Palming the Cue.

S

scsuxci

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I guy asked me why when you palm certain cues on the forearm,that
some cues you can palm very lightly and you can hear the tone when
up to your ear.
Other cues you won't hear any sound unless you hit it harder.I know
some players including myself who do this to hear the tone\pitch of
a cue.
The only answer I could come up with was the different forearm wood
or handlewood used in the cue.
I personally always thought if a butt tapped lightly gave that nice
sound and feedback the better the build.
Just curious if I'm off with my thought and if I am,what would be
the reason?Thanks in advance:smile:
 
All I'm going to tell you is that 'palming' is not a good thing to do to your cue.
Cues are not designed to withstand lateral-loading. Side impact is lateral-loading.
Cues falling over even on a carpeted floor can break because of this same impact.
You should let go of this obsession to 'hear' the forearm wood. These are not guitars.
Too many taps/palms and you'll be wondering what that funny noise coming from your a-jnt. is.
On the other hand, if this is your own cue, bang away.
BTW, cues resonate at approx. 40HZ +/-

KJ
 
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akaminski said:
i would listen to him ^^^^^:smile:
Click to expand...

Yeah me too, or he's likely to palm you up the side of the head if he ever meets you!!

I would agree that there's no reason to be spanking (palming) your cue - it hasn't been bad.

My 2 cents,

Gary

P.S. Just Kidding KJ.
 
If you feel compelled to palm your cue you shouldn't hear anything at all no matter what it's made of or how it's made.
 
KJ Cues said:
All I'm going to tell you is that 'palming' is not a good thing to do to your cue.
Cues are not designed to withstand lateral-loading. Side impact is lateral-loading.
Cues falling over even on a carpeted floor can break because of this same impact.
You should let go of this obsession to 'hear' the forearm wood. These are not guitars.
Too many taps/palms and you'll be wondering what that funny noise coming from your a-jnt. is.
On the other hand, if this is your own cue, bang away.
BTW, cues resonate at approx. 40HZ +/-

KJ
Click to expand...

I watched a 10k Gina break cleanly into 2 pieces when it fell on the floor. It wasn't thrown, just fell on the floor like a tree. Everyone in the room knew this cue and there was an audible gasp.

If you want to bang laterally on a piece of wood, try a baseball bat.
 
whammo57 said:
I think you have been palming something else too much...........

LOL

Kim
Click to expand...

Hey-you watching him on a web cam? On a serious note-I sometimes hold my cue around the joint and tap the butt section on the side of my foot gently-just a bad habit- I can feel it vibrate--would my cue break from this?
 
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thanks to all the responses.Just to be clear,when tapping on the side of the forearm,the cue is taken apart.I've seen countless guys hit the side of there cue when put together to see how the shaft vibrates.
I never thought that it would ruin a cue if it was built properly.I've never
done it with a shaft on the butt though but very interesting opinions.Thanks
 
scsuxci said:
thanks to all the responses.Just to be clear,when tapping on the side of the forearm,the cue is taken apart.I've seen countless guys hit the side of there cue when put together to see how the shaft vibrates.
I never thought that it would ruin a cue if it was built properly.I've never
done it with a shaft on the butt though but very interesting opinions.Thanks
Click to expand...

The exact sort of overthinking that makes new fangled, and over priced, chalk, tips, and shafts, so successful...

IN MY OPINION
 
pescadoman said:
The exact sort of overthinking that makes new fangled, and over priced, chalk, tips, and shafts, so successful...

IN MY OPINION
Click to expand...
I didn't think it was over-thinking,I only thought
it was a way to get the tone of the cue.Thanks for your response though,its still appreciated.
 
scsuxci said:
thanks to all the responses.Just to be clear,when tapping on the side of the forearm,the cue is taken apart.I've seen countless guys hit the side of there cue when put together to see how the shaft vibrates.
I never thought that it would ruin a cue if it was built properly.I've never
done it with a shaft on the butt though but very interesting opinions.Thanks
Click to expand...

Palming the cue with a death grip is pointless imo.
" Heeling" it with light two finger hold at the bottom will let you
hear the tone much better.
When joined and tapped lightly let's you see where the cue
wiggles.
I do both and won't argue it's value .
To each his own.
 
What I mean is this. Pick the dang thing up and play some pool!! If you don't like the way it hits, then there you go.

Maybe I'm just getting grumpy......
 
pescadoman said:
What I mean is this. Pick the dang thing up and play some pool!! If you don't like the way it hits, then there you go.

Maybe I'm just getting grumpy......
Click to expand...
No man,your not grumpy,you have your opinion like anybody else.When it comes to cues,I really
love the different wood combos and construction.
I love playing the game but have always been intrigued with cues.
 
scsuxci said:
thanks to all the responses.Just to be clear,when tapping on the side of the forearm,the cue is taken apart.I've seen countless guys hit the side of there cue when put together to see how the shaft vibrates.
I never thought that it would ruin a cue if it was built properly.I've never
done it with a shaft on the butt though but very interesting opinions.Thanks
Click to expand...

The words contained in the above quote add a bit of clarity to your 1st post.
My vision was of the shaft being attached, being as you're a player.
Why does this make a difference?
Because I'll 'tap' a newly built handle several times during the build process.
NEVER with a shaft attached. I know better.

KJ
 
If a forearm is glued to a handle with no ring or special measures taken to harden the end grains of each piece, I think all this tapping on the side actually causes the buzzes that the people were searching for in the first place. If they would never have done that most of these buzzing cues would never have buzzed. End grains do not glue nicely to each other like they do to phenolic rings. So after my first few years of cue building I started putting the ring in all wrap area A-joints. But even then there is a lot of glue area in an A-Joint and tapping on the side in that area is just trying to break those glue bonds down and cause a buzz.

It is actually customer abuse. But having said that and knowing it is a bad habit that is so widely practiced, we should try to build our cues to withstand this abuse.
 
Interesting conversation here.

Yikes! :eek: I have always been afraid to side strike a cue. Ouch… LOL :wink:

I do a tone/pitch check a little differently. After I put my stick together and during play I tapping the butt, w/rubber bumper, on the floor in a soft vertical motion. I believe when I consistently screw together, applying the same, just enough, torque for a solid joint my old cue (McDermott D-12) has this certain ring/tone/pitch/sound to it and I know I am good to go.

It amazes me the different sounds the different cues make from the butt tape to the hit ping. :)
 
If it was ment to be side taped it would not be called a cue, but some kind of instrument.
I can see why when some people make cues and tap the side to make the shaft to resonate .From what I can tell, they are finding the nodal points on the shaft and on the handle.
Holding the cue on the nodal point is a place where you have the least interactions with the natural vibrations of the cue.
Holding the cue on the Anti nodal point will give you the most interactions with the vibrations of the cue.
Hitting a handle hard enough to see the vibrations in the handle, would in my opinion be doing damage to it some where.

Neil
 
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