I would like some opinions on laminate shafts. I recently got some 25 layer laminates and they seem to play fairly crisp. I have been using bored out ferules to 3/8 noncapped and they seem to hit pretty straight. They are alot cheaper to obtain than say 20-25 rings per inch straight maple. Downside is appearance but I am pleased with the hit and response. Anyone else using these?
laminate shafts
- Thread starter bob_bushka
- Start date
A lot of players use and like the laminated shaft.
It is getting harder and more expensive to find good high count shaft maple and some cue makers are looking at the laminated maple as a way to offer good shafts at a reasonable price.
They tend to be more consistant than straight maple because of their construction.
I would think the more laminations per inch the better.
Check out the OB1 shafts as they play real nice and are becoming very popular.
It is getting harder and more expensive to find good high count shaft maple and some cue makers are looking at the laminated maple as a way to offer good shafts at a reasonable price.
They tend to be more consistant than straight maple because of their construction.
I would think the more laminations per inch the better.
Check out the OB1 shafts as they play real nice and are becoming very popular.
laminate
I have a source that has 3 grades of laminate. I use the middle grade which is preatty good. I also use 50 ply per inch. I then cut, glue up and turn radial, this way it looks like grained wood all running the same direction. A 4x8 sheet cost $1600 and change. Not sure how many 1"x1" squares this would yeield but typically I get somewhere around 190 9/16"x9/16" which yeields 47 shafts for me. I really like the laminate but I need to play with different setups and stuff. ie tapers, ferrules, tips, joints. Thus far I like a shaft with no joint collar, it just gives a more natural feel. Thus far I think its a hammer for a breaking shaft. Put 1" phonolic canvis ferrule with a 14mm tip and Pow.
I have a source that has 3 grades of laminate. I use the middle grade which is preatty good. I also use 50 ply per inch. I then cut, glue up and turn radial, this way it looks like grained wood all running the same direction. A 4x8 sheet cost $1600 and change. Not sure how many 1"x1" squares this would yeield but typically I get somewhere around 190 9/16"x9/16" which yeields 47 shafts for me. I really like the laminate but I need to play with different setups and stuff. ie tapers, ferrules, tips, joints. Thus far I like a shaft with no joint collar, it just gives a more natural feel. Thus far I think its a hammer for a breaking shaft. Put 1" phonolic canvis ferrule with a 14mm tip and Pow.
I have found that the fewer laminations in the shaft create the most natural feel & playability. I have tried several laminated shafts, the 35pgi, the numerous pie laminated ones & the flat with fewer lams. The honest to goodness best response & natural feel came from Schmelke's flat laminated stock. The fewer laminations require much less glue, which allows the weight to remain consistent with solid maple. It also retains the strength & rigidity of the maple rather than aquiring the flexibility of the glue, so the response is more similar to a solid maple shaft than the others. The high count laminated shafts seemed unnaturally heavy & far too flexible with slow memory, no snap. The pie laminated seemed to be unlike wood at all in responsiveness, and they were too inconsistent to cut. One pie slice out of the bunch, it seemed, would be of softer or harder maple than the others & the shaft would take egg shape at that spot. Cutting was ok, sanding was a nightmare. So my experiences lead me to believe that the fewer flat laminations, the closer to real you'll have. Could be that nobody is being picky about the wood that goes into a laminated shaft as well. No matter how well laminated it is, if it's junk wood it's a junk shaft.
There is no substitute for high quality, straight grain maple. You have the real stuff & you have laminated stuff. There is always a difference. In my opinion, nothing as of yet compares in the same ball park with high quality maple. It's comparing apples to oranges. But the cheap Schmelke flat lams are the closest I have found, and I have tried pretty much all of them. Believe me, it would be great to have a material that could perform and feel like a solid maple shaft without having to worry about warpage or take years to produce, but so far it does not exist. If it did, nobody would be wasting their time making solid maple shafts. Just my thoughts....
There is no substitute for high quality, straight grain maple. You have the real stuff & you have laminated stuff. There is always a difference. In my opinion, nothing as of yet compares in the same ball park with high quality maple. It's comparing apples to oranges. But the cheap Schmelke flat lams are the closest I have found, and I have tried pretty much all of them. Believe me, it would be great to have a material that could perform and feel like a solid maple shaft without having to worry about warpage or take years to produce, but so far it does not exist. If it did, nobody would be wasting their time making solid maple shafts. Just my thoughts....