Micarta ferrules

penoy78

penoy78

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I was wondering if micarta ferrules were expensive. Also, how hard are they to get. The reason I was asking is theres a guy selling me a cue saying that one of the shafts has micarta in it and he spent $350 for it because they were so rare. Thanks in advance.
 
penoy78 said:
I was wondering if micarta ferrules were expensive. Also, how hard are they to get. The reason I was asking is theres a guy selling me a cue saying that one of the shafts has micarta in it and he spent $350 for it because they were so rare. Thanks in advance.
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Micarta is nothing more than a "trade name" for products that Westinghouse electronics used to make for the electronics field. They made a number of different products out of different materials for different purposes but they "all" were called Micarta. Years ago some cue makers used a particular Westinghouse Micarta with an asbestos base and many called it "Yellow Micarta" because of it's yellowish tint after sitting awhile. This material ceased to be made in the 1980's when the harmful effects of asbestos was discovered. Now Westinghouse, of coarse, continued making materials still called Micarta but it is a different material than what many cue makers believe to be the best ferrule material which was the asbestos based "old yellow Micarta". This material, since not having been made for probably 25 years is, of coarse, getting scarce and with all things that are scarce the price has gone up dramatically.

What this all breaks down to is if the cue really has asbestos based Old Yellow Micarta ferrules it is worth a premium to the same cue with other types or imitation Yellow Micarta ferrules not made from the asbestos.

Dick
 
Wow. Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed description. Is there a way to tell if it is the Yellow micarta or just the "knock" off micarta just by looking at it? Thanks again.
 
IMO, a genuine Westinghouse micarta ferrule should add about 100 to a shaft. I'm guessing that your friend paid 350 for the shaft and ferrule, not just the ferrule alone. The real stuff is scarce, but you can buy it on here from pdcue for 50-75 per ferrule without installation.

A trained eye can do a pretty good job in identifying the real stuff, but not 100% by photo. Us the macro mode on your camera and post a pic if you want people to weigh in on what you have.
Mr H
 
Mr Hoppe said:
IMO, a genuine Westinghouse micarta ferrule should add about 100 to a shaft.
Mr H
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Very sorry but I must disagree with that statement, To many parts to the equation.
Example:
If you buy a 5/8"X5/8"X1" inch piece for 75.00, Why would you machine it and install it for only 100.00, Bad business,
 
Michael Webb said:
Very sorry but I must disagree with that statement, To many parts to the equation.
Example:
If you buy a 5/8"X5/8"X1" inch piece for 75.00, Why would you machine it and install it for only 100.00, Bad business,
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I agree. If a pro were buying them one at a time and paying $75 each, that would be bad business. But, if you follow the link that I posted you will see that they can be bought for $50 each in quantity.

Pricing will vary, I think that goes without saying, but this person was asking for an estimate and I gave him my opinion.
Mr H
 
If these micarta contain elements that are harmful...shouldn't it be worth less? LOL.
Duc.
 
Cuemaster98 said:
If these micarta contain elements that are harmful...shouldn't it be worth less? LOL.
Duc.
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It's value is determined by a willing buyer and a willing seller. Other then as an original replacement for repairing an older cue to keep it as original as possible, I can't see why anyone would be interested in the old yellow ferrules. Even when they were available few cue makers used them. I think the connection with South West is the basis of the mystique. South west have taken a somewhat mystical aura.
Just my opinion
 
macguy said:
It's value is determined by a willing buyer and a willing seller. Other then as an original replacement for repairing an older cue to keep it as original as possible, I can't see why anyone would be interested in the old yellow ferrules. Even when they were available few cue makers used them. I think the connection with South West is the basis of the mystique. South west have taken a somewhat mystical aura.
Just my opinion
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They are light, harder than fiber ferrule ( not as hard as melamine or phenolic ), quiet and does not absorb chalk all that much.
I don't think there is one like it now.
Hence, it's popularity.
Schon had their own kind as well. Sadly that one is gone too.
Right now, I use the best melamine I can find. It too has a distinct look, feel and sound. It's a pain in the arce to thread b/c it's so hard but a lot of people love them.
I heard Jumas are great too.
 
macguy said:
It's value is determined by a willing buyer and a willing seller. Other then as an original replacement for repairing an older cue to keep it as original as possible, I can't see why anyone would be interested in the old yellow ferrules. Even when they were available few cue makers used them. I think the connection with South West is the basis of the mystique. South west have taken a somewhat mystical aura.
Just my opinion
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Not only Schon as Joey mentioned, but Bill Stroud, Bert Schrager,
and a bunch of others.

As for why the interest - I would think it would be obvious.
Players love the "hit" of the old Micarta, I know I certainly do.
I haven't found anything else like it - but I may be prejudiced:)

Dale
 
I'll take ivory over Micarta any day....especially at 1/5 the cost. I personally think ivory should be worth more than Micarta and some builder who has stock of Micarta for their standard ferrule would charge you more to put on ivory ferrule over Micarta.

Regards,
Duc.
 
Cuemaster98 said:
I'll take ivory over Micarta any day....especially at 1/5 the cost. I personally think ivory should be worth more than Micarta and some builder who has stock of Micarta for their standard ferrule would charge you more to put on ivory ferrule over Micarta.

Regards,
Duc.
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That is your opinion Duc as every ones tastes are their own in what they prefer. But, why would you think that ivory should cost more than Micarta though? As you said, it costs 1/5 of what Micarta costs. I know of no cue maker on earth who charges more for ivory than they do for genuine old yellow Micarta. If they do they are a very poor business person. I, myself, believes ivory to be a very poor substitute for any type ferrule on a playing cue. If I thought they were a superior ferrule I would use them on all of my shafts at no premium price as they just don't cost that much at basic material cost. I charge what I feel to be an outrageous price for ivory ferrules just so people don't buy them. I feel that if they still want them then they deserve to be burned. By the way, I charge 50.00 for ivory and 100.00 for old yellow Micarta.

Dick
 
Cuemaster98 said:
I'll take ivory over Micarta any day....especially at 1/5 the cost. I personally think ivory should be worth more than Micarta and some builder who has stock of Micarta for their standard ferrule would charge you more to put on ivory ferrule over Micarta.

Regards,
Duc.
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WHO?
Ivory is abundant.
 
I have a cue with a newer micarta ferrule from Mason.
It has a pretty noticable hit to it.I rather like it.
I did a search for micarta and came across a few sites. Mostly micarta sheets or slabs for pistol or knife handles. One site stated that the new micarta material is G-10. Also says that it can come in off white and a light lime green color. G-10 is very hard, right, so would this be what people are using for replacement ferrules? It did show a pic of the rod as well so I took it that it was available.
 
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Blue Hog ridr said:
I have a cue with a newer micarta ferrule from Mason.
It has a pretty noticable hit to it.I rather like it.
I did a search for micarta and came across a few sites. Mostly micarta sheets or slabs for pistol or knife handles. One site stated that the new micarta material is G-10. Also says that it can come in off white and a light lime green color. G-10 is very hard, right, so would this be what people are using for replacement ferrules? It did show a pic of the rod as well so I took it that it was available.
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G10 is glass based phenolic. Micarta is one of the most abused word today imo.
G10's are way too heavy for playing ferrules imo. Also way way too hard.
The westinghouse micarta was a paper base material with some asbestos in it.
For sanity's sake I look at these phenolics these way;
G10-glass phenolci
LE-Linen phenolic
CE-Canvas phenolic
XXX-Paper phenolic
Then you have the G5, G7, G9 and G11 variety to confuse us some more.
 
As said earlier, Micarta was/is a trade name for materials made by Westinghouse for their electronics endeavours. None was made for pool cues, just some adapted the materials for that. Now most of these materials were phenolic impregnated substrates such as canvas, linen, paper and such. This was not the case with the yellow Micarta that cue makers used. It has no phenolic nor any material as a filler to give it any tensile strength. It was more like an epoxy. When made it was more of a paste that was formed into 4 X 8 foot sheets of what ever thickness that was needed. It was later cut into what ever size needed. There is no grain nor direction to it. No matter what direction it is cut it is the same. This particular material was made where it's application, a higher heat would be encountered. That's the reason for the asbestos. It's true that G-10 was developed to take the place of yellow Micarta. The G-10 has none of the attributes that cue makers desire for a ferrule material but it does have the attributes needed by Westinghouse for a material to take the place of yellow Micarta's original use - electronics applications.

Dale ( pdcue ) has a supply of the original and has been researching the material for a number of years. He can pretty much answer most questions and dispel many erroneous legends about the material.

Dick
 
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Cuemaster98 said:
If these micarta contain elements that are harmful...shouldn't it be worth less? LOL.
Duc.
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i dont think they were made with the intention of being used as ferrules. so using one as a ferrule is probably not hazardous to your health since its so small and the asbestos content in a piece that small is probably very low. they stopped making them to be used in other stuff which resulted in no more material for ferrules as well.
 
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