like. It seems to provide a reasonable amount of feedback while still being just a touch forgiving. My $0.02
-Joe
PS - I've got a Lee Peppers coming soon. Elforyn sleeved FF 3/8-10... I'm going to be very interested to see how it compares.
In the test mentioned above, pro players couldn't tell the difference between various kinds of joints in a blind test. The reason to get an ivory joint is pride of ownership. It's a bad material to make a joint from.
The thing about most aspects of a cues construction is that you just can't tell the differences in a 5 minute test or 10 minute test or maybe even a week. Also, just because you couldn't pick a certain material out of a blind line up, doesn't mean that you can't feel a difference. I can tell when two cookies taste different but I sure as heck could not tell what the ingredients were in either of them.
Everything pretty much beyond the tip, offer very subtle and discreet impact to the whole. It's like if you compared performance tires on a car. You'd probably never tell the difference on a lap or two around the parking lot. It might take a whole race before you could pick the one you prefer and even then, you probably couldn't tell the difference in the rubber.
It's not any worse a material to use in a cue than wood, rocks and plastic IMO.
Ivory is the only way to go.........
Every cue-maker's joint will play differently. It's not because of drastric differences in the joint. It's due to all the other variables such as ferrule composition, tip hardness, shaft diameter, taper length, age & grain of the wood used for the shafts, the balance point, and of course, the type of cue joint. My Mottey cue was made in 10/'91 and the joint and ferrules (both ivory) are like new. An ivory won't crack or chip unless the cue was abused, dropped or improperly stored.
Personally, I prefer a flat faced ivory joint with wood face shafts that my Tim Scruggs cue has. My Mottey cue has a piloted ivory joint and the feel plays much differently than my Scruggs cue but both are incredible to play with. My Runde Schon has a 5/16x14 steel joint and let me tell you after switching to ivory joints, when I play with my Schon I don't like the feel. It has no sensitivity or feel and it's balanced for a forward roll versus the Scruggs cue which has a neutral balance feel to it. In other words, I drive the cue ball based upon the energy of my stroke and I can feel the difference from a short stun shot of 2-3" tangent line roll, to a 5 diamonds draw stroke or a tough rail cue shot.
Ivory isn't for everyone but the best legenday cue-makers used ivory joints for their most special of cues. If you make the switch, you'll never go back to a steel or phenolic joint. If you get to play much with an ivory joint cue, presuming of course the cue meets you weight preferences etc., you come to dislike playing with your steel joint quickly.
The bottomline is I'll never buy another steel joint cue regardless of whom the cue-maker is and I've just selected a cue-maker to custom build me a cue (18.5 ozs) with an radial pin, flat-faced ivory joint. And yes, all of the ivory being used to make my cue is pre-ban elephant ivory.
Every cue-maker's joint will play differently. It's not because of drastric differences in the joint. It's due to all the other variables such as ferrule composition, tip hardness, shaft diameter, taper length, age & grain of the wood used for the shafts, the balance point, and of course, the type of cue joint. My Mottey cue was made in 10/'91 and the joint and ferrules (both ivory) are like new. An ivory won't crack or chip unless the cue was abused, dropped or improperly stored.
Personally, I prefer a flat faced ivory joint with wood face shafts that my Tim Scruggs cue has. My Mottey cue has a piloted ivory joint and the feel plays much differently than my Scruggs cue but both are incredible to play with. My Runde Schon has a 5/16x14 steel joint and let me tell you after switching to ivory joints, when I play with my Schon I don't like the feel. It has no sensitivity or feel and it's balanced for a forward roll versus the Scruggs cue which has a neutral balance feel to it. In other words, I drive the cue ball based upon the energy of my stroke and I can feel the difference from a short stun shot of 2-3" tangent line roll, to a 5 diamonds draw stroke or a tough rail cue shot.
Ivory isn't for everyone but the best legenday cue-makers used ivory joints for their most special of cues. If you make the switch, you'll never go back to a steel or phenolic joint. If you get to play much with an ivory joint cue, presuming of course the cue meets you weight preferences etc., you come to dislike playing with your steel joint quickly.
The bottomline is I'll never buy another steel joint cue regardless of whom the cue-maker is and I've just selected a cue-maker to custom build me a cue (18.5 ozs) with an radial pin, flat-faced ivory joint. And yes, all of the ivory being used to make my cue is pre-ban elephant ivory.
I'm returning to SS joint after a few years of playing with an ivory joint.....
They do it in golf.....can't see any reason why not to do it in pool. Except for games taking longer to play.