Hmm...Different materials contract and expand at different rates so it is possible that this could happen, still weird though. Maybe a bad batch of plastic? About predator ferrules: I have only personally seen a couple fail yet and I'd venture to say that with the amount of Predators in circulation around here that is about average for any brand of cues. Actually from an engineering standpoint, maybe it would be smart to make the ferrule weaker than the shaft (if the shaft itself is not very robust). That way, if the shaft is abused the ferrule, which can be replaced breaks instead of the shaft (just thinking out loud here). I did once play with a 314 shaft where someone had replaced the original lightweight ferrule with a more solid one. The shaft lost some of its low deflection properties and played close to a regular shaft, so clearly it does impact the deflection if the ferrule material is changed.
I have seen a 314 shaft itself actually explode into tiny pieces. The way most people treat their cues I'm suprised this sort of thing does not happen more often (you know, leaning their cue against the wall, slamming it down on the table, tapping it hard on the floor without a rubber bumber, leaving it in the car in the winter or summer etc.
When the shaft it self is hollow and laminated it is only natural that it comes apart after while of this kind of abuse, but the original Z was particularly prone to breaking, being hollow and thin. I have personally owned 5 predator cues, with Z shafts and never had a shaft or ferrule break.
In the mean while I watched about 10 people with Predator cues breaking their shafts, all because of abuse. Then they complain about the predator shaft being shit.
I sure am glad I'm not a cuemaker when I listen to how those people whine about their cues, and when reminded that they slam their cue into the table almost every other rack, look at you with that suprised, innocent look. There is a prize to pay for the hollow construction and lamination of these shafts, and that is that one cannot treat it as a bar cue. Also if you have a sledgehammer break you probably shouldn't use a Z shaft for breaking. That is common sense, but people ignore it all the time. I realize this is somewhat tangential to the topic,but I'm so sick of people slamming products that they have obviously mistreated. That in no way applies to the op btw.
